New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will conduct the Combined Defence Services (CDS) II 2026 examination on September 13, 2026. The written examination will be conducted in objective type format, with the exam pattern varying according to the defence academy selected by candidates. As per the official exam pattern of CDS 2, candidates appearing for admission to the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Indian Naval Academy (INA) and Air Force Academy (AFA) have to take three papers: English, General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics. Whereas, those applying for the Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) will have to appear for English and General Knowledge only. Check complete details related to marking scheme, papers included, marks, duration of exam here.
CDS 2 exam pattern 2026
The CDS written examination is conducted through separate papers for each subject. Each paper carries 100 marks and has a duration of two hours. The questions asked are objective. UPSC has prescribed Mathematics at the matriculation level, while the standard of English and General Knowledge is approximately at the graduate level.
Therefore, the total marks for the written examination are 300 for IMA, INA and AFA, while the OTA written examination carries 200 marks. The maximum marks for the written examination and SSB interview are equal for each course.
CDS 2 2026 paper-wise questions
The CDS question papers contain multiple-choice questions with four answer options. Candidates have to mark their responses on the OMR answer sheet.
For the IMA, INA and AFA examination, the papers generally comprise:
- English: 120 questions for 100 marks
- General Knowledge: 120 questions for 100 marks
- Elementary Mathematics: 100 questions for 100 marks
For OTA, candidates appear for:
- English: 120 questions for 100 marks
- General Knowledge: 120 questions for 100 marks
Language: The question papers for General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics are set in both Hindi and English, while the English paper is in English.
Negative Marking in CDS 2 Exam
UPSC has prescribed negative marking for incorrect answers in the CDS 2 2026 objective-type papers. For every wrong answer, candidates will lose one-third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question. Thus, while marking answers candidates need to be careful because selecting more than one option for a question is treated as a wrong answer, even if one of the selected options happens to be correct.
For example, if a question carries one mark and a candidate marks the wrong option, about 0.33 marks will be deducted. Candidates should therefore avoid random guessing and focus on attempting questions where they have reasonable confidence.
There is no negative marking for questions left unanswered in CDS 2 exam 2026.
CDS 2 2026 written exam and SSB interview
The written examination is only the first stage of the CDS 2 selection process. Candidates who qualify the written examination are called for the Services Selection Board (SSB) interview. The SSB assessment includes intelligence and personality assessment. According to the examination notice, Stage I consists of the Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) test and Picture Perception and Description Test (PP&DT). Candidates who will be shortlisted for Stage II will undergo the interview, Group Testing Officer tasks, psychology tests and conference.
For IMA, INA and AFA, the written examination carries 300 marks, with the SSB interview also carrying 300 marks. For OTA, the written examination and SSB interview carry 200 marks each.
