UPSC CDS Cut off 2026 - Union Public Service Commission will release the UPSC CDS 1 cut off 2026 on the official website after the final round. The UPSC CDS 2026 cut off pdf will be available at upsc.gov.in. The UPSC CDS cut off is the minimum score a candidate must obtain in the CDS exam. The CDS cut off 2026 will be determined based on many factors like the the difficulty level of the exam, number of vacancies, number of candidates who have appeared and the final SSB interview. After the SSB Interview, a merit list will be prepared, and the final UPSC CDS result will be available to candidates on the UPSC website.
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Several factors affect the UPSC CDS cut off 2026. Candidates can check the factors affecting the cut off of CDS 2 exam below.
Number of applicants
Number of vacancies
Difficulty level
Previous year CDS Cutoff trends
Quick links:
Step 1: Visit the official website of UPSC - upsc.gov.in.
Step 2: Click on the examination tab and select cut off marks from the drop-down menu.
Step 3: Select CDS 1 cut off 2026 from the list.
Step 4: Download the CDS 2026 cutoff PDF for future reference.
Union Public Service Commission will release the CDS 1 cut off for written exam and final cut off. For more details regarding the CDS cut off, candidates can check the below mentioned stages.
The written UPSC CDS 1 2026 is the first stage of the CDS exam. Candidates appearing for the exam must score equal to or more than the CDS 1 qualifying marks to qualify for the next stage. The minimum cut off marks for CDS 2026 will be 20% in all three papers. The written exam of CDS 1 2026 comprises three papers while candidates appearing for OTA have to appear for only two CDS papers.
The final merit list of CDS 2026 will be released based on the performance of candidates in the CDS 2026 written exam, SSB interview, and medical exam. Candidates who clear the CDS written exam 2026 will be called for an SSB interview and medical examination. After qualifying in all these stages they will be recruited to the vacant posts as released by UPSC.
CDS levels | CDS 2 2025 Expected cutoff | CDS 2 2025 Expected cutoff |
AFA | 132-135 | 130-135 |
IMA | 118-121 | 120-123 |
INA | 109-112 | 108-111 |
CDS levels | CDS 2 2025 Expected cutoff | CDS 2 2025 Expected cutoff |
OTA (female) | 81-84 | 80-83 |
OTA (male) | 81-84 | 82-85 |
Candidates can check the CDS previous year's cut off mark to check the past year's trends. With the help of the previous year's CDS 2 cut off marks, candidates can check the expected cut off and safe scores to qualify for the exam. For more details of CDS total marks and cut off, refer to the table given below.
Academy | Written Exam | Final Exam |
Aggregate marks of last qualified candidate* | Marks of last recommended candidate | |
IMA | 120 (out of 300 marks) | 244 (out of 600 marks) |
INA | 100 (out of 300 marks) | 230 (out of 600 marks) |
AFA | 128 (out of 300 marks) | 250 (out of 600 marks) |
OTA (Men) | 87 (out of 200 marks) | 168 (out of 400 marks) |
OTA(Women) | 87 (out of 200 marks) | 168 (out of 400 marks) |
Academy | Written Exam | Final Exam |
Aggregate marks of last qualified candidate* | Marks of last recommended candidate | |
IMA | 127 marks (out of 300) | 250 (out of 600) |
INA | 110 marks (out of 300) | 237 (out of 600) |
AFA | 136 marks (out of 300) | 259 (out of 600) |
OTA (Men) | 104 marks (out of 200) | 185 (out of 400 |
OTA(Women) | 104 marks (out of 200) | 188 (out of 400) |
Academy | Written Exam | Final Exam |
Aggregate marks of last qualified candidate* | Marks of last recommended candidate | |
IMA | 132 | 257 |
INA | 122 | 247 |
AFA | 142 | 266 |
OTA (Men) | 101 | 181 |
OTA(Women) | 101 | 184 |
Academy | Written Exam | Final Exam |
Aggregate marks of last qualified candidate* | Marks of last recommended candidate | |
IMA | 126 | 249 |
INA | 118 | 248 |
AFA | 136 | 258 |
OTA (Men) | 98 | 180 |
OTA(Women) | 98 | 179 |
Academy | Written Exam | Final Exam |
Aggregate marks of last qualified candidate* | Marks of last recommended candidate | |
IMA | 136 | 258 |
INA | 128 | 256 |
AFA | 147 | 269 |
OTA (Men) | 100 | 181 |
OTA(Women) | 100 | 184 |
Academy | Written Exam | Final Exam |
Aggregate marks of last qualified candidate* | Marks of last recommended candidate | |
IMA | 138 | 263 |
INA | 132 | 256 |
AFA | 148 | 270 |
OTA (Men) | 102 | 183 |
OTA(Women) | 102 | 184 |
Note: *Subject to a minimum of 20% marks in each CDS paper.
