How To Crack CDS Exam
How to pass the CDS exam on your first try. Three distinct papers are held on a single day for CDSE, with one hour between each paper. To pass the individual cutoff for each subject, you must receive at least 20% on each paper. The result and the marks earned are shown in the example below.
| Paper 1 | Paper 2 | Paper 3 | Overall |
| 40 | 15 | 35 | 90 or 30% (❌) |
| 50 | 19 | 60 | 129 or 43% (❌) |
| 65 | 20 | 40 | 125 or 41% (✅) |
Let me start by saying that if you have listened to what I have to say, you must have a fresh perspective before we move on. Those don’t work!
Reading five or six different CDSE books?
Either in your final year of graduation or after you’ve completed it, you’ll apply for CDS. Practically speaking, you won’t have enough time to read five or six different books, but even if you do, will you be able to learn and retain all of the information from these five or six books? It’s not feasible!
Coach for CDSE?
Coaching is tutoring, but it’s a “mass tutoring” instead of one-on-one tutoring, and you run the risk of doing what the tutors force you to do.
Topics can be explained to you, but who will commit them to memory? Who will make notes using the given preliminary clustered data? You don’t require tutoring because you are not a schoolchild. Do you?
Mass coaching is undesirable, even when individual coaching might be beneficial. Why not save time and money by conducting your own research and study if you must do everything yourself?
In this manner, you will not only be well-prepared, but you will also have the autonomy to design your own plan, strategy, and blueprint rather than being compelled to follow someone else’s general coaching approach.
Practice 10 previous year papers?
The days of merely practicing past year papers to improve your writing skills are long gone. The curriculum is changing every year and getting harder. Inadequate preparation can render you powerless when writing and prevent you from responding to even ten to fifteen CDS General Knowledge questions.
Therefore, before we get to the ultimate Secrets, you must have a clear slate. In order to avoid wasting any of your trial time, you should prepare for the SSB interview.
Starting with the first English paper, let’s now discover some truth about the CDS paper.
Paper 1: English
English is therefore a long paper. You will undoubtedly miss about 20 questions if you move too slowly. Overall, the English structure is the same, even though certain themes are difficult and others are simple. Here is a quick synopsis.
| Topics | Toughness |
| Parts of Speech | Difficult |
| Spotting Error | Moderate |
| Ordering of words | Easy |
| Cloze Test | Easy |
| Sentence Improvement | Moderate |
| Ordering of sentence | Easy |
| Reading Comprehension | Easy |
| Fill in the blanks | Easy |
| Preposition & determiners | Difficult |
| Completion of sentence | Moderate |
| Idioms & phrases | Difficult |
| Antonyms & Synonyms | Moderate |
Expect at least five questions from each topic, though there will always be a variety of them. If you’re lucky, you might receive ten questions from each of the easier subjects.
The statement “English is a scoring paper” is accurate. Since GK won’t be scoring at all, you need to put forth your best effort to get your English score above 60.
First and foremost, you should make it a practice to read fiction before bed that piques your interest! You see, there is nothing to memorize in English; it is a language. The more you speak, think, and observe in English, the more fluent you will become. However, how can one become ready for the CDSE?
To ensure that you can finish the complete paper on your exam, practice thoroughly. At least 80 percent of the paper should be your goal. Many would advise you to just try questions you are very certain of answering, but this is not a sound English technique. It is undoubtedly an excellent method in general knowledge, but it is always advised to try at least 80% of the paper in a scoring paper like English. Why? Examine the attempted scores below.
| Attempted | Wrong | Correct | Score |
| 72 (60%) | 2 | 70 | 57 |
| 100 (80%) | 20 | 80 | 61 |
| 120 (100%) | 35 | 85 | 60 |
Paper 2 :General Knowledge
CDS GK is a really challenging paper. There is no set weighting of topics, and the questions cover a wide range of subjects.
For instance, there will occasionally be more questions about conflicts and wars, while other times there will be more questions about famous people and personalities. It’s impossible to determine the weight. Even reaching the cutoff scores on the GK paper is extremely challenging for candidates.
While thorough comprehension is required, study wisely and commit key points to memory.
Similarly other subjects including geography, economics, defense, and practical science must be covered. For instance, you must comprehend economic concepts in plain English using examples from everyday life when going over economics notes.
I’m going to refer you this book called Mission CDS, comprehensive guide meticulously crafted for the CDSE (Combined Defence Service Entrance Examination). It covers English, General Knowledge & Mathematics.
Amazon Link – Mission CDS Book
Finally, I strongly advise you to practice 5000+ Most Expected MCQs in order to improve your GK. These are well-chosen questions with thorough explanations for each chapter.
Given how difficult the GK paper is and how unlikely it is that questions from prior CDSE exams would be repeated, I do not advise going over past year’s GK papers. Instead, study all of the SSC, Bank, and IB GK papers because these UPSC sources often have the same questions. To get a good practice, get 5000+ Most Expected MCQs.
Paper 3: Elementary Mathematics
First of all, mathematics is a very lengthy paper. If you approach it like you would a board paper from your tenth or twelfth grade, you will barely get to the fortyth question before the timer goes off.
Practically speaking, you have two hours to complete this paper with 100 questions, and this is the fastest you could go.
| Average time per question | Possible Attempted Questions |
| 3 minutes | 40 |
| 2.5 minutes | 48 |
| 2 minutes | 60 |
| 1.5 minutes | 80 |
| 1.2 minutes | 100 |
So, now you know that you have to be super fast to solve the paper. Some questions may be easy, taking only 1.5 minutes, while others may take over 5 minutes without reaching an answer.
Self-practice is essential because gimmicks are easy to use and mathematics may appear trivial in a group setting. However, without regular practice, remembering is difficult.
I suggest Mission CDS. A book with straightforward explanations and chapters that are broken up into different kinds of questions with solutions and shortcuts. Additionally, at the conclusion of each chapter, you will find a fully solved practice exercise.
You can purchase CDS Maths Fastrack with shortcut tactics individually on popular e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart if you are just studying for mathematics; otherwise, Mission CDS includes mathematics.
This brand-new book, Mission CDS, covers everything in detail and in a point-by-point fashion. It includes revision aids, math tips, sample practice papers, and chronological subjects to avoid misunderstanding.
How you manage your time and focus your efforts will be reflected in your score. With this outstanding handbook in hand, you’re in for a lucky break, especially as you prepare for your CDSE.
