CDS Exam

CDS Exam 2022: Combined Defence Services (CDS I) exam will be held on 10 April 2022. However, CDS II 2022 will be conducted on 18 May 2022. CDS stands for Combined Defense Service. CDS is a competitive exam conducted at the national level by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). It is held twice a year to select candidates for Higher level ranks in the Indian Army. CDS exams are held in 2 sessions, one in winter and another in summer.

Both male and female officers are selected through this exam. There are mainly 6 academies that are devoted to train selected candidates. Applicants will have to pass a CDS written test then they are called for a personal interview and the last step is medical test. There is a total of 371 vacancies in this service.

It has been observed that there are a large number of aspirants applying for this entrance examination as it will place them in a reputed officer post. Candidates looking forward to this opportunity must be aware of several aspects such as eligibility criteria, application form, important dates, exam pattern, and many more. For the ease of aspirants, this information has been elucidated in the upcoming sections.

CDS Exam Highlights

Some of the aspects related to the CDS Exam has been tabulated below:

CDS Application Form 2022

UPSC has published the application form for appearing in the CDS (1) exam. The CDS (1) exam will be conducted by the authorities on 10 April 2022. UPSC will be releasing the application form for CDS (2) exam on 18 May 2022 and the form will last till 14 June 2022 on the website.

Candidates for the CDS exam must complete the application form by supplying all required information and documents, which are designated as mandatory for form submission. Applicants will be required to pay a registration fee of INR 1000 in order to submit the application form.

CDS Exam Date 2022

The first thing that should be known to fill the application form is “Important dates of the CDS 2022”. As stated earlier, the exam is conducted two times every year, and the dates also differ accordingly. The dates for the first CDS exam (referred to as CDS 1) conducted in the year 2022 has been depicted in the table given below: 

Here, the dates for the second CDS Exam (referred as CDS 2) has been shown in the table given below:

CDS Exam 2022

CDS Exam 2022 is scheduled to be administered by the UPSC for the 1st round on 10 April 2022. All the aspiring applicants for the exam are required to prepare well so that they can score high enough in the exam to get selected for appearing in the next round for selection in the prescribed format. 

The application form for the second round of CDS Exam 2022 can be found on the official site on 18 May 2022, and applicants will be required to submit their applications before 14 June 2022. UPSC will be conducting the CDS Exam 2022 on 04 September 2022.

CDS Eligibility Criteria 2022

It is crucial to meet the eligibility criteria to apply for any entrance examination. Likewise, for the CDS Examination, this criteria has been decided based on the two categories - Age LImit and Educational Qualification. Such categories have been emphasized in the following subsections.

• Nationality: Those who live in India permanently are eligible to apply for the CDS entrance exam. 
• Age Limit Criteria: For CDS Exam 2022, there is an age bar set for the candidates who will appear for this particular exam. The age limit varies from the various officer posts. Aspirants who want to know the details with respect to age limit can refer to the table given below:

• Educational Qualification: Similar to age limit criteria, the academic qualification varies as per the officer posts. Such details have been shown below:

CDS Exam Pattern 2022 

Candidates will have to attend the examination offline. The exam is objective based.The CDS exam will be conducted in two phases. The first one is Written-test, and the other is the Interview. Except for OTA, the exam pattern is the same for INA, IMA, and AFA. The detailed information regarding the CDS 2022 Exam pattern, including total marks and nature of questions particularly for OTA, INA, IMA, and AFA, have been highlighted below: 

For OTA: The exam paper for OTA will consist of two sections, namely, English and General Knowledge, and the paper will be 200 marks. Students will be given 2 hours to complete the Exam.

For INA/IMA/AFA: Unlike OTA, three sections will be incorporated in the paper meant for INA/IMA/AFA. The test paper will be of 300 marks. Focusing on the nature of the questions, three sections will be English, General Knowledge, and Elementary Mathematics. Apart from it, the paper should be completed in 3 hours (1 hour for each section).

Also check Out: NDA Application Form

How to Prepare for CDS Exam?

CDS Exam is held twice a year for the Navy, Army, and Air Force recruitment. Many students are applying for the CDS exam, and it is one of the tough Exams for cracking the Exam. Students must appear in written tests, Physical and Interview rounds to check the personality and intelligence of students. Here are some preparation guides that can help you clear the CDS exam:

1. Make a Plan
2. Assimilate the Syllabus
3. Updating your General Knowledge
4. Time Management
5. One Subject at a Time
6. Practice is the Key
7. Personality Development
8. Fostering a Positive Attitude

CDS Exam Form

The CDS Exam form for appearing in the exam for the year 2022-23 has been released by the authorities. Aspirants who are dreaming of appearing in the CDS exam should fill up the application form that has been listed on the official website.

All students are notified that the CDS application form will be released on the website on 18 May 2022 and will last till 14 June 2022. In the CDS Exam form, the applicants are required to fill multiple data that will include uploading of various documents also.

