The CDS exam date 2027 is 11 April 2027 (Sunday) for Combined Defence Services Examination (I), 2027 and 19 September 2027 (Sunday) for Combined Defence Services Examination (II), 2027. Those two Sundays sit in UPSC’s Programme of Examinations for 2027, issued on 20 May 2026. Each written exam is listed as one day.
The mix-up most people carry is the shared calendar row. CDS 1 2027 is printed with NDA & NA (I) 2027. CDS 2 2027 is printed with NDA & NA (II) 2027. Same notification date, same last date, same Sunday. They are still separate exams. A second mix-up is the abbreviation itself. CDS on this page is Combined Defence Services, not the Chief of Defence Staff. Age windows and the paper-wise syllabus already have their own notes. This page owns the 2027 dates and the apply path.
CDS exam date 2027 at a glance
UPSC has not issued the Combined Defence Services 2027 notices yet. Until those PDFs land, the working dates are the ones in the 2027 calendar. The calendar itself says notification, commencement and duration can move if circumstances warrant it.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Exam | Combined Defence Services Examination, 2027 |
| Conducted by | Union Public Service Commission |
| CDS I 2027 written | 11 April 2027, Sunday, one day |
| CDS I notification and last date | 2 December 2026 and 22 December 2026 |
| CDS II 2027 written | 19 September 2027, Sunday, one day |
| CDS II notification and last date | 12 May 2027 and 1 June 2027 |
| Apply | upsconline.nic.in only; no other mode |
| Calendar | UPSC 2027 programme, as on 20 May 2026; dates can change |
| Destinations | IMA Dehradun, INA Ezhimala, AFA Hyderabad, OTA Chennai |
The CDS age limit note carries the date-of-birth windows. The CDS syllabus note carries the papers. Do not treat last year’s vacancy table as the 2027 intake. The 2027 notice will print the course numbers.
Why CDS and NDA share a calendar row
They share a row because UPSC runs both written tests on the same Sunday, not because one form covers both. NDA is the Class 12 route. CDS is the graduate route into the officer academies. You still file two applications if you are even eligible for both, which most people are not, because the age bands barely overlap.
For CDS 1 2027, the shared row is:
- notification 2 December 2026;
- last date 22 December 2026;
- written test 11 April 2027.
For CDS 2 2027, the shared row is:
- notification 12 May 2027;
- last date 1 June 2027;
- written test 19 September 2027.
The NDA exam guide and the NDA age limit note are the place for the 10+2 rules. If you are a graduate hunting an officer course, you are on the CDS side. If you are still in Class 12, you are not.
A third neighbour sits later in the same calendar. The Central Armed Police Forces (Assistant Commandants) written test is listed for 4 July 2027. That is the CAPF officer paper, not an armed-forces academy exam. The CAPF syllabus page is the place for that paper.
And the abbreviation: Chief of Defence Staff is India’s senior-most military office, created in 2019. Combined Defence Services is the twice-yearly UPSC exam. Google will mix the two. This page is only the exam.
How to apply for CDS 2027
Apply only on upsconline.nic.in. The 2026 notices are blunt: no other mode is allowed. The 2027 PDF will open the examination-specific module. It won’t invent a new website.
The portal UPSC used for CDS (I) and CDS (II) 2026 has four cards. Three of them can be finished any day. The fourth opens only inside the notice window.
- Account creation. Use an email you will still read in 2028. The Commission contacts candidates electronically.
- Universal Registration (URN). This number is meant to be registered once in a lifetime and then reused. Aadhaar is the ID the 2026 notices push for verification. The Photo ID you lock here is the one you must carry to the venue and to SSB.
- Common Application Form (CAF). Upload a photograph and capture a live photograph. Sign three times, one below the other, on plain white paper in black ink, then upload that sheet. Missing documents on the CAF can cancel the candidature later.
- Examination-specific module. This is the CDS 2027 card: fee, centre, academy preference. It opens on the notification date and closes on the last date. In 2026 the window shut at 6:00 pm. The 2027 calendar prints the date, not the hour, so read the 2027 PDF for the closing time.
What does not work, and the 2026 notices already said so:
- There is no withdrawal after you submit.
- There is no correction window. Preferences, centre and personal fields are frozen.
