The Union Public Service Commission conducts the Combined Defence Services Examination (abbreviated as CDS Exam) twice a year. This exam is conducted for granting admission to the Indian Military Academy, Officers Training Academy, Indian Naval Academy, and Indian Air Force Academy. The UPSC CDS exam is usually conducted twice a year, in February and September. This national-level defense entrance examination is taken by thousands of candidates. To know more about UPSC CDS Notification, read the article.
- The exam consists of 4 stages: a written exam, SSB interview, document verification and medical examination.
- The written exam will have subjects like English, General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics.
- The overall difficulty level of the written test in 2021 was moderate to easy.
- The application for the UPSC CDS 2 exam is starting on 18th May and ending on 14th June.
| Exam Name | Combined Defence Services Examination |
| Name of the Authority | Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) |
| Level of the Exam | National Level |
| Frequency of the Exam | Twice a year |
| Mode of the Exam | Online |
| Time Duration | Two hours |
| Language Given | English and Hindi |
| Application Fees | Rs 200 |
| Official website | UPSC |
Table of Contents
UPSC CDS Notification
The notification for both cycles are given below.
| UPSC CDS 1 Notification | Download Here |
| UPSC CDS 2 Notification | Download Here |
UPSC CDS Exam Dates 2022
Given below are the exam dates for UPSC CDS Exam 2022, candidates must refer to the UPSC CDS exam dates to not miss out on anything:
| Events | CDS 1I Dates | CDS 2 Dates |
| CDS 2022 Notification Release Date | 22nd December 2021 | 18th May 2022 |
| Online Registration Start Date | 22nd December 2021 | 18th May 2022 |
| Online Registration End Date | 11th January 2022 (6 pm) | 14th June 2022 |
| Online Application Withdrawn | 18th to 24th January 2022 | To be notified |
| CDS Admit Card Release Date | 14th March 2022 | August 2022 |
| CDS Exam Date 2022 | 10th April 2022 | 04th September 2022 |
| CDS Answer Key (Official) | May 2022 | October 2022 |
| CDS Result 2022 | May 2022 | October 2022 |
| Interview Dates | To be notified soon | To be notified soon |
| Final Result | To be notified soon | To be notified soon |
UPSC CDS 2 Vacancy 2022
A total number of 341 vacancies are released for the UPSC CDS II Recruitment 2022. The UPSC had released a total of 345 vacancies for the UPSC CDS 2020-21 Cycle 1.
| Name of the academy | Number of Vacancies |
| Indian Military Academy, Dehradun | 100 |
| Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala | 22 |
| Air Force Academy, Hyderabad | 32 |
| Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai (Madras) SSC Men | 170 |
| Officers Training Academy, Chennai SSC Women | 17 |
| Total Vacancies | 341 |
UPSC CDS Eligibility Criteria 2022
Candidates applying for the UPSC CDS Exam 2022 should keep in mind that they have to fulfill all the eligibility criteria like age limit, eligibility, educational qualification criteria, etc. to be eligible to apply for their desired post. The eligibility criteria as per the UPSC CDS Notification are as follows.
UPSC CDS Age Criteria
| Various Departments | Age Criteria in each case |
| Indian Military Academy | Candidates born not earlier than 2nd July 1999 and not later than 1st July 2004 |
| Indian Naval Academy | Candidates born not earlier than 2nd July 1999 and not later than 1st July 2004 |
| Indian Air Force Academy | Candidates born not earlier than 2nd July 1999 and not later than 1st July 2002 |
| Officers’ Training Academy | Candidates born not earlier than 2nd July 1997 and not later than 1st July 2004 |
| Officers’ Training Academy—(SSC Women Non-Technical Course) | Candidates born not earlier than 2nd July 1997 and not later than 1st July 2004 |
UPSC CDS Gender Criteria
| Various Departments Involved | Gender | Status Required in each case |
| Indian Military Academy | Male | Unmarried |
| Indian Naval Academy | Male | Unmarried |
| Indian Air Force Academy | Male | Unmarried |
| Officer Training Academy | Male | Unmarried |
| Officer Training Academy | Female | Unmarried |
UPSC CDS Educational Qualification Criteria
| Various Posts | Educational Qualification Criteria Required |
| IMA (Indian Military Academy) | Candidates should have a degree from a well-reputed university or Institution |
| INA (Indian Naval Academy) | Candidates should possess an Engineering Degree from a well-reputed university or institution. |
| AFA (Air Force Academy) | Candidates should possess an Engineering Degree with Physics & Maths in their 12th Std from a recognized university ORBachelor of Engineering |
| OTA (Officer Training Academy) | Candidates should be Graduates from a well-reputed University |
UPSC CDS Nationality Criteria
The Nationality Criteria of the exam is as follows.
- A Citizen of India,
- A subject of Nepal,
- A subject of Bhutan, or
- A Tibetan refugee who came to India before January 1, 1962, with the intention of settling permanently in India, or of Indian origins who migrated to India from Burma, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Malawi, Zaire, Zambia, and Ethiopia, or Vietnamese origins who migrated to India with the aim of settling permanently in India.
UPSC CDS Physical and Mental Criteria
The physical and mental criteria are given in the picture below.
How To Apply Online for the UPSC CDS 2022 Recruitment?
