CDS Exam Pattern 2025 - Check CDS 1 Exam Pattern Here

Union Public Service Commission prescribes the UPSC CDS exam pattern 2025 in the official notification. As per the UPSC CDS 2025 exam pattern, the written exam is conducted for the IMA, INA, AFA and OTA courses. According to the CDS exam pattern, to be eligible for these courses, candidates will have to clear a written exam and the SSB interview. The SSB interview is a personality test to get an idea of the candidate’s intelligence that is conducted as part of the.
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While preparing for the exam, candidates can make use of the exam pattern in conjunction with the CDS exam syllabus 2025 to better prepare for the exam. The UPSC CDS exam is conducted for the recruitment of Commissioned Officers in the Indian Military Academy, Officers Training Academy, Indian Naval Academy, and Indian Air Force Academy.

It is important to consult the detailed CDS exam pattern 2025 to better understand the nuances of the exam, such as the stages of the exam, marking scheme, time duration of the exam as well as the subjects on which question papers will be based. Candidates must thoroughly go through the CDS 2025 notification for all information. For more information pertaining to the CDS 2025 exam pattern, read the full article below.

Highlights of CDS 1 Exam Pattern 2025

CDS 2025 Exam Pattern: Stages of CDS exam

The CDS 2025 exam is conducted in 2 phases-

1. Written Examination

2. Interview for intelligence and personality test

CDS Exam Pattern 2025 - For Written Examination

The first stage of the CDS recruitment process is the written exam. According to the UPSC CDS exam pattern, one written exam is conducted for the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Indian Navy Academy (INA) and Air Force Academy (AFA) and another one for the Officers’ Training Academy (OTA). The questions are asked from all three subjects in the written test for IMA, INA, and AFA, whereas there is no mathematics paper for the OTA course.

Hence in the CDS 2025 OTA written exam, the question will be asked from two sections only - English and General Knowledge. The total time duration for the IMA, INA, and AFA written tests is 6 hours whereas for the OTA written test 4 hours is allotted. Candidates can consult the table below for more details regarding the CDS 2025 exam pattern.

CDS Exam Pattern for For IMA, INA, and AFA

Exam Pattern of CDS 2025 for OTA

From the following table, candidates can check the CDS OTA exam pattern to prepare for the OTA exam.

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CDS Exam Pattern 2025 - For SSB Interview

Candidates who qualify in the CDS written exam are required to appear in the SSB interview. For the CDS interview round, candidates will be called at one of the Services Selection Centres. According to the UPSC CDS exam pattern 2025, the interview will be conducted in two stages. Only those candidates who clear stage I of the CDS interview are permitted to appear for stage II. Check below the details about both stages of the CDS interview.

• Stage I: Stage I of the CDS interview consists of Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) tests and Picture Perception and Description Tests (PP and DT).

• Stage II: The CDS interview stage II includes a personal interview, Group testing officer tasks, Psychology Tests and the conference.

Following the CDS exam pattern 2025, these tests will be conducted for four days and the personality of a candidate is assessed by three different assessors - The Interviewing Officer (IO), the Group Testing Officer (GTO) and the Psychologist. There is no separate weightage for each test.

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UPSC CDS Marking Scheme 2025

As per the CDS 2025 exam pattern, candidates are awarded one mark for each correct answer whereas 0,33 marks will be deducted for every wrong answer. There is no negative marking for un-attempted questions, Check below the table to learn more about the CDS marking scheme.

CDS Marking Scheme

CDS Syllabus 2025

UPSC provides CDS 2025 syllabus along with official CDS notification in online mode at upsc.gov.in. The written exam is divided into three sections. In the English sections of the CDS syllabus, candidates need to prepare more with grammar and increase their word power. In order to crack the Maths section of the CDS exam syllabus, the only key is practice.

Read the newspaper daily and keep yourself updated with current affairs for the general awareness section. It is important to go through the entire CDS syllabus before starting the preparation as this will give you a better idea about your weaker and stronger section.

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CDS Mock Test 2025

Candidates preparing for the UPSC CDS 2025 exam must attain the CDS mock tests. The mock test helps the students to know the exact exam pattern of CDS 2025. Candidates can know the CDS exam pressure and the environment of the exam hall. With the help of mock tests, candidates can assess their level of CDS 2025 preparation. There are numerous online mock tests available.

CDS Question Papers 2025

For better preparation for the exam, candidates must solve the previous year's CDS 2025 question paper to understand the important topics. Manage the time in a way so that 2-3 CDS sample question papers can be solved everyday.