- URN edits do not rewrite applications you have already sent. They apply only to forms you file after you re-lock the profile.
- OBC and EWS candidates paid the full Rs 200 fee in 2026. Female, SC and ST candidates were exempt. Treat Rs 200 as the working fee until the 2027 notice prints a different figure.
Centre allotment in the CDS (II) 2026 notice was first-apply-first-allot, with a ceiling on every centre except Chennai, Dispur, Kolkata and Nagpur. That notice listed 84 centres. Apply early if you care about the city. A 2027 list will replace it.
Academy preference is part of the same card, not a later email. The 2026 preference rules, which the 2027 notice still has to confirm:
- Women were considered only for Short Service Commission at OTA, Chennai.
- If you want AFA, Hyderabad, AFA had to be first choice, because of CPSS and Air Force medicals. A second or third AFA choice was treated as invalid.
- A man going for Permanent Commission and also for OTA had to put OTA last. If he ranked OTA higher, the Commission still treated it as last.
Those are 2026 service rules, not 2027 law, until the new PDF repeats them. The place for date-of-birth and degree rules is the CDS full form note plus the age-limit page, not a second reprint here.
The 2027 notices will be posted on the Commission’s examination notifications page. During the 2026 windows the helpdesk was 011-24041001 and 011-40303444, email [email protected], 10:00 am to 5:30 pm on working days. Use the numbers printed in the 2027 notice, not a screenshot from last year.
What the CDS 2027 written Sunday looks like
Plan for one Sunday and three sessions, then wait for the 2027 time-table PDF. Both 2026 papers used the same clock. CDS (I) 2026 sat on 12 April. CDS (II) 2026 sat on 13 September.
| Session | 2026 timing (IST) | Paper | Who writes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9:00 am to 11:00 am | English (code 11) | Everyone |
| 2 | 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm | General Knowledge (code 12) | Everyone |
| 3 | 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm | Elementary Mathematics (code 13) | IMA, INA and AFA only |
OTA candidates stop after General Knowledge. That is why OTA is 200 written marks and the other three academies are 300. Each paper is two hours and 100 marks, objective type. General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics were bilingual in 2026. English was not described as bilingual. Calculators are not allowed. A scribe is not allowed.
Negative marking in the 2026 notice was one third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question. More than one bubble counted as wrong. A blank question carried no penalty. Bring a black ball point pen. Pencil and ink pens were barred for the OMR.
The e-Admit Card, in both 2026 cycles, went up on upsconline.nic.in on or before the last working day of the week before the exam. No paper card is posted. CDS (I) 2026 cards were live on 2 April 2026. CDS (II) 2026 cards were live on 3 September 2026. Preserve the printout until the final result, not until the written Sunday.
The 3 September 2026 press note is the one to copy for hall conduct until 2027’s note replaces it:
- Entry closed 30 minutes before each session (8:30 am, 12:00 pm and 3:30 pm in 2026).
- Face authentication is mandatory. The same note asked candidates to reach about one hour 15 minutes early.
- Carry the e-Admit printout, the Photo ID whose number is printed on it, and three recent passport photographs (one per session).
- Banned at the gate: mobile phones, smart watches, AI glasses, bags and books.
- A simple wrist watch is allowed.
If you are an OTA-only candidate, you still follow the morning and afternoon gates. You just don’t sit the evening paper.
After the written paper: result, SSB and medical
The 2027 calendar stops at the written Sunday. It does not print a result date, an SSB window or a medical date. Those come in later press notes.
One point the 2026 scheme settles, and that coaching pages often get backwards: the written exam is not a dummy filter. For each course, the maximum marks for the written papers and for the interview are equal. That is 300 each for IMA, INA and AFA, and 200 each for OTA. Final merit is written plus SSB, then medical fitness, then vacancy. A high written score without an SSB recommendation still goes nowhere. An SSB recommendation with a weak written score is working against an equal weight.
CDS (I) 2026 is the recent example. The written test was on 12 April 2026. UPSC declared the written result on 8 May 2026 and named 8826 candidates for SSB. Army first-choice candidates then had to register on joinindianarmy.nic.in so the call-up letter could be issued. Navy and Air Force first-choice candidates were pointed to their own IHQ desks, not to that Army portal.
