CDS 2024 – Dates (out), Eligibility Criteria, Application Form, Fees, Notification, Syllabus, and More

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will release the official CDS Notification 2024 on 20th December 2023. It is a national-level exam conducted by UPSC twice a year. This exam aims to select eligible candidates for admission into Indian Military Academy (IMA), Indian Naval Academy (INA), Air Force Academy, and Officers’ Training Academy (OTA).

It is one of the most popular defence entrance examinations in India. Every year, lakhs of candidates apply for this exam and a few get selected to become officers in Indian Armed Forces. The application process for CDS 2024 will take place online. Candidates must ensure that they are eligible before applying. Both male and female candidates are eligible for CDS.

Update: CDS 1 application form will release on 20th December 2023.

CDS 2024 Overview

Name of the exam	Combined Defence Services (CDS) Examination
Authority conducting the exam	Union Public Service Commission
Total Vacancies	341 (subjected to change)
Level of the exam	National level
Exam frequency	Twice a year
Mode of application	Online
Examination mode	Offline
Selection process	Written test followed by an Interview
Examination purpose	To select eligible candidates for IMA, INA, Air force academy, and Officers’ training academy.
Official website	www.upsc.gov.in

Combined Defence Service (CDS) Dates 2024

The official UPSC CDS Calendar 2024 is given in the following table.

Main Events	Confirmed Dates for CDS I	Confirmed CDS II Dates
Release of Official Notification	20th December 2023	15th May 2024
Starting of online application form submission	20th December 2023	15th May 2024
Last date to submit the application form	9th January 2024	4th June 2024
Correction window availability	To be notified by UPSC	To be notified by UPSC
Releasing of Admit card	To be notified by UPSC	To be notified by UPSC
Date of Examination	21st April 2024	1st September 2024
Result Declaration	To be notified by UPSC	To be notified by UPSC

CDS Eligibility Criteria 2024

All candidates must meet the following eligibility criteria to apply for the UPSC CDS exam.

Nationality

Aspirants with any of the following nationalities are eligible.

• A citizen of India
• A subject of Nepal
• An Indian-origin person migrated to India to permanently settle in India from Burma, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zaire, Tanzania, Zambia, Ethiopia, United Republic of Tanzania, or Vietnam.

CDS Age Limits and Gender

Academies	Gender	Age Limit (Date of Birth)
Indian Military Academy (IMA)	Unmarried male candidates	Candidates born not earlier than 2nd January 2001 and not later than 1st January 2006 are eligible.
Indian Naval Academy (INA)	Unmarried male candidates	Candidates born on or after 2nd January 2001 and not later than 1st January 2006 can apply.
Air Force Academy	Both Male and Female Candidates can apply	The age of a candidate should be between 20 years to 24 years as on 1st January 2024.   The upper age limit is 26 years for candidates holding valid and current Commercial Pilot Licence issued by DGCA.
Officers’ Training Academy (SSC Course for men)	Unmarried male	Candidates born not earlier than 2nd January 2000 and not later than 1st January 2006 are eligible.
Officers’ Training Academy (SSC Women Non-Technical Course)	Unmarried women/ Widows who have not remarried/ Divorcees (in possession of divorce documents)	The date of birth of a candidate should be between 2nd January 2000 and 1st January 2006.

Marital Status for Air Force Academy

• Candidates below 25 years of age should be unmarried. He/ She can’t marry during training.
• Married candidates above 25 years of age are eligible to apply but during the training period, they will not get any married accommodation. Additionally, they will not be able to live with family outside of the academy premises.
• Male divorcee/widower candidates will not be treated as unmarried candidates for their admission in IMA/ INA/ AFA/ OTA.

Educational Qualification

• IMA/ Officers’ Training Academy – A bachelor’s degree in any subject from a recognized university or equivalent.
• Indian Naval Academy – An Engineering degree from a recognized university or equivalent.
• Air Force Academy – Candidate must be a graduate in any discipline. Plus, he/ she must have studied Physics and Mathematics at 10+2 level.

Note: Those aspirants who are in the final year of their graduation are also eligible.

Physical Standards/ Medical Standards (Height and Weight)

The weight and height of a candidate should be appropriate as per his/her age. Details are given in the following image.

• The Body Mass Index (BMI) of all candidates should be below 25.
• Waist circumference should be less than 90 cm for males and 80 cm for female candidates.
• The minimum height for male candidates is 157 cm (152 for candidates from hills of the north-eastern region of India, Garhwal and Kumaon).
• The minimum height requirement for female candidates is 152 cm (148 cm for aspirants from Kumaon, Garhwal, and Hills of North Eastern region of India).

Note: The above parameters apply only to those candidates who are looking to join the Indian Army through IMA. A few parameters can change for other academies.

