CDS

You would be eligible to take the CDS (Combined Defence Services) exam in April 2025 if you were between the ages of 20 and 24 on January 1, 2025. You would be 24 years old in December 2024 because your birthday is December 15, 2000, hence you would be eligible to apply for the CDS exam in April 2025.

The highest rank attainable through CDs is the rank of general which is a 4-stared officer position.

it is a general in the army, Admiral in the Navy and  Air Chief Marshal in the Air Force.

and the lowest rank is lieutenant which is a 2 stared officer position.

The questions will consist of objective-type questions.

the total duration for the exam is 4 hours and is for a total of 200 marks for OTA.

The question papers for General Knowledge will be set in bilingually in Hindi and English. The exam will comprise 2 subjects, English and General Knowledge, and each subject consists of 100 marks.

The time duration for each subject is 2 hours.

and for each correct answer, the candidate is awarded 1 mark and for each wrong answer 1/3 marks are deducted and 0 is awarded for umattempted.

The CDS 1 application form 2025 will be available from December 11 to 31, 2024. The CDS 1 2025 exam will be conducted on April 13, 2025. CDS 2 notification will be released in May 2025, the last date for application will be 17th June 2025 and the exam will be conducted on 14, September 2025.

Based on past performance trends and the exam's degree of difficulty, the anticipated cut-off scores for the CDS 2 2024 exam have been calculated. The expected cut-off scores for the written exam are 139 to 145 for the Air Force Academy (AFA), 112 to 118 for the Indian Naval Academy (INA), and 129 to 135 for the Indian Military Academy (IMA). The anticipated cut-off scores for the Officers' Training Academy (OTA) are 94 to 99 for women and 97 to 103 for males. Due to the modest difficulty of the exam, especially in the General Knowledge component, these projections show a minor decline when compared to previous exams.

CDS exam is highly competitive and you need to prepare well for the exam. The exam include general affairs from History, Geography, Economics, Current Affairs, and General Science.  NCERT Textbooks are essential for General Knowledge and Mathematics. You can utilize online platforms for practice tests, mock exams, and study materials. Allocate time for each subject based on your strengths and weaknesses. Do solve practice questions and previous year question papers to improve your speed and accuracy. Update your notes regularly.

CDS officers enjoy many perks like: They get decent salary packages. The starting salary in the Indian Army is around Rs. 56,100 per month. They receive allowances such as Dearness Allowance, Uniform Allowance, High Altitude Allowance, and Children Education Allowance and also get Ration Money Allowance (RMA). They are entitled to a pension after retirement. CDS Officers and their families are entitled to free or subsidized accommodation alongwith access to free medical care at military hospitals.  

The Union Public Service Commission will release the CDS 1 examination 2026 vacancies on the official website. It will be released around for various defence services.