CDS Exam 2022 Registration Process

For students dreaming of appearing in the CDS (1) Exam that will be conducted by the authorities on 18 May 2022, they need to apply for it before 10 April 2022. The last date for uploading the CDS (1) Exam Form 2022 is 10 April 2022. For those students, the process of registration for the exam is listed below:

• The CDS Exam Form 2022 has been released by the UPSC on its official website, and the interested students are required to visit its official website - www.upsc.gov.in.
• Applicants will have to visit the official portal for the CDS application form on the website.
• Read the guidelines listed by the authorities. After properly reading the instructions, click on the link stating “Yes.”
• You will be redirected to a new page. On this page, the students will have to log in by providing their name, parental details, contact details, etc. 
• After filling in these details, the students will have to select the next button and move toward the next page of the form. This form will ask the students to upload their documents and other information.
• Now the students will have to pay the application fee that the students can pay by selecting the mode of their preference as either the online mode (net banking, UPI, Credit/debit cards) or can use the offline mode (DD, e-challan).
• Download the confirmation details for the fee submission for future use.
• Confirmation details for the submission of CDS Exam Form 2022 will be sent to the applicants through the contact details provided by the applicant at the time of form submission.

CDS Exam Interview 

The Interview conducted after the CDS 2022 written test is termed Services Selection Board (SSB) Interview. It is divided into two phases- Phase 1 & Phase 2. The detailed information about the Interview has been emphasized below:

Phase -1: At the first phase of the SSB Interview, candidates need to go through two tests, namely, Officer Intelligence Rating Tests (OIRT) and Picture Perception Description Test (PP&DT).

Phase -2: Three tests are conducted under CDS 2022 Exam Phase- 2. Psychological Tests, Group Tests, and Group Tasks are undertaken in the second phase of the SSB Interview.  

CDS Admit Card 2022

The most important thing that should be taken on the CDS exam day is the "Admit Card." After completing the application form, the candidates will download the admit card online before three weeks of the CDS 2022 exam. The application form should be filled correctly; otherwise, their form will get rejected, and eventually, they will not be able to download the admit card. Thus, applicants are requested to pay attention while filling the application form for the CDS Exam. 

The main point is UPSC releases the CDS Admit Cards for 2022 on the official website by providing the registration number (or related details) and date of birth. 

CDS Answer Key 2022

UPSC will be releasing the CDS answer key 2022 on its official website after they have conducted the CDS exam 2022. The answer key will have the correct answers for every question listed in the exam paper. Students can use this answer key to match their answers with those in the answer key.

After the authorities have released the CDS answer key, the students will be allotted time for checking and claiming for any of the issues related to an answer or answer key. The objection can be raised by the applicants on the official portal desired for the answer key.

CDS Result 2022

The CDS 2022 Results are declared online by the UPSC and made available on its official website. It is mandatory to pass both - written test and an Interview. However, the results related to the written test and the final selection are disclosed separately. The roll number of the shortlisted students is indicated academy-wise on the final result. Afterward, the name and roll number of the recruited people are mentioned on the final merit list.

Why Choose CDS 2022?

There are several advantages to opting for CDS 2022 as the following career path. It opens a wide range of job opportunities for those who want to contribute to the nation's welfare. 

The main advantages of CDS have been pointed below:

• Foreign Visits: After joining the defence services, one can have the opportunity to explore abroad. Indian armies are being given tasks to communicate to the armies belonging to other countries.
• Reputed Job Opportunities: After getting shortlisted in the CDS Exam, one can have a wide range of job opportunities in the government and private sectors. Besides this, the jobs related to the defence or army are seen as a well-reputed and respected jobs in society.
• High-paid Salary: Undoubtedly, one can earn a high salary after entering the defence forces. It offers financial stability to those who are contributing to the nation.   
• Benefits and Allowances: Another advantage of joining defence services is that army officials enjoy many benefits with respect to transportation, medical, accommodations, and other facilities. All of these are made either free of cost or less expensive. 

FAQ

Q1. What is the expected date for the CDS-1 Exam conducted in 2022?

Ans. The expected date of the CDS-1 Exam is 9 April 2022.

Q2. What is the last date to apply for the CDS exam?

Ans. The last date to fill the application form for the CDS exam is 10 January 2022.

Q3.What is the age eligibility to apply for the CDS Exam?

Ans. To apply for the CDS Exam, a candidate must be between 20-24 years.

Q4. Who can apply for the CDS exam?

Ans. Students must hold a Bachelor's degree from a recognized university to apply for the CDS Exam. However, for INA and IMA, it is B.Sc with Physics, Mathematics, Or Engineering.

Q5. What would be the expected salary of the shortlisted candidates from the CDS 2022 exam?

Ans. The average salary of the selected candidate from the CDS exam ranges to Rs. 56,000 per month.