UPSC CDS 2025 Exam - Exam Date, Registration, Pattern, Syllabus, Sample Papers, Cutoff, Previous Year Papers

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) announced the final results for UPSC CDS I 2024 on Monday, October 21, 2024. Candidates who participated in the Combined Defence Services Examination can view their results on the official UPSC website, upsc.gov.in. The UPSC Combined Defence Services (CDS) Exam 2024 was conducted on March 21, 2024, in offline (pen-and-paper) mode. Those who appeared for the UPSC CDS I 2024 exam on April 21 can check the result on the official website at upsc.gov.in. The result is released in PDF format and contains the names and roll numbers of 8373 candidates who have qualified for the exam.

The UPSC CDS 2 exam was successfully conducted on September 1, 2024. The results will be made available most likely inthe last week of November 2024. Candidates qualifying for the exam will further be invited for SSB interview, after which they will be offered admission to IMA (Indian Military Academy), INA (Indian Naval Academy), AFA (Air Force Academy), and OTA (Officers' Training Academy). The UPSC CDS I 2025 application form will be released on December 11, 2024,on the official website, at upsconline.nic.in. The application process will continue till December 31, 2024.Candidates are required to enter their Email ID and Password/OTP to login to the official website. The CDS 1 2025 exam is scheduled to be conducted on March 13, 2025.

The CDS exam is held twice a year. Candidates matching the eligibility criteria can fill out the UPSC CDS 2024 Application Form by paying an INR 200 fee. SC/ST and female candidates are exempted from the fee payment. The UPSC CDS II final result 2023 was released on April 22, 2024, on the official UPSC website at upsc.gov.in. Based on the UPSC CDS II 2023 final result, 197 candidates were qualified. The candidates' marks will be available on the website after the final declaration of the OTA result. Every year, around 8 lakh candidates appear for the UPSC CDS exam. The Combined Defence Service Exam is quite a prestigious exam that helps one to become an 'A' grade officer in the Armed Forces. In recent years, competition has risen to the next level. Find more about UPSC CDS 2 2024 below.

The highlights regarding the CDS 2024 exam process are given below:

The latest dates for the UPSC CDS 2024 exam have been provided below:

UPSC CDS 1 2024

 UPSC CDS 2 2024

The UPSC CDS admit card 2024 will be made available by the UPSC on its official website. It is mandatory for all candidates to carry a printout of the e-admit card to the examination center, along with them.  

Applicants can now download their admit card and check it carefully. If there is any mistake in the details provided on the CDS admit card, the aspirant must inform the UPSC immediately via mail. The details mentioned on UPSC CDS Admit Card 2024 are as follows:

• Name
• Date of Birth
• Photograph
• Registration number
• Name of Exam Centre
• Date of Exam
• Reporting Time

If any aspirant faces any problem in downloading their CDS admit card they can also contact the UPSC immediately.

UPSC CDS answer keys for English, GS, and Mathematics papers for each set, are released on the official website of UPSC at upsc.gov.in. The commission releases the CDS answer keys upon completion of the examination process. UPSC CDS final result 2024 will be declared in December 2024 and hence will the official answer keys be uploaded by the commission. However, some coaching institutes release the UPSC CDS 2024 Answer Key for all the sets on their respective websites one or two days after the exam. 

UPSC CDS Result 2024 is released on the official website at upsc.gov.in. The candidates can check the UPSC CDS Result 2024 for written examination on the official website. The commission uploads a PDF that contains the names and roll numbers of the qualified candidates. The list of marks of recommended candidates contains information regarding the DOB and total marks obtained by the selected candidates in the written exam and SSB.

UPSC CDS Cut Off 2024 will be released after the declaration of the final result. The tentative cut off for the CDS exam 2024 has been provided in the following table:

The CDS exam is conducted across the country in 41 cities. The allotment of the CDS exam centre will be issued on a first-come, first-serve basis.

All students are required to check their eligibility criteria before applying for the CDS exam. UPSC CDS I 2024 Eligibility Criteria have been briefly discussed here:

CDS Exam Nationality

To be eligible for the CDS Exam, a candidate must be unmarried and must either be:

• A Citizen of India, or
• A Subject of Bhutan, or
• A Subject of Nepal, or
• A Tibetan refugee who came over to India before the 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
• 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.

CDS Exam Education Qualification

CDS Exam Age limit 

The aspirants who are interested in filling out the UPSC CDS (I) application form can fill it through online mode. The application form of the CDS exam is divided into two parts which are further divided into Part I and Part II. The steps to apply for the CDS exam are provided below.

Step 1: Visit the official website of the Union Public Services Exam or UPSC - upsconline.nic.in.

Step 2: The aspirants will find an option for an application link, click on that.

Step 3: Click on new registration and complete the registration process.

Step 4: You will receive the registration number and password on your mail-id.

Step 5: Log in using your credentials and click on "Apply Now".

Step 6: Aspirants need to fill in their personal and educational details in the application form.

