CDS Examination Pattern 2020 All you need to know! Hie Viewers! Examinations are popping overhead, so we guess that you guys might be prepared. Talking about the defence sector exams, CDS acronym for Common Defence Services Examinations for the year 2020 has been announced on the UPSC’s official website. Hence, all the facts regarding the exam syllabus, the model papers or the previous year papers including the main examination pattern should be acknowledged well by the preparants.
CDS Examination Pattern 2020: All you need to know!
Now for those who are literally not aware of the things, and are new to Defence field exams, we are here to help and its most important to first of all understand the examination pattern of CDS. Actually the conducting body of CDS examinations is UPSC (Union Public Service Commission), the paper shows up with the qualification levels of UPSC only.
Given Below is the detailed undertaking of the facts and know-how about the Combined Defence Services Examinations pattern:-
| Paper | Scheduled Date of the Paper |
| CDS-1 | 03/02/2019 |
| CDS-2 | 08/09/2019 |
As it is clear by the above-provided notifications; CDS is conducted two times a year i.e. CDS-I and CDS-II. The examination checks the male and female potentials to work for the different defence wings of the Country.
Any aspirant probably, considering himself/herself relevant for admissions into Indian Military Academy(IMA), Indian Naval Academy(INA), Air Force Academy(AFA) and Officer’s Training Academy(OTA) might take this exam for some 500-1000 vacancies recruited on the basis of this examination per year.
No Doubt, CDS is considered to be a really competitive and an opportunistic examination in India. The selected candidates get a golden opportunity to join the defence wings and serve for their Nation. If you are looking for a job that provides you with ways to work for your Country, here I guess you get the best platform. In order to familiarize yourself with the written pattern of the CDS examination, to help you improvise your writing skills as well as test-taking skills, you may look upon the following details:-
CLICK HERE: To open up the UPSC content on CDS-I, 2019
CLICK HERE: Everything about the CDS-II examination.
Marking Scheme of CDS Examination, 2020
Reading the overview of the examination given as such in the upper paragraphs, it is very clear that CDS examination is held in two languages i.e. Hindi and English. The examination pattern is simple. The aspirant need not stress over many subjects or get into the detailed analysis of any subject. Rather the focus should be made on what is asked and how to answer in the required structural format.
- CDS Previous Year Papers Download (Combined Defence Services)
- CDS Exam Study Materials Download Pdf, By Disha Publications
Phases of CDS Examination 2020:-
The whole examination is divided into two phases:-
- Written Examination
- SSB Interview.
Written Examination-
In both of the CDS-I and CDS-II examinations, this written part carries a total of 340 multiple choice questions for admissions into IMA, INA and AFA, belonging to three subjects i.e. English, Mathematics and General Knowledge.
Note: The Elementary Mathematics asked in CDS examinations consists of the questions from Matriculation Level only.
The admissions in OTA(Officer’s Training Academy) are held on the basis of 240 multiple choice questions from two subjects namely English and General Knowledge only.
An overview of the Marking Scheme, Time Duration for the Examination and pattern of the questions asked from different subjects are given as below:-
CDS Exam Pattern for Admission in IMA, INA, AFA is given in the following table:-
| Subjects | Maximum Marks | Number of Questions | Duration Allotted |
| English | 100 | 120 | 2 hours |
| Elementary Mathematics | 100 | 100 | 2 hours |
| General Knowledge | 100 | 120 | 2 hours |
| Total | 300 | 340 | 6 hours |
Note: For every wrong answer Negative Marks are awarded in the examination.
CDS Pattern for Admissions in OTA is given in the following table:-
| Subjects | Maximum Marks | Number of Questions | Duration Allotted |
| English | 100 | 120 | 2 hours |
| General Knowledge | 100 | 120 | 2 hours |
| Total | 200 | 240 | 4 hours |
Note: For every wrong answer a Negative Mark is awarded in the examination.
SSB interview:-
The Phase second consists of the SSB interview i.e. divided into two stages. Erstwhile, the interview awards you with a total of 300 marks for admissions in IMA, INA and AFA. Whereas a total of 200 marks are provided in the interview for admissions in OTA.
The aspirants might practice the questions from the mock tests and different model test papers available in the market.
Hope it helps! Best wishes to you for the examination.