CDS - Combined Defence Services

Qualification and Eligibility for CDS Exam

Both men and women are eligible to enrol for the exam.

The CDS Exam is open to applicants the CDS eligibility criteria- which includes nationality, education, age, physical fitness, and marital status. These include;

• A permanent resident of India may apply for the CDS Exam.
• Graduates or students in their final year/semester are qualified to apply.
• The minimum age to apply for the CDS 2021 Exam is 19 years.
• Females can only apply for the OTA.
• The candidate who is divorced is ineligible to apply.
• Also, candidates with a bachelor's degree in engineering may apply to the IMA. INA and the AFA.
• Both male and female candidates must meet the UPSC's fitness requirements.

Physical Fitness Requirement

There are few physical fitness requirements that are necessary to fulfil. Applicants must meet the physical standards outlined in the official job posting before being considered.

UPSC or Union Public Service Commission has set certain criteria that must be met before a person can be eligible to serve in the Combined Defence Services.

Prior to submitting an application for the CDS exam, candidates should review the eligibility criteria for the exam. Applicant's basic physical standard is as follows:

• The applicant should be in good physical and mental health.
• Permanent and lasting tattoos are strictly forbidden on the body.
• Applicants should not have any hernias in the body.
• The applicant should be free from hearing impairment, abnormalities of the in-ear vestibule-cochlear system.
• The applicant should have no congenital venereal disease that is active.
• Those who have left or decided to resign from any of the Armed Forces' training academies for disciplinary reasons are unqualified candidates.
• In some cases, tribal members with tattoos on their faces or bodies as part of their current culture and traditions will be allowed, depending on the case.
• Army and Navy height and weight standards are not included in the job notice. Weights may be interpolated based on height if it is not specified.

Educational Qualifications:

• A degree from a recognised university or equivalent is required for I.M.A. and Officers' Training Academy.
• If you are applying to the Indian Naval Academy, you must have earned an Engineering Degree from an accepted university or institution.
• A degree or a Bachelor of Engineering degree is required for admission to the Air Force Academy.

Note: Graduates who have selected the Army, Navy, or Air Force as their first choice must submit proof of graduation or provisional certificates on the SSB interview day.

Applicants who are in their final year/semester of their degree course and have not yet passed their final year degree exam are also eligible to apply, given they do not have any current backlogs up to the last academic session for which results have been announced at the time of application of CDS exam.

At the start of the program, they will be obliged to submit proof of passing the degree exam.

Age Limit and Marital Status

• The candidate for the IMA must be an unmarried male having 18-24 years of age.
• The candidate for the Indian Naval Academy must be an unmarried male who was born between 19-24 years of age.
• Only applicants who hold a valid and recent Commercial Pilot Licence issued by the DGCA (India) qualify to apply for the Air Force Academy, where the age limit is 20 to 24 years.
• OTA (Officer's Training Academy) - For men - Just unmarried male applicants having an age limit of 19-25 years are eligible for consideration.
• OTA (Officer's Training Academy) - For women (Non-Technical Course) Unmarried women, widows with no children who have not remarried, and divorcees with no children who have not remarried are all eligible to apply. They should fall under the age limit of 19-25 years.

Note: Candidates under the age of 25 must be unmarried in order to be eligible. 

During training, candidates are not permitted to marry. Marriage-eligible candidates over the age of 25 are welcome to apply, but during the training period, they will not be supplied with married housing, nor are they allowed to live with family outside of the facility.

Roles and Responsibilities of Combined Defense Services Exam

Some of the vital roles and responsibilities include;

• Your entire life is established if you are chosen to serve in the military.
• There are many advantages of working in Combined Defense Services that are not available in a private job, such as pay, benefits, and pensions.
• Depending on which branch of the military you attend, your job can be tough and difficult.
• The demands of your job can be very intensive, so you'll need to plan for them.
• When applicants graduate from CDS training in the rank of a designated officer, they will be paid the salary and allowances associated with that rank.

Structure of CDS Examination

In order to pass the CDS exam with excellent grades, candidates should be aware of the examination pattern for the CDS examination.

However, there are various stages of the examination.

The initiating stage includes the written exam, followed by the interview.

The process is then followed by Document Verification and Medical Examination of the selected candidates for the CDS exam.

The language of the paper is English as well as Hindi, and each exam has a duration of 2 hours.

Moreover, the subjects that are required to be prepared for examination include English, General Knowledge, and Elementary Mathematics.

In the case of IMA, AFA, and INA, there are almost 340 Multiple Choice Questions to be answered and 240 Multiple Choice Questions in the case of OTA.