Step 7: Upload a recent photograph and scanned copy of the signature

Step 8: Choose the examination centre and proceed with the application form.

Step 9: Please check the details once again before submitting the form as no correction is allowed once the application is submitted.

Step 10: Proceed with the application fee payment process and pay your application fees online through any provided options.

Step 11: After successful fee payment, save a soft copy of the application form along with the fee payment receipt for future reference.

For good preparation, it is important for candidates to know the syllabus in depth. They can check the syllabus for English, Mathematics, and General knowledge. The knowledge of detailed UPSC CDS (I) Syllabus 2024 makes it possible for candidates to focus more on important topics.    

UPSC CDS Syllabus for English Paper

Following are the topics that are covered in English paper:

• Spotting Errors Questions
• Sentence Arrangement Questions
• Synonyms & Antonyms
• Selecting Words
• Ordering of Sentence
• Comprehension Questions
• Ordering of words in a sentence
• Fill in the blanks questions
• Idioms and Phrases

UPSC CDS Syllabus for Elementary Mathematics Paper

Following are the topics that are covered in Elementary Mathematics Paper:

• Elementary Number Theory
• Number System
• Elementary Number Theory
• Algebra
• Trignometry
• Geometry
• Mensuration
• Statistics

UPSC CDS Syllabus for General Knowledge Paper

Following are the topics that are covered in General Knowledge Paper:

• Economics
• Physics
• Current Affairs
• Politics
• Chemistry
• Sociology
• History
• Defence-related Award
• Geography
• Environment
• Sport
• Biology
• Cultural

In order to prepare well for the UPSC CDS 2024 written exam, the aspirants have to be well aware of the marking scheme, exam pattern, and preparation tips which will play a major role in getting a strong command over the important topics. The UPSC CDS 2024 Preparation Tips encourage candidates to prepare a timetable and refer to the best available resources for effective preparation.

Preparation Tips for UPSC 2024 English Paper 

• To prepare for English, one can develop the habit of reading the newspaper regularly. Reading the newspaper improves not only one's vocabulary but also one's knowledge of the subject.

• One can refer to basic grammar books to clear the concepts.

• Try to learn a couple of new words on a daily basis. By doing this, a candidate will soon find that he/she is developing a good hold on the language.

• When a candidate starts learning new words, he/she should also try to learn their antonyms and synonyms and also how to use the words in sentences. Try solving previous year's question papers so that candidate has an idea of what to expect.

Preparation Tips for UPSC CDS 2024 General Knowledge Paper

• Read newspapers regularly and watch television for the latest happenings in and around the world.

• Read magazines that cover varied topics ranging from economy to business to trade policies to the latest awardees in the fields of sports, art, and literature. In short, just be aware of all the topics because questions can come from anywhere.

• Refer to past question papers and see the pattern of occurrence of the questions. That will give an idea as to which topics to concentrate on. 

Preparation Tips for UPSC CDS 2024 Elementary Mathematics Paper

• Revise all the topics thoroughly.

• First, the candidate must choose those topics in which they are strong. Later, they can move on to the difficult ones and try to practice as much as possible.

• Concentrate on having a clear concept of all the topics.

Preparation Tips for UPSC CDS Personal Interview: Intelligence and Personality Test Preparation Tips

• Concentrate and develop reasoning ability, written and oral expressions, self-confidence, courage, a positive and cheerful attitude.

• Train your mind to think clearly, rationally and logically.

• Try to improve the way you can influence people through logical arguments.

• Improve your communication skills.

• Try to have a very strong hold on the English language.

• Train yourself to respect your seniors and juniors.

• Develop a cooperative and responsible attitude, which will help in successfully carrying out teamwork.

• Improve your general awareness of national and international issues.

• Begin to think and behave like an officer.

When going to appear for the UPSC CDS exam, candidates must be familiar with the exam pattern. They should know the exam duration and total marks for each of the subjects. To know the UPSC CDS 2024 Exam Pattern, candidates must go through the table provided below: 

UPSC CDS Exam Pattern for IMA, INA, AFA

CDS Exam Pattern for OTA

The detailed information on the number of vacancies is tabulated below. 

CDS (I) 2024 Vacancies

Those candidates who were a part of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) during their college days and hold a “C” certificate in the same will be in an advantageous position in the UPSC CDS entrance exam in the following ways:

1. Can apply for the Special Entry Scheme (SES), i.e getting selected for the SSB (Interview) round without appearing in the written exam

2. Can get into IMA as a certain percentage of seats are reserved for NCC certificate holders (“C”)

3. Benefit in marks for those NCC “C” certificate holders who appears in the UPSC CDS written examination

CDS Books for English Language

CDS Books for General Knowledge 

 CDS Books for Mathematics

The Union Public Service Commission is responsible for conducting the Combined Defence Services Examination. UPSC is India's central recruiting agency that takes care of appointments to and examinations for All India services and group A & group B of Central services. The Commission conducts various examinations including the popular Civil Services Exam, NDA & NA Exam, etc.