CDS Application Form 2024

• All candidates need to apply online by using the official website upsconline.nic.in.
• To start the CDS application process, you need to complete One Time Registration (OTR).
• The OTR profile will always remain the same. You can use this profile for future CDS applications as well.
• You should provide all the necessary personal and educational details in your OTR Profile.
• During registration, you must upload scanned images of your photograph and signature. The size of the image should be between 20 KB and 300 KB.
• In the next step, you need to pay the application fee online or by challan.
• Finally, take printouts of both part I and part II registration receipts for future reference.

Application Fee

• For female/ SC/ ST candidates – Nil
• For all other candidates – Rs. 200/-

Modes of Payment

• Online – UPI/ Internet Banking/ Visa/ Master/ Rupay Credit/ Debit Card
• Offline – Depositing CDS challan in any Branch of SBI by cash.

Admit Card

• UPSC will release admit cards three weeks before the exam date.
• The admit card will be available on the UPSC website for download.
• Authorities will not send e-Admit cards by post.
• In case of any clarification regarding admit cards, candidates can visit UPSC’s Facilitation Counter in-person or over phone lines (011-23385271/ 011- 23381125/011-23098543) on working days between 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

CDS Exam Pattern 2024

The CDS selection process involves a written test followed by an interview. The pattern for the written test is as follows.

• Examination Mode – Offline (OMR sheet-based test)
• Type of Questions – Objective Type MCQs
• Maximum Marks – 300 for IMA, INA, and Air Force Academy (200 for OTA)
• Number of sections – 3 (2 for OTA)
• Duration of examination – 2 hours for each section
• Language of Questions – English and Hindi
• Negative Marking – ⅓ marks will be deducted for every wrong answer

For Indian Military Academy, Indian Naval Academy, and Air Force Academy
Sections	Maximum Marks	Duration
English	100	2 Hours
General Knowledge (GK)	100	2 Hours
Mathematics	100	2 Hours
Total	300 Marks	6 Hours
For Officers’ Training Academy
Sections	Maximum Marks	Duration
English	100	2 Hours
General Knowledge (GK)	100	2 Hours
Total	200 Marks	4 Hours

Syllabus

Here is the list of subject-wise topics included in the CDS Syllabus 2024.

Mathematics	English	General Knowledge
Number System	Fill in the blanks	Indian History
Elementary Number Theory	Spotting the errors	Economics
Algebra	Reading comprehension	Political Science
Trigonometry	Synonyms and Antonyms	Geography
Geometry	Sentence arrangement or jumbled words	General Science – Physics, Chemistry, and Biology
Mensuration	Idioms and phrases	Environment
Statistics	Sentence improvement or correction	Defence-related questions – Army, Air Force, and Navy
	Ordering of words in a sentence	Current Affairs – Sports, Conferences, Books & Authors, National & International Awards.

Examination Centers

It is expected that the CDS examination will take place in the following cities – Agartala, Ghaziabad, Panaji (Goa), Agra, Gorakhpur, Patna, Ajmer, Gurgaon, Port Blair, Ahmedabad, Gwalior, Prayagraj (Allahabad), Aizawl, Hyderabad, Puducherry, Aligarh, Imphal, Pune, Almora (Uttarakhand), Indore, Raipur, Anantapur (Andhra Pradesh), Itanagar, Rajkot, Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Jabalpur, Ranchi, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Sambalpur, Bareilly, Jammu, Shillong, Bhopal, Jodhpur, Shimla, Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh), Jorhat, Siligudi, Chandigarh, Kochi, Srinagar, Chennai, Kohima, Srinagar (Uttarakhand), Coimbatore, Kolkata, Thane, Cuttack, Kozhikode (Calicut), Thiruvananthapuram, Dehradun, Leh, Tiruchirapalli, Delhi, Lucknow, Tirupati, Dharamshala, Ludhiana, Udaipur, Dharwad, Madurai, Varanasi, Dispur, Mandi, Vellore, Faridabad, Mumbai, Vijayawada, Gangtok, Mysore, Visakhapatnam, Gaya, Nagpur, Warangal, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Navi Mumbai.

Result

• UPSC will release the CDS result online through its official website.
• Candidates will be able to check their results by logging in with their credentials.
• The result includes the candidate’s name, roll number, marks obtained in each subject, and overall marks.
• Aspirants who will clear the exam will be called for the SSB Interview.

Number of Vacancies

The official number of vacancies in CDS recruitment 2024 is not available as of now. You may check the number of vacancies as per the last year’s notification given in the following table.

Academies	Vacancies
Indian Military Academy, Dehradun	100
Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala	22
Air Force Academy, Hyderabad	32
Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai (Men)	170
Officers Training Academy, Chennai (Women)	17
Total	341

SSB Interview

• Candidates shortlisted after the CDS exam will be allowed to participate in the SSB Interview.
• It is a 5-day long process to evaluate the candidate’s personality, intelligence, and aptitude.
• The interview consists of various activities such as group discussions, intelligence tests, and personal interviews.
• To do well in the SSB interview, candidates must focus on improving their communication skills, general knowledge, and physical fitness.

Frequently Asked Questions