The Combined Defence Services Examination (CDS Exam) is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for the recruitment of Commissioned Officers in the Indian Military Academy, Officers Training Academy, Indian Naval Academy and Indian Air Force Academy. Only unmarried graduates are eligible to sit for the exam. The examination is conducted twice a year. Successful candidates are admitted into the respective Academies after an interview conducted by the Services Selection Board (SSB).

HOW TO APPLY

Candidates are required to apply online by using the website http://upsconline.nic.in.

CONDITIONS OF ELIGIBILITY

(A)Nationality: A candidate must be unmarried and must either be:

•   a Citizen of India, or
•   a subject of Nepal, or 8
•  a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri lanka and East African Countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of  Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Ethiopia or Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India. 

(B) Age Limits 

Candidates below 25 years of age must be unmarried. Marriage is not permitted during training. Married candidates above 25 years of age are eligible to apply but during the training period they will neither be provided married accommodation nor can they live with family out of the premises.

Females are allowed only for OTA(officers training academy) Posts. All other qualifications for the female are the same as for Male. 

Indian Military Academy 19–24 years

Air Force Academy 19–24 years

Naval Academy 19–24 years

Officers Training Academy 19–25 years

(c) Educational Qualifications

(i) For I.M.A. and Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai — Degree of a recognised University or equivalent.

(ii) For Indian Naval Academy— Degree in Engineering from a recognised University/Institution

(iii) For Air Force Academy—Degree of a recognised University (with Physics and Mathematics at 10+2 level) or Bachelor of Engineering.

Graduates with first choice as Army/Navy/Air Force are to submit proof of Graduation/provisional certificates on the date of commencement of the SSB Interview at the SSB.

Candidates who are studying in the final year/semester Degree course and have yet to pass the final year degree examination can also apply.

(d) Physical Standards

Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards for admission to Combined Defence Services Examination. The basic physical standard for a candidate is:

    1. The candidate should be physically as well as mentally fit.

     2. Permanent tattoos on the body are prohibited.

     3. No hernia anywhere on the body.

     4.No hearing impairment, deformities/disabilities in-ears the vestibule-cochlear system.

    5. There is no active congenital venereal disease.

4. FEE

Candidates (excepting Female/SC/ST candidates who are exempted from payment of fee) are required to pay a fee of Rs. 200/- (Rupees Two Hundred Only) either by depositing the money in any Branch of SBI by cash or by using Visa/Master/Rupay Credit/Debit Card/UPI Payment or by using internet banking facility of any Bank.

SCHEME OF EXAMINATION

1.    The Competitive examination comprises:

(a) Written examination

(b) Interview for intelligence and personality test

2.    The subjects of the written examination, the time allowed and the maximum marks allotted to each subject will be as follows:

(a) For Admission to Indian Military Academy, Indian Naval Academy and Air Force Academy:—

Subject                                  Duration                       Maximum Marks      

1. English                                       2 Hours                            100              

2. General Knowledge                   2 Hours                            100            

3. Elementary Mathematics           2 Hours                            100  

(b) For Admission to Officers’ Training Academy:—

Subject                                Duration                       Maximum Marks

1. English                               2 Hours                             100

2. General Knowledge           2 Hours                             100

The maximum marks allotted to the written examination and to the interviews will be equal for each course i.e. the maximum marks allotted to the written examination and to the interviews will be 300, 300, 300 and 200 each for admission to the Indian Military Academy, Indian Naval Academy, Air Force Academy and Officers’ Training Academy respectively.

3. The papers in all the subjects will consist of objective-type questions only. The question papers (Test Booklets) of General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics will be set bilingually in Hindi as well as English.

4. In the question papers, wherever necessary, questions involving the metric system of Weights and Measures only will be set.

5. Candidates must write the papers in their own hand. In no circumstances will they be allowed the help of a scribe to write answers for them?

6. The Commission has the discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all the subjects of the examination.

7. The candidates are not permitted to use a calculator for answering objective-type papers (Test Booklets). They should not, therefore, bring the same inside the Examination Hall.

