The CDS exam is conducted twice a year by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The next CDS exam date is 19th November 2017. The purpose of this exam is recruitment to the office cadre of the Army, Navy and Air Force. This article will give you all the information related to CDS 2017 Notification, Eligibility, CDS Exam Date, Important dates for CDS and the process to apply for CDS online.
Once the candidate clears the written CDS exam, he appears for Service Selection Board interviews. Post final selection (that is, after clearing the interview), a merit list ranking is prepared and the selected candidates are sent to any of the following:
• Indian Military Academy, Dehradun
• Indian Naval Academy, Goa
• Air Force Academy, Begumpet, Hyderabad
• Officers Training Academy, Chennai
CDS: Important Exam Dates
The important dates for the exam are as follows:
| Event | Date |
| Date of Notification | O8/08/2017 |
| Registrations Start | 09/08/2017 |
| Registrations End | 09/09/2017 |
| Date  of Examination | 19/11/2017 |
UPSC CDS (II) Vacancy Details
Total No. of Posts: 413
Name of the Post:Â
Combined Defence Service Examination (II), 2016 (Including SSC Women (Non-Technical) Course)
i) Indian Military Academy, Dehradun 143rd Course commencing in July 2017 [including 19 vacancies reserved for NCC ‘C’ Certificate (Army Wing) holders] – 150 vacancies
ii) Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala course commencing in July 2017 Executive (General Service) (including 06 vacancies reserved for NCC ‘C’ Certificate holders (Naval Wing) – 45 vacancies
ii) Air Force Academy, Hyderabad (Pre-Flying) Training Course commencing in July 2017 i.e. – 32 vacancies
iv) Officers Training Academy, Chennai 106th SSC Course (for Men) communing in October 2017 – 175 vacancies
v) Officers Training Academy, Chennai 20th SSC Women (Non-Technical) Course commencing October 2017- 11 vacancies
CDS: Eligibility for CDS Exam
Nationality:Â A candidates must either be:
(i) a Citizen of India, or
(ii) a subject of Bhutan, or
(iii) a subject of Nepal, or
(iv) a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before the1st January, 1962Â with the intention of permanently setting in India, or
(v) a person of India 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 setting in India. Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (ii), (iii),
(iv) and (v) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Govt of India
Certificate of eligibility will, however, not be necessary in the case of candidates who are Gorkha subjects of Nepal
A candidates in whose case a certificate of eligibility is necessary, may be admitted to the examination provisionally subject to the necessary certificate being given to him/her by the Govt. before declaration of result by UPSC
AGE LIMITS, SEX AND MARITAL STATUS
i) For Indian Military Academy (IMA):Unmarried male candidates born not earlier than02nd July 1993 and not later than 1st July 1998 only are eligible
ii) For Indian Naval Academy (INA):Unmarried Male candidates born not earlier than2nd July 1993 and not later than 01st July 1998 only are eligible
iii) For Air Force Academy (AFA) – Age: 20 to 24 years as on 01st July 2017 i.e. born not earlier than 02nd July 1993 and not later than 01 July 1997 (Upper age limit for candidates holding valid and current Commercial Pilot Licence issued by DGCA (India) is relaxable upto 26 yrs. i.e. born not earlier than 02nd July 1991 and not later than 01st July 1997) only are eligible
Note: Candidate below 25 years of age must be unmarried
iv) For Officers Training Academy (SSC Course for Men):Male candidates (married or unmarried) born not earlier than 02nd July 1992 and not later than01st July 1998 only are eligible
v) For Officer Training Academy (SSC Women Non-Technical Course):Unmarried Women, issueless widows who have not remarried and issueless divorces (in possession of divorce documents) who have not remarried are eligible
They should have been born not earlier than 02nd July 1992 and not later than 01st July 1998 are eligible
CDS: Process to Apply Online
How to Apply for the CDS Exam?Â
Candidates are required to apply online only using the link:
The complete PDF with the notification information and details pertaining to age limit, eligibility, and so on can be downloaded here.
CDS: Exam Pattern
The CDS exam selection process comprises of the following parts:
(a) Written examination
(b) Interview for intelligence and personality test of such candidates as may be called for interview at one of the Services Selection Centres.
Pattern for the Written exam:
The subjects of the written examination, the time allowed and the maximum marks allotted to each subject will be as follows:
Important Details for Scheme of Marking for the Exam:
- The maximum marks allotted to the written examination and to the interviews will be equal for each course i.e. the maximum marks allotted to the written examination and to the interviews will be 300, 300, 300 and 200 each for admission to the Indian Military Academy, Indian Naval Academy, Air Force Academy and Officers’ Training Academy respectively.
- The papers in all the subjects will consist of objective type questions only.
- The question papers (Test Booklets) of General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics will be set bilingually in Hindi as well as English.
- In the question papers, wherever necessary, questions involving the metric system of Weights and Measures only will be set.
