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Candidates wait for CDS II exam to begin outside Siddharth college, Sunday, Mumbai (Photo: Vaishnav Mudbhatkal)

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The Combined Defence Services (CDS) Examination II, conducted today, October 23, 2016, was a relatively easy paper according to most exam takers. PaGaLGuY scouted a few centres and the basic feeling that came across was the paper was attemptable. 

CDS II exam was conducted  by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), in 41 centers across  the country. About 2.25 lakh candidates appeared for the CDS exam which is conducted twice a year, that is in every six months.

Abhay Ambekar, a candidate from Pune, said, “We all were happy after taking the exam, everybody came out with a smiling face.” Ambekar’s exam centre was Mumbai’s Siddharth college, located near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. 

About the exam, he added, “The paper was very easy. Usually it is more like a Civil service exam, but this year majority of the questions were Defence service oriented.” 

Another candidate, Ganesh Patil, at  Mumbai’s MK college, was also thrilled after finishing the exam. He said “Most my friends including me are confident of clearing the exam. It was an easy paper, and I expect the cut-off will be high this year.”

The exam was conducted in three parts, namely,  English, GK and Elementary Mathematics. Each subject was tested in a separate paper and the duration of each of these was of two hours. Candidates should note that there is negative marking for wrong answers in the objective type questions.

A candidate from New Delhi, Alok Singh, said, “It was my sixth attempt and this year’s paper was the easiest for me. Questions on Indian Polity were more than previous years. Also Defence related questions were higher in number. I fared well in the exam and I am confident about my result.”

Aniket Gomekar from Pune has a different review about the CDS II exam. He said, “The paper was tricky as expected. English paper was good, though there were a few changes in the pattern. Even GK was a bit tricky with a lot of questions on contemporary topics. And since I had practiced Math regularly, it was good.”

A total of 413 vacancies are to be filled this year in the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, Officers’ Training Academy (OTA), Chennai (Men and Women), Air Force Academy, Hyderabad, and Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala. 

As per the tentative schedule, UPSC is expected to declare the results in January 2017. 

Candidates can follow PaGaLGuY to get all the answer keys, updates, and notifications about CDS II exam. 

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Inputs by Priyank Pamkar, and Vaishnav Mudbhatkal, Mumbai