This blog post is being made as a sequel to my previous blog article titled: CDS Exam (I) 2012: Notification, Eligibility & Forms, which tells you what is a CDS exam and how to apply for the same along with the eligibilities required and where to get the CDS exam forms.The focus of this blog post is on providing you the study materials for CDS exam – by first telling what is the exam pattern and than giving you the sources of sample papers, guide books and the coaching institutes to help you prepare for the CDS exam.
CDS Exam Pattern:
CDS selection process consists of following three stages:
1.0 CDS Written exam.
2.0 SSB Interview.
3.0 Medical test.
How many candidates appear in each CDS exam? I had made an analysis based on CDS-II Exam data from 58th UPSC Annual Report (2007-08) and following is the finding:
As you can see – number of candidate applying/appearing in the CDS exam is showing a downward trend – a good sign for you (you would have less number of competitors)!. While another good information you can find from above table is that only 60% of those who applies for CDS exam appears in the CDS exam – thus 40% of applicants is eliminated automatically!
Getting back to CDS Written exam pattern, you would have two papers if you appear for OTA, Chennai while three papers, if you appear CDS exam for other three defence institutes:
CDS exam pattern for IMA, NA & AFA:
CDS exam pattern for OTA:
As you can find from above exam pattern – you have 1 minute for each question (120 questions, 120 minutes) in English & GK paper while you have 1.2 minute per question for Maths paper (You do not have to appear in Maths paper, if you are appearing CDS exam for OTA, Chennai). Thus you have sufficient time for answering CDS papers – hence accuracy more than speed is the key to doing good in CDS exam.
CDS exam pattern for OTA:As you can find from above exam pattern – you have 1 minute for each question (120 questions, 120 minutes) in English & GK paper while you have 1.2 minute per question for Maths paper (You do not have to appear in Maths paper, if you are appearing CDS exam for OTA, Chennai). Thus you have sufficient time for answering CDS papers – hence accuracy more than speed is the key to doing good in CDS exam.You should also be accurate in answering the questions because there is negative marking -1/3rd marks for each wrong answer!
CDS Exam Syllabus:
You can go through the blog post titled CDS Exam Syllabus to find the syllabus for this exam.
CDS Exam Answer sheets:
CDS Answer sheets are of type Optical Response Sheet (ORS), which looks like the one shown at right. You have to mark the correct answer by darkening the option circle completely with HB pencil – right method along with some wrong method is shown in the screenshot.
This is important, because many examinees marks their answers incorrectly on the ORS answer sheet, as a result of which they are not selected.CDS Exam Sample Papers:
So you may be searching for some free online sample papers for CDS exam? I searched on the net and found the following CDS Exam Sample Papers:
From UPSC website: CDS Exam-2009 Actual test papers:
Click here to download the CDS Exam English test paper
Click here to download the CDS Exam General Knowledge test paper
Click here to download the CDS Exam Elementary Mathematics test paper
Although there were some other sample papers on the net, I could not find them that good.
CDS Exam Books:
Although above sample papers gives you some idea on what sort of questions are asked in the CDS exam, you would need more study materials for practice and hence can use following guide books for CDS exam. These books are available in most of the bookstores, but you can also order them online by clicking the links below, from Flipkart.com which offers huge discounts from10% to 20%, apart from free shipping/postage in India if the order exceeds Rs. 100/=. You can choose to pay through Credit Card/Debit Card/Internet Banking. You can also choose to pay through “Cash-on-Delivery” i.e. you pay in cash only when the same is delivered at your doorstep:
CDS Combined Defence Services Exam Guide by Verma (Publisher: Asian Books)
List Price:Rs. 370, Offer Price:Rs. 333, Discount:Rs.37 (10%)
Arihant CDS Examination Combined Defence Sevices: 10 Previous Years' Papers List Price: Rs.250
English For Combined Defence Services Examination by Prasad (Publisher: TMH)
C. S. Institute of Defence & Management: It offers a 30 day CDS exam training program for a fee of Rs. 5500/- (Including Boarding & lodging: Rs. 10300/-). Click here to know more about it
Cavalier India also offers coaching program for CDS. Click here to know more about it
Preparatory materials for CDS SSB Interview:
After being selected in the CDS exam, you would need to appear in SSB Interview. What is SSB Interview? What tests are conducted in SSB Interview? Which book to study for SSB Interview? Visit my previous blog post titled: SSB Interview and how to prepare to know the answers of all these questions.
Hope above information on the study materials for CDS exam: Sample Papers, Books & Coaching institute is found useful by you. Best wishes for your CDS written exam!
cds answer sheet
CDS Answer sheets are of type Optical Response Sheet (ORS), which looks like the one shown at right. You have to mark the correct answer by darkening the option circle completely with HB pencil – right method along with some wrong method is shown in the screenshot.