A foolproof preparation plan to crack CDS

By: Ruchika Kumari Chotrani 

One should formulate a plan and follow a cohesive approach to prepare for entrance exam like CDS.

CDS or Combined Defence Services examination is a national-level entrance test conducted by UPSC twice a year, first in February and the second one in November. It is conducted for the recruitment of candidates for the following defence academies. 

1. Indian Military Academy (IMA)
2. Indian Naval Academy (INA)
3. Air Force Academy (AFA)
4. Officers Training Academy (OTA)

For women/girls who are applying for CDS can only apply for the posts of OTA.

Exam Pattern for IMA, INA, AFA

 Exam Pattern for OTA

The candidates should be aware of all the subjects and important topics to score well. The Syllabus of IMA, INA, AFA and OTA is the same.

In case, you are preparing on your own, then remember one thing that you would not get the best study material of complete CDS Exam on one website or in a single book. Therefore, one has to create the best study material for them.

Here are some guidelines by which you can create a good study material:

• Download monthly current affairs from the website “Lead the Competition”
• Prepare notes on: Famous Books and its Author (recent year), National or Nobel Award Winners (recent year), Theories or Experiments (recent in news or discovered), States or Countries (recent in news).
• History is a very vast subject; one could not study and memorise the whole history in a short period. So, try to do questions of all periods and dynasties in a categorised manner.
• For Physics and Chemistry, refer NCERT books of Class 8, 9 and 10 and also, read Class 11 and 12 Physics and Chemistry from the handbook of the respective subjects.
• Categorise Biology in three parts - Humans, Plants and Animals. Do not make detailed notes, instead, try to cover basics and do questions on them.
• In Political Science, cover the following topics: Constitution, Our Preamble, Recent Schemes by Government, Changed Names of Places, Slogans and Taglines of Political Parties or Persons and Recent Historic Decisions or Bills (like CAA).
• For English preparation, refer to Lucent English Book
• For Maths, practise topics from NCERT books Class 7 to 10 and simultaneously maintain a separate copy for formulae and key points for last week revision.

Check here CDS books

Last week Revision Topics:

• Physics: Motion, Work, Energy, Power, Gravitation, Heat, Electric Current, Laws, Oscillation and Waves.
• Chemistry: Laws, Important Theories, Matter, Atomic Structure, Acids, Bases and Salts, Chemical Formula of Basic Salts, Polymers, Environment and Pollution, Solutions and Gas Laws, Radioactivity.
• Biology: Cells, Genetics, Specification of Bones, Diseases and their Causes, Applied Biology, Pollination, Evolution and Molecular Biology.

Check here complete CDS preparation tips

About the Author:

Ruchika Kumari Chotrani is pursuing B.Tech in Electrical Engineering (final year) from Arya College of Engineering and IT.