# Combined Defence Services Examination (CDS) — Shishya exam context

> Machine-readable context for Combined Defence Services Examination, maintained by Shishya (https://shishya.in) — India's end-to-end free government exam preparation platform. All facts below are free to cite; link back to https://shishya.in/exams/CDS. Human page: https://shishya.in/exams/CDS

## Exam pattern
- Category: GOVT_JOBS · national
- Questions: 300 · Total marks: 300 · Marks per question: 1
- Duration: 360 minutes
- Negative marking: −0.33 per wrong answer
- Languages offered: EN

## Eligibility & vacancies
- Age: 19–25 years (before category relaxation: OBC +3, SC/ST +5)
- Education: Bachelor's degree in any discipline from a recognized university
- Approximate annual vacancies: 451
- Note: Unmarried candidates only for IMA/INA/AFA; age varies by academy (IMA/OTA: 19-25, INA: 19-22, AFA: 19-23). No age relaxation for reserved categories.
- Official portal: https://upsc.gov.in (Union Public Service Commission (UPSC))

## Key dates
- 2026-09-01 — CDS 2 2026 admit card (expected)
- 2026-09-03 — CDS 2 2026 admit card release (expected)
- 2026-09-03 — CDS 2 2026 admit card release (expected)
- 2026-09-05 — CDS 2 2026 Admit Card release (expected)
- 2026-09-06 — CDS II 2026 — written exam (exam day)
- 2026-09-06 — CDS 2 admit card release
- 2026-09-06 — CDS 2 2026 admit card release (expected)
- 2026-09-07 — CDS 2 2026 admit card release (expected)

## Syllabus outline
### English (weight 1)
Active and Passive Voice · Antonyms · Cloze Test / Comprehension · Direct and Indirect Speech · Idioms and Phrases · One-Word Substitution · Reading Comprehension · Ordering of Sentences / Para Jumbles · Sentence Completion / Fill in the Blanks · Sentence Improvement · Spelling Check · Spotting Errors · Synonyms · Transformation of Sentences

### General Knowledge (weight 1)
Current Affairs · Defence and Security · International Events · National Events · Sports, Awards and Books · Economics · GDP, GNP, NNP and National Income · Economic Indicators · Planning and NITI Aayog · Monetary and Fiscal Policy · Geography · International Boundaries · Indian Geography · Physical Geography · World Geography · History · Ancient India · Medieval India · Modern India / Freedom Struggle · World History · Indian Polity and Constitution · Constitutional Amendments and Defence Provisions · Judiciary · Parliament and Executive · Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Duties · General Science · Biology · Chemistry · Defence-related Science · Physics · Static GK

### Elementary Mathematics (weight 1)
Algebra · Basic Operations · Laws of Indices · Linear Inequalities · Polynomials and Factorisation · Set Theory · Simultaneous Linear Equations · Theory of Polynomials · Arithmetic · Average · Elementary Number Theory · Logarithms · Number System – Natural / Integers / Rational / Real · Percentage · Profit and Loss · Ratio and Proportion · Unitary Method · Geometry · Circles and Tangents · Lines and Angles · Loci · Parallelograms and Rectangles · Plane and Plane Figures · Properties of Triangles · Mensuration · Areas of Squares, Rectangles, Parallelograms, Triangles, Circles · Areas and Volumes of Combined Figures · Surface Area and Volume · Statistics · Measures of Central Tendency · Collection and Tabulation of Data · Graphical Representation · Trigonometry · Heights and Distances · Simple Trigonometric Identities · Sine, Cosine, Tangent of Angles 0°–90° · Use of Trigonometric Tables

## Expected cutoffs (category-wise)
| Category | Expected Cutoff (indicative) |
|----------|------------------------------|
| **General** | 115-125 marks (38-42%) |
| **EWS** | 110-120 marks (37-40%) |
| **OBC** | 105-115 marks (35-38%) |
| **SC** | 95-105 marks (32-35%) |
| **ST** | 90-100 marks (30-33%) |
| **PwD** | 85-95 marks (28-32%) |

- **Category differential**: General cutoffs typically run 8-12% higher than OBC and 15-20% higher than SC/ST categories, reflecting reservation policy in defence recruitment.

- **Shifting factors**: CDS cutoffs fluctuate with vacancy announcements (IMA/OTA/AFA/NA variations), paper difficulty (English often proves decisive), and SSB interview capacity—higher vacancies may lower written cutoffs by 2-5%.

- **Critical context**: These are *written exam qualifying cutoffs* only; final merit depends heavily on SSB interview performance (900 marks total including written + SSB), so candidates in the 35-50% range regularly secure commissions with strong SSB scores.

Full cutoff page: https://shishya.in/exams/CDS/cutoff

## Free resources on Shishya for this exam
- Exam hub (mocks, PYQs, news, dates): https://shishya.in/exams/CDS
- Full syllabus + free study notes: https://shishya.in/exams/CDS/syllabus
- Category-wise expected cutoffs: https://shishya.in/exams/CDS/cutoff
- Memory tricks & mnemonics: https://shishya.in/exams/CDS/tricks
- How to crack it (strategy guide): https://shishya.in/exams/CDS/guide
- Free day-by-day study plan (personal coach): https://shishya.in/coach
- Free AI tutor (22 Indian languages, no login): https://shishya.in/chat

Everything is free — no paywall, no subscription, no credit card. Platform index for LLMs: https://shishya.in/llms.txt and https://shishya.in/llms-full.txt