CDS 2019 Exam Application, Result & Other Details
CDS 2019 stands for Combined Defense Services which will be held by the Union Public Service Commission, Government of India to select candidates for various defence academies throughout India. The examination will be conducted in the month of June in the year 2019. The candidates who have been selected through this examination will be eligible to gain admission into various defence academies throughout India, them being, Officer Training Academy (OTA), Indian Naval Academy (INA), India Air Force Academy (IAFA) and Indian Military Academy (IMA). More than 400 posts are likely to be filled through this examination and an upwards of 2 lakhs candidates are expected to attend the examination. The Combined Defense Service Exam will consist of two stages, Stage 1 and Stage 2, and the mode of the exam will be completely offline involving pen and paper.
CDS 2019 stands for Combined Defense Services which will be held by the Union Public Service Commission, Government of India to select candidates for various defence academies throughout India. The examination will be conducted in the month of June in the year 2019. The candidates who have been selected through this examination will be eligible to gain admission into various defence academies throughout India, them being, Officer Training Academy (OTA), Indian Naval Academy (INA), India Air Force Academy (IAFA) and Indian Military Academy (IMA). More than 400 posts are likely to be filled through this examination and an upwards of 2 lakhs candidates are expected to attend the examination. The Combined Defense Service Exam will consist of two stages, Stage 1 and Stage 2, and the mode of the exam will be completely offline involving pen and paper.
Important Dates of CDS 2019 Exam
Candidates who are interested in taking this defence service exam must keep the following important dates in mind. No extension under any circumstances will be given to applicants who have missed any of the dates. The selection process will be held throughout the year and will consist of two stages of examination and an interview round. Only the candidates who pass the previous stages of examination are eligible to participate in the corresponding stages:
| Important Events | Corresponding Dates |
| Notification Date for Stage 1 | October 31st, 2018 |
| Application Forms Available from | October 31st, 2018 |
| Application final Date | November 26th, 2018 |
| Admit Card issuance | December 2018 |
| CDS 2019 Stage 1 Exam Date | February 3rd, 2019 |
| Stage 1 | March 2019 |
| Notification for Stage 2 | August 2019 |
| Applications begin from | August 2019 |
| Application submission ends in | November 2019 |
| CDS 2019 Stage 2 Exam Date | November 2019 |
| Stage 2 Result Declaration | January / February 2019 |
| SSB Interview | April 2019 |
Eligibility Criteria
Candidates who are interested in taking this year’s examination need to look into the following eligibility criteria set in order to take the examination. The eligibility criteria vary for various arms of defence academies. The general criteria set for the 2019 version of CDS exams are:
- The candidate must be a citizen of India, Nepal or Bhutan. Tibetan migrants or migrants of Indian origin from Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Zaire, Malawi, Zambia, Vietnam and Ethiopia are also eligible to apply for the examination.
- Candidates must be physically fit and must be able to pass the physical standards set according to Appendix 4.
For Officers Training Academy (OTA), the eligibility criteria for the candidates set are:
- The women candidates applying must be unmarried. The male candidates, however, have no such restriction. Women candidates who have divorced are also eligible to apply.
- The applying candidates must not be older than 24 years of age and should not be younger than 18 years. 1st of January, 2019 is taken as the reference date.
- The candidate must be in possession of a degree from a recognised university. Candidates appearing in the final year of their respective degree are also eligible to apply
For the Indian Military Academy (IMA), the eligibility criteria set are:
- Only male candidates are eligible to apply for this academy.
- The candidates must be unmarried as of the date of admission.
- The applicant must not be older than 23 years and should not be younger than 18 years as of 1st of January, 2019.
- A degree from a recognised educational institution is mandatory. Candidates appearing in the final year of their respective degree are also eligible to apply.
Candiates who are apply for the Indian Naval Academy must meet the following elibility criteria:
- Only male candidates are eligible to apply for a position in Indian Naval Academy.
- The applicant must be unmarried as of the date of applying.
- The applicant should not be older than 23 years or should not be younger than 19 years as of 1st of July 2019.
- The applicant must have an engineering degree from a recognised institution. Candidates appearing in the final year of their respective degree are also eligible to apply for the examination.
The Indian Air Force Academy has the following eligibility criteria set for students appearing for the CDS 2019 examination:
- Both male and female candidates are eligible to apply and appear for the examination.
- The candidates must be unmarried at the time of application.
- The candidates should not be older than 24 years or younger than 20 years as of 1st of January 2019. The age is relaxed till 26 years for the candidates who have a valid Commercial Pilot License provided by DGCA, India.
- The applicant must have a valid degree from any of the recognised institution in India.
- The candidates must have taken Physics and Mathematics as two of their optional subjects in their +2 Board examination.
How to Apply for CDS 2019 Exam
Candidates who meet the eligibility criteria of their favoured academy and wish to apply for the CDS 2019 examination must take the following procedure in order to successfully apply for the examination. The application process is completely online. The candidates need to apply for both stages of examination separately:
- Go to the official website of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
- Once there, the candidate must register themselves in the portal by providing a valid email ID and phone number. Only one application per candidate is allowed. Candidate with multiple applications will be summarily dismissed.
- Once registered, the applicant will receive a registration number and password, using which can log in to the portal.
- After logging in to the portal, the candidate can start providing all the details in the required fields. Only applications with complete and accurate details will be provided with an admit card.
- Once completed, candidates need to upload a soft copy of their passport size photo and their signature. No documents supporting their claims need to be uploaded.
- The page will transition to a payment gateway after pressing the next button and the applicant has to make a payment of ₹200 for the application fees. The payment can be done through any of the candidate’s favoured online payment method including debit card, credit card, internet banking or mobile wallets. Female candidates as well as candidates belonging to SC or ST categories need not pay any application fees.
- Press the SUBMIT button if the application process is completed. A window of addtional 10 days will be provided in which the applicant can edit the application.
Admit Card and Exam Pattern
The admit card for CDS 2019 examination will be given prior to 3 weeks from the commencement of the examination. Applicants can go to the official UPSC website to download the admit card. The admit card will be provided only to the candidates who have given complete and correct application forms. In addition to the admit card details,
| Specifications | Further Details |
| Examination Mode | Offiline, Pen and paper based |
| Total number of questions | 300 multiple Choice Questions |
| Total Questions for OTA | 200 MCQs |
| Maximum Marks | 300 marks (200 – Officer Training Academy) |
| Exam Duration | 120 minutes |
| Language of the exam | English or Hindi |
| Marking Scheme | +1 mark for every correct answer. 1/3rd marks will be deducted for every wrong answer |
Selection Procedure
After the candidates have successfully completed the two stages of the examination, the results of the second stage along with the minimum qualifying marks will be announced on the month of January or February. The candidates who have scored above the minimum qualifying marks need to register themselves for the interview process with the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). To do so, the candidate needs to go to the official website of joininidanarmy.com and register themselves for an account and select one of the interview dates to attend the interview. After successfully completing the interview round, the candidate can then join any one of the prestigious Indian armed forces academy, provided the candidate meets the eligibility criteria.
