The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the Combined Defense Services (CDS) exam which is the most popular defense exam in the country. The examination is conducted twice a year to recruit candidates to the Indian Military Academy, Officers Training Academy, Indian Naval Academy and Indian Air Force Academy. All the candidates appearing for the CDS 1 examination are required to study the UPSC CDS syllabus to prepare effectively for the examination. Candidates who wish to appear for the Examination must have a thorough knowledge of the syllabus and examination pattern to understand the required topics and must plan and strategize their preparation to crack the examination.
UPSC CDS Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2025
The date of UPSC CDS 1 Exam 2025 is 13th April 2025 and CDS 2 Exam will be conducted on 14th September 2025. The CDS Syllabus includes 3 subjects: English, General Knowledge and Mathematics. Candidates preparing for UPSC CDS 1 Exam 2025 are advised to review the syllabus thoroughly so as to understand the topics covered, marking scheme and other essential details. In this article, we have provided the UPSC CDS syllabus and Exam Pattern in detail.
| CDS Syllabus 2025 | |
| Exam Conducting Body | Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) |
| Exam Name | Combined Defense Services (CDS 1 2025) |
| Mode of exam | Offline |
| CDS 1 Exam Date 2025 | 13th April 2025 |
| Number of sections | Indian Military Academy (IMA), Indian Naval Academy (INA) and Air Force Academy (AFA) – Three Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) – Two |
| Total marks of the test | IMA, INA and AFA – 300 OTA – 200 |
| Nature of questions | Objective type |
| Language of question paper | Hindi and English |
| Duration of the test | 2 hours for each section of the test |
CDS Exam Pattern 2025
Candidates preparing for the CDS 2025 exam need to fully understand the exam pattern so that they have an idea of the latest format, number of questions, maximum marks, and marking scheme followed by the authority.
CDS Exam Pattern for Written Exam
The pattern of the exam for admission to the Indian Military Academy, Indian Naval Academy, and Air Force Academy is shared here.
- The CDS exam consists of three subjects namely English, General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics.
- The exam will have objective type questions.
- The question papers on General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics will be set bilingually in Hindi and English.
- 02 hours will be allotted for each subject.
| Subject | Duration | Maximum marks |
| English | 2 hours | 100 |
| General Knowledge | 2 hours | 100 |
| Elementary Mathematics | 2 hours | 100 |
CDS Exam Pattern for Officers’ Training Academy (OTA)
- The questions will be objective type.
- The General Knowledge question papers will be set bilingually in Hindi and English.
- The exam will have 02 subjects namely English and General Knowledge and each subject will be of 100 marks.
- The duration of each subject is 02 hours.
| Subjects | Duration | Maximum marks |
| English | 2 hours | 100 |
| General Knowledge | 2 hours | 100 |
Marking Scheme for UPSC CDS Exam
Negative marks are applicable for wrong answers. In the CDS 2025 paper, each question has 4 options and only 1 option is correct. For each wrong answer, 1/3 marks will be deducted. Options carrying more than one mark are considered wrong. However, no negative marks will be given if a question is left unanswered.
CDS Syllabus 2025- Subject-Wise Syllabus
Detailed Syllabus of all three subjects English, General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics is given below.
CDS English Syllabus
- Spotting Errors Questions
- Sentence Arrangement Questions
- Synonyms & Antonyms
- Selecting Words
- Ordering of Sentence
- Reading Comprehension Questions
- Ordering of words in a sentence
- Fill in the blanks questions
- Idioms and Phrases
- Sentence Improvements or Sentence Corrections
CDS General Knowledge (GK) Syllabus
- Economics
- Physics
- Current Affairs
- Politics
- Chemistry
- Sociology
- History
- Defense related Award
- Geography
- Environment
- Sport
- Biology
- Cultural
- Book
CDS Mathematics Syllabus
The CDS syllabus for Mathematics includes subjects like Algebra, Arithmetic, Trigonometry, Geometry, Statistics, etc. The Mathematics exam will be conducted for a total of 100 marks.
| Sections | Topics |
| Algebra |
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| Arithmetic |
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| Trigonometry |
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| Geometry |
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| Mensuration |
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| Statistics |
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Important Instructions for the CDS Exam
- Write in black ballpoint pen only, your centre and subject followed by CDS 2025 Test Booklet Series (in brackets), Subject Code and Examination Roll Number in the appropriate space provided on the answer sheet.
- Encode your CDS 2025 Booklet Series (A, B, C, or D), Subject Code and Roll Number in the circle provided on the answer sheet.
- If the CDS Booklet Series is not printed on the Test Booklet or the answer sheet is missing numbers, candidates should immediately inform the invigilator and get the Test Booklet/Answer Sheet replaced.
- Candidates should note that any mistake/error/inconsistency in encoding/filling the details in the CDS 2025 OMR Answer Sheet, especially in the case of Roll Number and Test Booklet Series Code, will lead to rejection of the answer sheet.
- Immediately after the commencement of CDS 2025, ensure that there are no unprinted, torn or missing pages or items etc. in the Test Booklet provided to you. If so, replace the entire Test Booklet of the same series and subject.
- Do not write your name or anything else on the CDS answer sheet/test booklet/paper except the specific information asked for.
- Do not fold, damage or make any extraneous marks on the CDS answer sheet. Do not write anything on the reverse side of the answer sheet.