Academy | Written Exam | Final Exam |
Aggregate marks of last qualified candidate* | Marks of last recommended candidate | |
IMA | 145 | 268 |
INA | 136 | 260 |
AFA | 158 | 281 |
OTA (Men) | 107 | 189 |
OTA(Women) | 107 | 191 |
Note: *Subject to a minimum of 20% marks in each paper.
Quick links:
The Union Public Service Commission releases the CDS 1 2026 result at upsc.gov.in. The UPSC CDS result 2026 will be released in PDF format having names and roll numbers of all the qualified candidates. Candidates need to obtain marks equivalent to the CDS cut off to qualify for further stages. Candidates who get shortlisted in the CDS result 2025 are called for an SSB interview. Qualified candidates from SSB will be called for a Medical examination.
Quick links:
The CDS exam conducting authority release the CDS 1 2025 answer key after the conclusion of the selection process. The CDS exam 2025 answer key will be released for all the sets of CDS question papers. Some coaching institutes also release the CDS 1 2025 answer key right after the examination. With the help of the answer key, candidates can check the answer key to calculate their estimated score.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The CDS Full Form is Combined Defence Services exam.
The CDS selection process 2026 comprises of a written exam, SSB interview and medical examination.
Going by the previous year cut off trends, a good score in IMA is 255+, in INA it is 240+, in AFA it is 270+ while in OTA men and women it is 175+ and 178+ respectively.
To check the CDS results, candidates must visit the official website.
Union Public Service Commission will release the UPSC CDS 2026 cut off on their official website.
Candidates will be able to get the CDS cut off 2026 on the official website after completion of the written exam. The CDS cut off subject-wise can be found online on the official website.
yes, the commission releases the CDS 2 cut off 2026 after the recruitment process is over.
On Question asked by student community
Hello aspirant,
On August 23, 2024, the Union Public Service Commission made the NDA 2 2024 admit card available on its official website, upsc.gov.in/upsconline.nic.in. The timeframe for editing NDA 2 2024 application forms was open until June 11, 2024. On June 5, 2024, the NDA rectification window opened. On June
Hello there,
Yes, you can apply for the Combined Defence Services (CDS) exam for the Indian Military Academy (IMA) after completing your graduation in 2027, based on your date of birth, 29th November 2003. Here’s how your eligibility works out:
Eligibility Criteria for CDS IMA:
Age Limit: For IMA, the
To determine your eligibility for the CDS (Combined Defence Services) exam in 2027, we need to consider the age criteria set by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which conducts the exam.
For the CDS exam, the age criteria generally are as follows:
Hello aspirant,
The upper age limit for CDS IMA is 24 years. Since you are currently 21 years 3 months old, you have 2 years and 9 months left to appear for the CDS IMA exam. This means you can attempt the exam 3 more times before reaching the age
Hello Aspirant
The eligibility criteria for CDS is that the candidate must be between the ages of 19 to 25 years. Since you were born in 2003, that will make you 24 years old, making you eligible for the exam.
But, just to be on the safer side, I would