SYLLABUS

The standard of the papers in Elementary Mathematics will be of Matriculation level. The standard of papers in other subjects will approximately be such as may be expected of a graduate of an Indian University.

SYLLABUS ENGLISH (Code No. 01)

The question paper will be designed to test the candidates’ understanding of English and workmanlike use of words.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE (Code No. 02)

General Knowledge including knowledge of current events and of such matters of everyday observation and experience in their scientific aspects as may be expected of an educated person who has not made a special study of any scientific subject. The paper will also include questions on the History of India and the Geography of nature which candidates should be able to answer without special study.

ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS (Code No. 03)

ARITHMETIC- Number System—Natural numbers, Integers, Rational and Real numbers. Fundamental operations, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, Square roots, Decimal fractions. Unitary method, time and distance, time and work, percentages, applications to simple and compound interest, profit and loss, ratio and proportion, variation. Elementary Number Theory—Division algorithm. Prime and composite numbers. Tests of divisibility by 2, 3, 4, 5, 9 and 11. Multiples and factors. Factorisation Theorem. H.C.F. and L.C.M. Euclidean algorithm. Logarithms to base 10, laws of logarithms, use of logarithmic tables.

ALGEBRA- Basic Operations, simple factors, Remainder Theorem, H.C.F., L.C.M., Theory of polynomials, solutions of quadratic equations, the relation between its roots and coefficients (Only real roots to be considered). Simultaneous linear equations in two unknowns—analytical and graphical solutions. Simultaneous linear inequations in two variables and their solutions. Practical problems leading to two simultaneous linear equations or inequations in two variables or quadratic equations in one variable & their solutions. Set language and set notation, Rational expressions and conditional identities, and Laws of indices.

TRIGONOMETRY- Sine ×, cosine ×, Tangent × when 0° < × < 90° Values of sin ×, cos × and tan ×, for × = 0°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 90° Simple trigonometric identities. Use of trigonometric tables. Simple cases of heights and distances.

GEOMETRY- Lines and angles, Plane and plane figures, Theorems on (i) Properties of angles at a point, (ii) Parallel lines, (iii) Sides and angles of a triangle, (iv) Congruency of triangles, (v) Similar triangles, (vi) Concurrence of medians and altitudes, (vii) 22 Properties of angles, sides and diagonals of a parallelogram, rectangle and square, (viii) Circles and its properties including tangents and normals, (ix) Loci

MENSURATION- Areas of squares, rectangles, parallelograms, triangles and circles. Areas of figures can be split up into these figures (Field Book), Surface area and volume of cuboids, lateral surface and volume of right circular cones and cylinders, and surface area and volume of spheres.

STATISTICS- Collection and tabulation of statistical data, Graphical representation frequency polygons, histograms, bar charts, pie charts etc. Measures of central tendency.

INTELLIGENCE AND PERSONALITY TEST

The SSB procedure consists of two stages Selection process - stage I and stage II. Only those candidates who clear stage I are permitted to appear for stage II. The details are:-

• Stage I comprises Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) tests are Picture Perception* Description Test (PP&DT). The candidates will be shortlisted based on a combination of performance in the OIR Test and PP&DT.
• Stage II Comprises Interviews, Group Testing Officer Tasks, Psychology Tests and the Conference. These tests are conducted over 4 days. The details of these tests are given on the website www.joinindianarmy.nic.in.

The personality of a candidate is assessed by three different assessors viz. The Interviewing Officer (IO), Group Testing Officer (GTO) and the Psychologist. There is no separate weightage for each test. The marks are allotted by assessors only after taking into consideration the performance of the candidate holistically in all the tests. In addition, marks for the Conference are also allotted based on the initial performance of the Candidate in the three techniques and the decision of the Board. All these have equal weightage.

The various tests of IO, GTO and Psych are designed to bring out the presence/absence of Officer Like Qualities and their trainability in a candidate. Accordingly, candidates are Recommended or Not Recommended at the SSB.