Examination Subject and Marks

CDS Examination Structure for INA, IMA & IAF

• Each of the three exams, Indian Airforce, Indian Military Academy, and Indian Naval Academy, comprises of three exam papers with a combined score of 300 points.
• The examination consists of an English exam with 100 marks and 2 hours duration; then a General knowledge exam with 100 marks and 2 hours duration; lastly Elementary mathematics exam with 100 marks and 2 hours duration.

CDS Exam Pattern for Officers Training Academy (OTA)

• In the Officer Training Academy, there will be two subjects, and the examination is of 200 marks. The exam's duration will be a total of four hours.
• The examination consists of an English exam with 100 marks and 2 hours duration and a General knowledge exam with 100 marks and 2 hours duration.

The UPSC or Union Public Service Commission provides the CDS admit card digitally at upsconline.nic.in as soon as possible.

However, the exam is generally conducted in offline mode.

Applicants should confirm their CDS 2020 admit card for any discrepancies and report them to the examination undertaking authorities as soon as possible.

Interview, Intelligence, and Personality Test

• There are two steps to the interview process for the SSB: stage I and stage II. Stage II of the SSB interview is only open to aspirants who have passed stage I.
• The Picture Perception* Description Test is part of the Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) stage I. OIR and PP&DT results are then used to select applicants for further consideration.
• Interview, group testing officer tasks, psychology tests, and the conference are all part of the second stage. Over the course of four days, these evaluations are conducted. Indian Army Career Portal provides information about these assessments.
• Three distinct assessors evaluate the applicant's personality:
• A psychologist, an interviewing officer (IO), and a group testing officer (GTO).
• Each test is not given a separate relative value. Candidates' success in all of the tests is taken into account by the evaluators when assigning marks.

Interview by ASB(Airforce Selection Board)

• All applicants who apply to the Air Force via more than one origin will only be screened by the Air Force Selection Boards once.
• Applicant who fails the Computer Pilot Selection System (CPSS) and/or the Pilot Aptitude Battery exams as an NCC or Airman applicant will be called back for OLQ testing for Army, Navy, and OTS only if it is determined that they applied via the CDS Examination.

Syllabus for CDS exam

General Knowledge, English Language, and Mathematics are the three sections from which the questionnaire for the CDS examination is made.

Aspirants should familiarise themselves with the CDS syllabus before attempting the examination.

• For General Knowledge Exam, one needs to study the recent current affairs approximately of 4-5 months before the exam date. Along with history; biology; geography; political science; physics
• As for the English Examination, applicants need to study subjects such as Basic Grammar, Synonyms, and Antonyms, as well as Error, Spotting, and Para Jumbles.
• Elementary Mathematics will require the applicant to cover topics such as Time & Work, Time & Distance, Profit & Loss, Rational and Real Numbers, as well as Prime and Composite numbers, and much more.

CDS examination Study Material

• There are three parts in the written examination for the Indian Military Academy, Indian Navy Academy, and Indian Air Force Academy. At the same time, there are two sections in the officer training academy examination. Mathematics is not required for OTA positions.
• Candidates must be familiar with the list of essential subjects, the comprehensive analysis of each subject, and the practice questions for the same.  
• It is possible to download the CDS Study Material for English, Mathematics, and General Awareness (GA).

Result and Marks

• The official website will declare the CDS Result and Cutoff for 2021. After passing the CDS test, applicants will be able to join one of the Indian Defence Services.
• However, the Cut Off is the minimum marks need to qualify for the next level of examination. In addition to the CDS Result, the CDS Cut-off Score is also published individually.

Salary, Benefits, and Perks to CDS Employees

• An officer's monthly salary ranges from INR 56,100 to INR 1,77,500 after being appointed. While in training, aspirants are paid a fixed monthly stipend of INR 56,100. Military Service Pay of INR 15,500 per month is also paid to officials in the ranks of Lieutenant to Brigadier.
• A Navy, Army, or Air Force officer can take 60 days of yearly leave and 20 days of unpaid leave each year.
• Officers of the CDS can use their yearly leave for up to 10 days in surplus to the leave travel concession for up to 60 days in a career to encompass incidental travel costs.
• Officers and their families also receive other perks, such as free medical care, a group insurance plan, subsidised housing, canteen services, a group housing plan, and a family assistance plan. Also allowances like children's education allowance, transport allowance, uniform allowance, high altitude allowance, and much more.

Conclusively, Each honest and sincere resident serves the nation through his or her jobs. But by choosing to join the CDS, you can protect your nation and represent as a hero in the process. It is due to this that the Indian army is regarded as one of the world's best. Soldiers, on the other hand, are honoured with a gun salute and our national flag draped over their bodies when they are martyred. It is a job of dignity, honour, and courage. Being part of CDS is a sense of pride!