To apply for the UPSC CDS Exam, check out the steps below. The online application process will start from 18 May and end on 14th June, 2022 at 6 PM.
Step 1: Go to the official website of UPSC.
Step 2: Go to the Examination tab and click on apply for CDS.
Step 3: Enter your personal credentials under “Part I” of the application form.
Step 4: A registration ID will be generated after “Part A” and you can proceed to “Part B” of the CDS I application form.
Step 5: Upload all scanned documents and signatures in the specified format. (PDF, JPEG, etc.)
Step 6: Pay the application fee and select your examination center.
Step 7: Double-check all details and finally click on “Submit”.
Step 8: Keep the application number generated safely.
Step 9: Take a print-out of the application form for future reference.
UPSC CDS 2022 Application Fee
The application fee has been listed below.
| Category | Fee |
| SC, ST, and Females | Exempted |
| Others | Rs 200 |
UPSC CDS Selection Process
The UPSC CDS selection procedure involves four stages which the candidates have to clear successfully to go a step closer to obtaining their desired post in academies like AFA, IMA, etc. The various selection stages include
1. Written Exam
2. SSB Interview/Personality Test
3. Document Verification
4. Medical Examination
UPSC CDS Exam Pattern
According to the UPSC CDS Notification, the details of the exam pattern is given below.
Exam Pattern for INA, IMA & IAF
| Various Subjects | Total Marks of each subject |
| English | 100 |
| General Knowledge | 100 |
| Elementary Mathematics | 100 |
| Total | 300 |
- Duration of each paper will be 2 hours each.
- The paper will have objective type of questions in nature.
Exam Pattern for Officer Training Academy (OTA)
| Various Subjects | Total Marks of each subject |
| English | 100 |
| General Knowledge | 100 |
| Total | 200 |
- Duration of each paper will be 2 hours each.
- The paper will have objective type of questions in nature.
Exam Pattern for the SSB Interview
The SSB Interview process has two stages.
Stage I: This stage will involve a Picture Perception & Description Test which will basically test the Officer’s Intelligence.
Stage II: This stage will test how the minds of the candidates work via psychological tests, interview round, group testing office tasks as well as a conference round.
UPSC CDS Exam Centre
The UPSC CDS exam centre information will be printed on the admit card of the candidates. They will get the option to choose their exam centres when filling out the application form.
| 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 | Jabalpur | Ranchi |
| Bengaluru | Jaipur | Sambalpur |
| Bareilly | Jammu | Shillong |
| Bhopal | Jodhpur | Shimla |
| Bilaspur | Jorhat | Siliguri |
| Chandigarh | Kochi | Srinagar |
| Chennai | Kohima | Srinagar (Uttarakhand) |
| Coimbatore | Kolkata | Thane |
| Cuttack | Kozhikode | Thiruvananthapuram |
| Dehradun | Leh | Tiruchirapalli |
| Delhi | Lucknow | Tirupati |
| Dharwad | Ludhiana | Udaipur |
| Dispur | Madurai | Varanasi |
| Faridabad | Mumbai | Vellore |
| Gangtok | Mysore | Vijayawada |
| Gaya | Nagpur | V |
UPSC CDS Salary 2022
The candidates who qualify for this prestigious UPSC CDS examination will receive a handsome pay based on the 7th pay Commission. The CDS salary range varies rank-wise and also with the years of service rendered by the officers. Let us look at the table below for a better understanding:
| Sr. No. | Ranks | Pay Scale | Pay Matrix Level |
| 1 | Lieutenant | Rs. 56,100 – 1,77,500/- | Level 10 |
| 2 | Captain | Rs. 61,300 – 1,93,000 | Level 10B |
| 3 | Major | Rs. 69,400 – 2,07,200 | Level 11 |
| 4 | Lieutenant Colonel | Rs. 1,21,200 – 2,12,400 | Level 12A |
| 5 | Colonel | Rs. 1,30,600 – 2,15,900 | Level 13 |
| 6 | Brigadier | Rs. 1,39,600 – 2,17,600 | Level 13A |
| 7 | Major General | Rs. 1,44,200 – 2,18,200 | Level 14 |
| 8 | Lieutenant General | Rs. 1,82,200 – 2,24,400 | Level 15 |
| 9 | HAG + Scale | Rs. 2,05,400 – 2,24,400 | Level 16 |
| 10 | VCOAS | Rs. 2,25,000 | Level 17 |
| 11 | COAS | Rs. 2,25,000 | Level 18 |
UPSC CDS Cut-Off 2022
Candidates who want to take the UPSC CDS recruitment 2022 written examination should know the cut off marks. Here we have provided the same.
| Academy | Written Exam | Final Exam |
| IMA | 130 | 250 |
| INA | 118 | 242 |
| AFA | 143 | 274 |
| OTA (Men) | 93 | 173 |
| OTA (Women) | 93 | 177 |
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UPSC CDS Notification 2022
The UPSC CDS eligibility criteria are a set of age, educational, nationality, and physical standards that candidates must meet in order to be considered for the exam.
Women can apply for the UPSC CDS Exam, but they can only attend the OTA.
Yes, as per the UPSC CDS notification it is compulsory to appear for both papers.
The nature of paper in the UPSC CDS Exam 2022 will be objective in nature.
The time duration of each paper in the written examination of UPSC CDS is 2 hours.
