CDS Exam Pattern 2023

CDS Exam Pattern 2023

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts several exams each year. Among these, one of the most aspired examinations is the Combined Defence Services exam or the CDS Exam. The UPSC has released the official notification for the UPSC CDS (I) 2023 on its website on 21st December 2022.

• This exam acts as an entrance test for admission into the various military academies. These academies include the Indian Military Academy, Indian Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, and Officers’ Training Academy.
• To devise a preparation strategy, the candidates must be initially aware of the CDS Exam Pattern and the syllabus. This article will cover all the minute details about the UPSC CDS Exam Pattern. CDS Exam Pattern 2023
• The candidates can also understand various other details like marking schemes, exam analysis, etc.
• The aspirants can also download all of this information in the form of a PDF, which they may refer to at any point during the preparation.

Read about CDS interview questions here.

To get the detailed CDS Selection Process, candidates can visit the linked article.

UPSC CDS Exam Pattern 2023 – Written Test

The pattern of examination is not the same for all military academies. The exam conducted for the Officers’ Training Academy varies slightly in terms of the number of sections. However, the questions in both papers will be objective type only. The paper will be bilingual. The details are as follows:

Get to know how to crack CDS on the first attempt with detailed strategies and guides to prepare for your examination here.

A. UPSC CDS Exam Pattern For Indian Military Academy, Indian Naval Academy, and Air Force Academy

A total of three sections will be included in the test namely English, GK, and Elementary Mathematics. Each section will carry 100 marks and the duration will be 2 hours.

For details on the CDS Previous Year Question Papers, refer to the linked article.

B. UPSC CDS Exam Pattern For Officers’ Training Academy

The Elementary Mathematics section is not included in this exam. All other aspects like duration and total marks remain the same as discussed above.

To get the detailed UPSC CDS Admit Card, candidates can visit the linked article.

CDS Exam Marking Scheme 2023

• There will be four alternatives provided as an answer to each question. For every wrong answer, 1/3rd of the mark i.e 0.33 times the mark assigned to that question will be deducted.
• If two or more choices have been marked as answers, there will be a deduction of 1/3rd mark the same as mentioned above.
• There will be no penalty in the case of unattempted questions.

For details on the UPSC CDS Apply Online, refer to the linked article.

CDS Syllabus 2023

Now since the aspirants are aware of the exam pattern and marking scheme, they can have a look at the basic overview of the CDS Syllabus.

A. English

This section will judge the candidates’ understanding of English and workmanlike use of words. The level of English will be such as may be expected of a graduate of an Indian University.

For details on the UPSC CDS Eligibility Criteria, refer to the linked article.

B. General Knowledge

The difficulty level of this section will be also according to that expected of a educated person who have not made a special study of scientific subjects.

• Current events
• Matters of everyday observation
• Scientific aspects as expected from a layman
• History of India
• Geography

To get the detailed UPSC CDS Syllabus, candidates can visit the linked article.

C. Elementary Mathematics

The standard of the papers in the Elementary Mathematics section will be that of the Matriculation level.

• Athletics
• Algebra
• Trigonometry
• Geometry
• Mensuration
• Statistics

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CDS Exam Pattern 2023 – SSB Interview

The maximum marks for the Service Selection Board (SSB) Interview will be 300 for IMA, INA & AFA. For OTA, it will be conducted for 200 marks. The candidate’s performance will be judged by three officers namely Interviewing Officer (IO), a Psychologist, and Group Testing Officer (GTO). There is no separate weightage for each test. The marks are allotted by assessors only after taking into consideration the performance of the candidate holistically in all the tests. The SSB Interview can be classified into two stages:

A. Stage 1

• OIR (Officer Intelligence Rating) Test
• PP & DT ( Picture Perception Description Test)

Check out CDS Salary and Job Profile here.

B. Stage 2

• Interview
• Group Testing Officer Tasks
• Psychology Tests
• Conference

Get details about CDS exam centres here.

The Psychological Test includes:

1. Situation Reaction Test
2. Self Description Test
3. Word Association Test
4. Thematic Apperception Test

The various Group Activities includes:

1. Group Discussion
2. Group Obstacle Race
3. Lecturette
4. Group Planning Exercise
5. Individual Obstacles
6. Command Task
7. Final Group Task
8. Progressive Group Task
9. Half Group Task

For details on the UPSC CDS Books refer to the linked article.

CSD Exam 2023: Instructions to Fill the Answer Sheet

Candidates are urged to carefully follow the directions for filling out the OMR sheet, as the answer sheets will be analyzed by a computer, and any deviation from these instructions may result in a score decrease. Candidates must fill in relevant details on the Answer Sheet before marking answers on the sheet. Candidates must confirm that the CDS Answer Sheet is numbered at the bottom after getting it. If it isn’t numbered, it must be replaced with one that is. While filling out the CDS answer sheet, keep the following instructions in mind:

• Candidates must make use of a black ball pen to mark their responses/answers.
• The Exam Booklet Series will be denoted in the upper right-hand corner of the Booklet by the letters A, B, C, or D.
• The proper subject code may be found in the exam booklet. After that, using black ink, encrypt the exam booklet series, subject code, and roll number.
• After getting the Test Booklet, write and encode a set of tests. For instance, you must encode the subject code for an English paper from the ‘A’ Test Booklet Series.
• After this, Roll No. must be encoded in the following step.

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CSD Exam Analysis

The candidates can have a look at the subject-wise exam analysis of the CDS Exam. This analysis has been carried out by referring to the previous years’ question papers. This analysis can help the aspirants get an idea regarding the general trend of questions asked in the CDS exam.

Check the Exam Pattern for OTA in CDS here.

A. Elementary Mathematics

The exam analysis including the weightage in terms of the number of questions asked is as follows:

To get the detailed UPSC CDS Answer Key, candidates can visit the linked article.

B. General Knowledge

The aspirants can find the difficulty level of various GK topics asked in the CDS Exam.

Check out CDS GK Questions for Interview here!

C. English

The topic-wise difficulty level along with the weightage is as given below in the table.

For details on the UPSC CDS Cut Off, refer to the linked article.

Best Preparation Books for CDS Exam 2023

Candidates applying for the UPSC CDS should always have access to enough study materials. The majority of students are unsure which reference books they should purchase or read when studying for the test. We have included a selection of books that applicants can use to prepare for the examination in the table below.

Enrol Science Full Course for CDS here!

Hopefully, this article on the CDS Exam Pattern 2023 was informative for all the aspirants. Now since the candidates are aware of the exam pattern, they must start working on a preparation strategy well in advance. If the candidates are looking for appropriate study materials, mock tests, practice questions, etc, they can download the Testbook App.

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