CDS 2025 Exam: CDS 1 Exam (April 13), Admit Card, Pattern, Syllabus & Analysis

CDS 2025 Vacancy

CDS vacancy 2025 has been released along with the notification. UPSC announced the CDS 1 Vacancy 2025 on December 11, 2024, along with the CDS 1 notification. UPSC released the 457 CDS 1 approximate Vacancy 2024 separately for IMA (Indian Military Academy), INA (Indian Naval Academy), AFA (Air Force Academy) & OTA (Officers Training Academy). Candidates can check the CDS vacancy 2024 breakdown in the table below. The vacancy has been released for both male and female candidates:

CDS Admit Card 2025

The CDS admit card 2025 will be released online on the official website. Candidates need to use their application number and date of birth to login to the registered accounts. CDS admit card comprises details such as the candidate's name, roll number, date of birth, scanned photograph, signature, details regarding the CDS exam centre, etc. The CDS exam is conducted by UPSC for the recruitment of Commissioned Officers in the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force. 

CDS Exam Pattern 2025

The CDS 2025 exam pattern is divided into written exam and SSB interview. Also, the CDS exam patterns for the INA, AFA, and IMA are similar but the CDS OTA exam pattern is slightly different from the other three. The written exam for IMA, INA and AFA comprises three sections namely English, General Knowledge, and Elementary Mathematics. The total duration of the exam is six hours that is each section is of two hours and the total marks of the test for IMA, INA and AFA are 300. 

CDS OTA Exam Pattern

The written exam for OTA consists of two sections namely English and General Knowledge. The total duration of the exam for OTA is four hours that is each section is for two hours. The total marks of the test for OTA are 200. 

CDS Question Paper Structure for IMA, INA and AFA

 For OTA

CDS Syllabus 2025

The CDS syllabus for IMA, INA, and AFA has three subjects, and in OTA it has two subjects. The CDS Mathematics syllabus standard is of Class 10, while for other subjects, it is of graduation level. It is important to know the syllabus for the exam preparation. The CDS syllabus consists of three subjects: Elementary Mathematics, English Language and General Knowledge. It is to be noted that Elementary Mathematics is only for those candidates who have applied for IMA, INA, and AFA. 

English: Antonyms, Sentence improvement, Comprehension, Synonyms, Word substitution, Ordering of sentences, Spotting Errors, Selecting Words, Ordering of words in a sentence, etc.

General Knowledge: Economics, Physics, Current Awareness , Politics, Chemistry, Sociology, History, Defence, Award, Geography, Environment, Sport, Biology, Cultural, Book, Statement true/false, etc.

Elementary Mathematics: Number System, Decimal fractions, Time & Distance, Time & Work, Percentages, Simple & compound interest, Profit & Loss, Ratio & proportion, Division algorithm, H.C.F. & L.C.M, Logarithms to base 10, Theory of polynomials, Solutions of quadratic equations, Linear equations in two variables & their solutions, Laws of indices, Trigonometry, Simple cases of heights and distances, Geometry, Lines & angles, Mensuration, Statistics, etc.

CDS 2025 Books

Books help in the preparation and also help in clearing the concepts of the topics provided in the syllabus. Scroll down for the list of CDS books.

CDS books for English Language

• High School English Grammar & Composition Edition by Wren and Martin
• Objective General English by SP Bakshi
• Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis

CDS books for GK

• General Awareness by Manohar Panday
• Manorama Yearbook
• Magazines such as Pratiyogita Darpan, Competition Success Review (CSR), and Yojana
• Newspapers

CDS books for Elementary Mathematics

• Mathematics for CDS by RS Aggarwal
• Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by RS Aggarwal
• Pathfinder for CDS by Arihant Publications

CDS 2025 Preparation

To clear the CDS 2025 exam, candidates should have a good level of CDS preparation. Candidates can check below the tips and tricks to prepare for the CDS 2025:

• Know the syllabus and exam pattern.
• Concept clarity also plays a crucial role. 
• Focus on important topics and choose the best CDS books for preparation which will help candidates to get details of several topics given in the syllabus.
• Solve previous Year's question papers which will also help in the time management.
• Candidates must attempt mock test.
• Candidates should keep calm before the exam and do not learn any new topic, etc.

CDS 2025 Result

The UPSC will release the CDS 1 2025 result on the official website. Candidates will be able to access the UPSC CDS result PDF at upsc.gov.in. The candidates who qualify for the CDS written exam will be called for the SSB interview. Candidates can check below the steps to download the CDS 1 result PDF.

• Visit the official website-upsc.gov.in 
• Click on the UPSC CDS 1 written exam result link available in New Section 
• The CDS Result PDF link will appear on the screen 
• Click on the CDS 1 Result 2025 link 
• The UPSC CDS 1 Result will appear on the screen 
• Check and Download the CDS 1 Written Exam Result and save it for later use 

Also Read: CDS Cutoff

CDS 2025 Selection Process

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) prescribes the CDS selection process to select the eligible candidates in the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. The selection process of CDS consists of two stages namely a written exam and an SSB interview. SSB Interview is a two-stage process. Candidates need to secure CDS cut off marks to qualify for each stage of selection. Candidates are assigned All India Ranks based on their merit. The allotment is done on merit-cum-preference basis.