UPSC CDS I Recruitment 2021

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has invited applications form eligible and interested candidates for Combined Defence Services (CDS) I Examination 2021. CDS I 2021 Recruitment can be your chance to enter the defence sector of the country and serve the nation with pride. Interested can read on to know more details on UPSC CDS I Recruitment 2021.

What we have covered:

• CDS 1 recruitment 2021 – Important Dates
• Application Fee for Different Categories
• CDS I 2021 Vacancy Details
• Eligibility for UPSC CDS I recruitment 2021
• Scheme of CDS I Examination 2021
• UPSC CDS I exam syllabus
• Selection of Candidates for CDS I Recruitment 2021
• Wrap Up

CDS 1 recruitment 2021 – Important Dates

• Online application for UPSC CDS I recruitment 2021 started from 28th Oct 2020.
• The last date for submission of Online Application is upto 17th Nov, 2020 till 6:00 PM.
• Candidates can withdraw the online Applications from 24.11.2020 to 30.11.2020 till 6.00 PM. Details for the same can be found in official notification (link shared below)
• Candidates can make payment of application fee till 17th Nov 2020.
• CDS I Exam 2021 is to be held on 7th Feb 2021.
• e-Admit cards will be available to download in January 2021, three weeks before the exam.
• CDS 1 exam 2021 result will be declared in March 2021.

Application Fee for Different Categories

• The application fee for CDS I exam 2021 for General / OBC category candidates is Rs. 200/-
• All the SC / ST / Female candidates are exempted from the payment of fee.
• Candidates can pay examination fee through Challan or Debit Card, Credit Card and Net Banking fee mode.

CDS I 2021 Vacancy Details

• A total of 345 recruitment will be made through CDS I 2021 examination.
• Indian Military Academy (IMA) – 100 posts
• Indian Naval Academy (INA) – 26 posts
• Indian Air Force (IAF) – 32 posts
• Officers Training Academy (OTA) – 170 posts
• OTA Women – 17 posts

Eligibility for UPSC CDS I recruitment 2021

Age Limit, Sex and Marital Status

• For Indian Military Academy (IMA) — Only unmarried male candidates who are born not earlier than January 2, 1998 and not later than January 1, 2003 are eligible.
• For Indian Naval Academy (INA) — Only unmarried male candidates born not before January 2, 1998 and not after January 1, 2003 are eligible.
• For Air Force Academy (AFA) — Candidates of age 20 to 24 years as on January 1, 2022 i.e. born not before January 2, 1998 and not after January 1, 2002 (candidates holding valid and 7 current Commercial Pilot Licence issued by DGCA (India) get an age relaxation in upper age limit, it is upto 26 years for them, i.e. not born earlier than January 2, 1996 and not after January 1, 2002)
• Candidate below 25 years of age must be unmarried. They must also know that during training Marriage is not permitted. Married candidates more than 25 years in age are eligible to apply but they will not be provided married accommodation during training period nor can they are allowed to live with family out of the premises.
• For Officers’ Training Academy — (SSC Course for men): unmarried male candidates born before January 2, 1997 and not after January 1, 2003 are eligible.
• For Officers’ Training Academy — (SSC Women Non-Technical Course): Unmarried females, non-remarried issue-less widows and non-remarried issueless divorcees (in possession of divorce documents) are eligible. They should be born not before January 2, 1997 and not after January 1, 2003.
• Male divorcee/widower candidates will not be treated as unmarried male for the purpose of their admission in INA/IMA/AFA/OTA, Chennai courses and thus they are not eligible for these courses.

Educational Qualification

• For I.M.A. and Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai – Candidates must have a degree of a recognized University or equivalent.
• For Indian Naval Academy – Candidates must have degree in Engineering from a recognized University or Institution.
• For Air Force Academy – Candidates must have a degree of a recognized University (with Physics and Mathematics as subjects at 10+2 level) or Bachelor of Engineering.
• Graduates with first choice as Air Force/Army/Navy should submit proof of Graduation/provisional certificates on the date of commencement of the SSB Interview.

Medical Standards

• For Medical Standards for Navy, Army, and Air Force (Ground Duty Branch and Flying Branch) candidates should refer to the Rules of CDS (I) Examination, 2021 announced by the Ministry of Defence in the Gazette of India (Extra-ordinary) dated Oct 28, 2020. The same guidelines are also available on the website, www.joinindianarmy.nic.in.

Also Read: CDS Exam Preparation

Scheme of CDS I Examination 2021

• The CDS I examination comprises of Written examination followed by Interview for intelligence and personality test of candidates that will be called for for interview at one of the Services Selection Centres.
• The subjects of the CDS 1 2021 written examination, duration and the maximum marks allotted to each subject are as follows:

For Admission to IMA, INA and AFA:

Subject	Maximum Marks	Duration
English	100	2 Hours
General Knowledge	100	2 Hours
Elementary Mathematics	100	2 Hours

For Admission to Officers’ Training Academy:

Subject	Maximum Marks	Duration
English	100	2 Hours
General Knowledge	100	2 Hours

• The maximum marks for written examination and to the interview 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 IMA INA, AFA and OTA respectively.
• All papers will consists of objective type questions only. The question papers of Elementary Mathematics and General Knowledge will be set bilingually in both English and Hindi.

Also Read: Subject-wise Preparation Strategy

UPSC CDS I exam 2021 Syllabus

• The Elementary Mathematics asked in CDS exam is of Matriculation level. The standard of papers for other subjects will be of a graduate of Indian University.

English

• The English question paper is designed to test the candidates’ English understanding skills and use of words.

General Knowledge

• General Knowledge including current affairs.
• The paper also includes questions on Geography and History of India.

Elementary Mathematics

The questions asked in elementary mathematics are related to Arithmetic number system, Elementary Number Theory, Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry, Mensuration and Statistics.

Selection of Candidates for CDS I Recruitment 2021

• The written exam is the first phase of selection, those who are shortlisted in the written exam have to appear for intelligence and personality test.
• The SSB procedure includes two stages. stage I is mandatory to pass to appear for stage II.
• Stage I includes Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) tests are Picture Perception Description Test (PP&DT). Shortlisting is done based on combination of performance in OIR Test and PP&DT.
• Stage II includes Interview, Group Testing Officer Tasks, Psychology Tests and the Conference, which are conducted over 4 days.

For more information carefully read the CDS I 2021 notification

Wrap Up

Now that you know everything about how to apply for CDS I examination 2021, you must make a short duration preparation strategy or a revision strategy to score well and get shortlisted. Stay confident and we wish you all the luck for the exam.