Rashtra Defence Academy

CDS 2021 Exam Dates Out

UPSC has published the notification date and the CDS 2021 Exam Dates in its calendar, published online on the official website of UPSC. CDS (Combined Defence Services) exam is conducted twice in a year, Candidates pursuing their final year of graduation degree or who have passed can apply for this examination. The written examination for CDS 1 2021 will be conducted on 07 February 2021 & CDS 2 2021 on 14th November 2021 by UPSC across the country for joining Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy wings. The Indian armed forces always give fair chances to the students. Starting from the age of maturity, they start with the NDA, TES and ends up to the T.A. examination. Below are the important dates for UPSC CDS recruitment process.

EventsCDS (1) 2021CDS (2) 2021
Date of Notification28 October 20204 August 2021
Last Date to Apply17 November 2020 24 August 2021
Date of Exam07 February 202114 November 2021
Exam Duration1 Day1 Day

Educational Qualification:


The education qualification for all the services is different in the CDS examination.

  • Army – For the army, the candidate must have a Graduate degree from a recognised university.
  • Navy – The candidate must possess a B.Tech / B.E. degree.
  • Air force – The candidates must either have a B.Tech/ B.E. degree or a Graduation degree with physics and mathematics studied as compulsory subjects in 10+2.

CDS 2021 Exam Dates Out

Age Limit:


AcademiesAge Limit CDS (1) 2021Age Limit CDS (2) 2021
Indian Military Academy (IMA)Born not earlier than 1st Jan 1998 and not later than 1st Jan 2003Born not earlier than 1st July 1998 and not later than 1st July 2003
Indian Naval Academy (INA)Born not earlier than 1st Jan 1998 and not later than 1st Jan 2003Born not earlier than 1st July 1998 and not later than 1st July 2003
Indian Air Force Academy (AFA)Born not earlier than 1st Jan 1998 and not later than 1st Jan 2002Born not earlier than 1st July 1998 and not later than 1st July 2002
Officers' Training Academy (OTABorn not earlier than 1st Jan 1997 and not later than 1st Jan 2003Born not earlier than 1st July 1997 and not later than 1st July 2003

Note: Upper age limit for candidates holding valid and current Commercial Pilot Licence issued by DGCA (India) is relaxable up to 26 yrs. i.e. born not earlier than 2nd Jan 1996 and not later than 1’st Jan 2003.

CDS (I) & (II) 2021 Exam Pattern:


The Competitive examination comprises:

  • Written examination as shown in para 2 below.
  • Interview for intelligence and personality test (SSB) of such candidates as may be called for interview at one of the Services
    Selection Centres.

The subjects of the written examination, the time allowed and the maximum marks allotted to each subject will be as follows:

  • The maximum marks allotted to the written examination and to the interviews will be equal for each course i.e. the maximum marks allotted to the written examination and to the interviews will be 300, 300, 300 and 200 each for admission to the Indian Military Academy, Indian Naval Academy, Air Force Academy and Officers’ Training Academy respectively.
  • The papers in all the subjects will consist of objective type questions only. The question papers (Test Booklets) of General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics will be set bilingually in Hindi as well as English.
  • In the question papers, wherever necessary, questions involving the metric system of Weights and Measures only will be set.
  • Candidates must write the papers in their own hand. In no circumstances will they be allowed the help of a scribe to write answers for them.

The Commission has the discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all the subjects of the examination.

Click here to download the CDS 2021 Exam Dates calendar

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