What is the SSB interview?

The SSB Interview is a selection process of around five days which is designed to assess the candidates' mental and physical fitness, leadership qualities, the ability to work under pressure and overall personality. It includes a series of tests, including the screening test, Psychological Test, Group Testing Officer (GTO) tasks, Personal Interview, and the Conference. Day 1 starts with the Screening test which includes an intelligence test and a picture perception and description test. Further, Day 2 to 5 will be Psychological Testing, Group Tasks and Interview. It includes the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), Word Association Test (WAT), Situation Reaction Test (SRT), and Self-Description Test (SDT). Group discussions, group planning exercises and personal interviews also take place during this stage.

How many papers are there in the CDS 2026 exam?

In CDS, written exam comprises three papers namely English, General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics aiming for Indian Military Academy (IMA), Indian Naval Academy (INA) and Air Force Academy (AFA). There are two papers for candidates aiming for the Officers Training academy (OTA). For IMA, INA, AFA: English, General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics For OTA: English and General Knowledge

What subjects are included in the General Knowledge section of the CDS exam?

In the CDS exam, the GK subject consists of Current Affairs, History, Geography, Polity, Sociology, Science (Physics, Chemistry, and Biology), Environment, Sports etc. It is advised to the candidates to know about the exam and solve previous year question papers.

CDS Selection Process 2025: Written Test, SSB Interview & Document Verification

564 Students Q&A

Registration - 10 Dec '25 - 30 Dec '25

Updated on Sep 22, 2025 14:38 IST

By Shikha Goyal, Assistant Manager

CDS Selection Process 2025: Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) prescribes the CDS selection process to select eligible candidates as Commissioned Officers in the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force. The CDS selection process comprises two stages: a written exam and an SSB interview. All candidates who qualify for the written exam are required to register themselves online on the Indian Army Recruiting website - joinindianarmy.nic.in within two weeks of the announcement of the written test result. After that, candidates are allotted SSB dates and centres.

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