UPSC has mentioned the CDS 1 eligibility criteria 2026 in the official notification. The CDS 2026 notification is available for download at upsc.gov.in. The UPSC CDS 2026 eligibility criteria are based on age, educational qualification, nationality and a few other important aspects. Aspirants wanting to appear in the CDS exam must be in the age group of 19 to 24 years. Candidates must read the eligibility criteria carefully before proceeding to fill the CDS application form online. To know more about the eligibility criteria of CDS 2026, read the entire article.
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Candidates can check the some basic details about the UPSC CDS exam from the below table.
Exam name | Combined Defence Services Examination |
Conducting Body | Union Public Service Commission |
Frequency of exam | Twice a year |
Nationality | Indian |
CDS age limit | Between 19 to 24 years |
Educational Qualification | Graduation in any discipline from a recognised university |
Mode of exam | Online |
Candidates applying for the Combined Defence Services examination must go through the UPSC CDS exam eligibility guidelines before proceeding to fill the application form. Below mentioned are some of the CDS 1 eligibility 2026.
Candidates applying for the CDS examination must fall in one of the below mentioned nationality to be eligible. Check the table below.
Particulars |
Citizen of India |
Subject of Nepal |
A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka and East African Countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Ethiopia or Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India |
Note - For more detailed information on the CDS 2026 eligibility check the official notification.
The CDS age limit of all the candidates of various courses are mentioned in the table below. There is no CDS age limit relaxation for reserved category candidates in the CDS exam 2026.
CDS Courses | CDS Age Limit | Marital Status |
Indian Military Academy | 19 to 24 years | Unmarried |
Indian Naval Academy | 19 to 24 years | Unmarried |
Air Force Academy | 20 to 24 years | Unmarried |
Officers' Training Academy (Men) | 19 to 25 years | Unmarried & Married |
Officers Training Academy (Women, Non-Technical) | 19 to 25 years | Unmarried, Widow & Divorcee |
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CDS recruitment is done for various courses in the three Indian Defence Services - Army, Air Force and Navy, which have different educational qualification requirements. Educational requirements for all the CDS courses are mentioned in the table.
Courses | CDS Educational Qualification |
Indian Military Academy | Bachelor's Degree (BA, B.Com, B.Sc, BBA, BCA, B.Tech etc.) from a recognised University or equivalent institute |
Indian Naval Academy | Bachelor's Degree in Engineering from a recognised University/ College |
Air Force Academy | Bachelor's Degree from a recognised University (with Physics and Mathematics at 10+2 level) or Bachelor degree in engineering |
OTA (Men) | Bachelor's Degree from a recognised University or equivalent institute |
OTA (Women - Non-Technical) | Bachelor's Degree from a recognised University or equivalent institute |
Candidates applying for CDS must be physically fit in all aspects as prescribed by the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. Below given are a few points for the physical standards required for the CDS exam.
Applicants must be physically fit as per the prescribed physical standard of UPSC and the relevant defence department.
Candidates must be in good physical and sound mental health and free from any disease/ disability that can interfere in the performance of their duties.
There should be no evidence of bodily defects or overweight.
The minimum height requirement for male applicants is 157.5 cm. for Army, 157 cm for Navy and 162.5 cm for Air Force.
The minimum height of female candidates should be 152 cm for OTA (non-technical).
For candidates belonging to Gorkhas and hills of the North-Eastern region of India, Garhwali and Kumaon, 5 cm height relaxation is provided in the minimum acceptable height. In the case of applicants from Lakshadweep, 2 cm relaxation is provided.
They should have a sufficient number of natural teeth. A minimum of 14 dental points will be acceptable for CDS recruitment. If all 32 teeth are present, the total dental points are 22.
Check the vision standard for all the defence services in the tables below:
Male | Female |
Vision (corrected) better eye 6/6 and worse eye 6/12 | Vision (corrected) better eye 6/6, worse eye 6/12 |
Myopia of not more than minus 3.5 D | Myopia of not more than minus 5.5 D |
Manifest hypermetropia of not more than plus 3.5 D including Astigmatism | Manifest hypermetropia of not more than plus 3.5 D including Astigmatism. |
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Uncorrected without glass - 6/12 |
Corrected with glass - 6/6 |
Limits of Myopia - 1.5 |
Limits of Hypermetropia +1.5 |
Note: For more detailed information on the CDS eligibility criteria 2026, check the CDS 2026 official notification.
Check the eligibility criteria for other exams conducted by UPSC
The Union Public Service Commission has released the CDS 1 application form 2026 on December 10, 2025 on the official website. The UPSC CDS 2025 application form last date is December 30, 2025. Aspirants who meet the CDS 2026 eligibility criteria are eligible to fill the application form. To apply for the CDS 1 2026 exam, candidates first need to complete the One Time Registration (OTR) themselves and then fill out the CDS exam form. To successfully complete the CDS application process, candidates must pay a fee of Rs 200 if they belong to the general category and NIL if they are from the reserved category/ female.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The minimum CDS 1 2026 age limit required to appear for the CDS exam is 19 years.
Aspirants must have completed their graduation to be eligible for CDS 1 exam 2026.
The CDS notification 2026 will be released on December 10, 2025 on the UPSC official website, upsconline.nic.in/ upsc.gov.in in the form of pdf.
Yes, girls are eligible to appear for the CDS examination 2026.
No, there is no CDS age limit 2026 relaxation in the CDS exam for any category.
Yes, UPSC will conduct the physical test for CDS 2026.
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
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