The Combined Defence Services Examination (CDS Exam) is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment of Commissioned Officers in 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 December and May, and the examinations are conducted in April and September respectively. Only unmarried graduates are eligible to sit for the exam. Examination is conducted twice a year. Successful candidates are admitted into the respective Academies after an interview conducted by the Services Selection Board (SSB).
Intelligence and Personality Test
The SSB interview process consists of a two-stage Selection process - stage I and stage II. Only those candidates who successfully clear the stage I SSB interview are permitted to appear for stage II.
(a) Stage I comprises Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) tests are Picture Perception* Description Test (PP&DT). The candidates will be shortlisted based on the combination of performance in the OIR Test and PP&DT.
(b) Stage II Comprises Interview, Group Testing Officer Tasks, Psychology Tests, and the Conference. These tests are conducted over 4 days. The details of these tests are given on the Indian Army career portal.[4]
The personality of a candidate is assessed by three different assessors viz. The Interviewing Officer (IO), Group Testing Officer (GTO), and the Psychologist. There is no separate weightage for each test. The marks are allotted by assessors only after taking into consideration the performance of the candidate holistically in all the tests.
Test/ Interview by Air Force Selection Board
All candidates who apply for the Air Force through more than one source will be tested/interviewed at the Air Force Selection Boards only once for Air Force. Common candidates who fail in Computer Pilot Selection System (CPSS) and/ or Pilot Aptitude Battery tests as an NCC or Airmen candidate will be called again for OLQ testing for Army/Navy/OTA only if it is found that they have applied through CDS Exam.