Do not send original certificates to UPSC. The 8 May 2026 result note said originals go to the service headquarters, on the dates that note printed, and not to the Commission.
SSB itself, in the 2026 appendix, is a two-stage board. Stage one is on the day you report. Fail that and you go home. Pass it and the remaining tests continue. This page will not reprint the five-day GTO list. That is SSB work, not a 2027 date.
Vacancies are the other thing not to copy forward. Both CDS (I) 2026 and CDS (II) 2026 printed a tentative 451. That is a 2026 figure. The 2027 notices will print 2027 figures, and even those are labelled tentative and changeable by Services HQ.
Where the 2027 cycle stands now
As of September 2026, the Combined Defence Services 2027 file is a calendar line, not a live notice.
CDS (I) 2026 is already through the written stage. Notification 10 December 2025, last date 30 December 2025 at 6:00 pm, exam 12 April 2026, e-Admit Card 2 April 2026, written result 8 May 2026. That cycle feeds the January 2027 IMA, INA and AFA courses and the April 2027 OTA courses.
CDS (II) 2026 has just had its written Sunday. Notification 20 May 2026, last date on the Commission’s exam page 11 June 2026 at 6:00 pm (the PDF had said 9 June; a later update moved it), exam 13 September 2026, e-Admit Card 3 September 2026. That cycle feeds the July 2027 IMA, INA and AFA courses and the October 2027 OTA courses.
So the people joining IMA in January 2027 are CDS (I) 2026 selectees, not CDS 1 2027 candidates. CDS 1 2027, with a written test in April 2027, will feed the next set of courses. The 2027 PDF will name those course numbers. Guessing them from the 162nd or 163rd DE label is how wrong academy years get onto blogs.
Build the URN now. The expensive mistake is creating an account on 2 December 2026, fighting live-photo capture, and discovering the Photo ID number does not match the card in your pocket. The calendar is a planning sheet. The notice is the document that can fail you.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the CDS exam date 2027?
CDS I 2027 is on 11 April 2027, a Sunday. CDS II 2027 is on 19 September 2027, a Sunday. Both are one-day written tests in UPSC’s 2027 calendar issued on 20 May 2026. Those dates can still move if the Commission later alters the programme.
When will the CDS 1 2027 notification come out?
The 2027 calendar lists the CDS I notification on 2 December 2026, with 22 December 2026 as the last date. The examination-specific module opens only inside that window. Account, URN and the Common Application Form can be finished before 2 December.
What is the last date to apply for CDS 2 2027?
The calendar last date for CDS II 2027 is 1 June 2027, after a notification dated 12 May 2027. In 2026 the window closed at 6:00 pm and was later extended by two days on the Commission’s exam page. Read the 2027 notice, and any later press note, for the closing hour.
Is CDS 2027 the same exam as NDA 2027?
No. They share a calendar row and a Sunday, not a question paper and not an application. NDA is the Class 12 National Defence Academy route. Combined Defence Services is the graduate route to IMA, INA, AFA and OTA. File the form that matches the academy you can actually join.
How do I apply for Combined Defence Services 2027?
Apply only on upsconline.nic.in. Complete Account creation, Universal Registration and the Common Application Form whenever you want, then fill the CDS examination-specific module after the notice drops. The 2026 notices allowed no other mode, no withdrawal and no correction after submit.
Do OTA candidates write Mathematics in 2027?
OTA candidates in the 2026 scheme wrote only English and General Knowledge, 200 marks in total. IMA, INA and AFA candidates also wrote Elementary Mathematics, 300 marks in total. Until the 2027 notice says otherwise, that is the working split.
When will the CDS 2027 admit card come out?
The 2026 notices issued the e-Admit Card on the last working day of the week before the exam, on upsconline.nic.in, with no paper card by post. CDS I 2026 cards were up on 2 April 2026; CDS II 2026 cards were up on 3 September 2026. Use the 2027 press note for the exact upload day.
Does the CDS written score count in the final merit?
Yes. The 2026 scheme set equal maxima for the written exam and the interview for each course: 300 and 300 for IMA, INA and AFA, and 200 and 200 for OTA. You still have to clear SSB and the medical board. A written qualifying mark without an SSB recommendation is not a selection.
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