CDS (Combined Defence Services) eligibility and Age limit information

The "Combined Defence Services"Examination (CDS) is conducted twice a year by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment into the Indian Military Academy,officers Training Academy, Indian Naval Academy and Indian Air Force Academy. The Notification for the examination is usually released in the months of October and June, and the examinations are conducted in February and November respectively. Only unmarried graduates are eligible to sit for the exam. Successful candidates are admitted into the respective Academies after an interview conducted by the Services Selection Board (SSB).
The CDSE is held twice a year and it consists of three papers- English, General Knowledge and Mathematics.
Those who qualify the exam are nominated to give the Service Selection Board (SSB) interview.
You are required to give the choice among the three forces. If one clears the SSB, then as per the choice of service you go through training in
Indian Military Academy, Indian Naval Academy & the Airforce Academy.
The cut-off marks for Airforce is usually the highest, then for Army and last for Navy. One also has a choice to join the Officers Training Academy for which you don't have to give the Mathematics exam.
It is a 300 marks paper, 100 for each of the three. Cut- off for Airforce hovers around 50% i.e. 150 marks.
Girls are only eligible to join OTA. For boys if you are selected for Army, you join the Infantry, for Navy you join the General Services and for Air-force you join the flying branch.
The written examination result comes after 4-5 months and the SSB call letters are released on the respective websites of the three wings of the Indian Armed Forces.

Age Limit
[1] Indian Military Academy: 19-24 years

[2]Air Force Academy: 19-24 years

[3]Naval Academy: 19-22 years

[4]Officers’ Training Academy: 19-25 years

Scheme of Examination

Indian Military Academy / Air Force Academy / Naval Academy

All the papers are of objective type.UPSC CDS syllabus

Subject                                               Marks

English                                               100

General Knowledge                           100

Elementary Mathematics                   100

Total                                                  300

Officers' Training Academy

All the papers are of objectiv . [UPSC CDS Entrance Exam Syllabus]

Subject                                            Marks

English                                             100

General Knowledge                         100

Total                                                200

Candidates successful in the written exam are then called for an interview by a Services Selection Board which evaluates a candidate's suitability for a career in the Indian Armed Forces. The SSB interview lasts for approximately a week, during which a candidate undergoes various physical and psychological tests to ascertain whether or not he is officer material. Apart from SSB interview, Air Force academy candidates are tested for PABT. After these tests, candidates undergone medical examination before finally admitted into the above-mentioned academies, and after successful completion of training, they are inducted into the armed forces.

Armed forces offer very exciting career to young men and women in several fields. Career in the forces, in addition as a career, is also an adventure in itself. To ensure that appropriate candidates are chosen, a comprehensive selection process is adopted by the armed forces through Service Selection Board (SSB) interview. This system of selection is based on the “trait theory” of leadership which assumes that every leader must have some specific and pre-determined leadership traits. It also presumes that such traits can be acquired by a candidate with the passage of time meaning thereby that a person once rejected in an SSB interview is likely to succeed if he acquires some of the traits with the passage of time. The present system of selection, although is long and takes four to five days, is thus based on an objective assessment of each candidate in which the qualities like initiative, alertness, judgement, courage, physical fitness endurance, cooperation, group planning, decisiveness,knowledge, etc. are judged. In addition, psychological and mental robustness of the candidate vis-a-vis requirements of the Armed Forces is judged and finally an overall assessment of the personality of a candidate is made by way of an exhaustive personal interviews.