UPSC publishes the CDS II 2026 examination notification
The Union Public Service Commission published the Combined Defence Services Examination (II), 2026 notification and examination schedule.
Important dates
Times are shown in IST when the authority specifies them. A date without a time does not imply a midnight deadline. Recheck the official source for changes.
What students should do
- Read the official notification for academy-specific eligibility and paper requirements.
- Use the time before the examination to practise against the applicable CDS paper structure.
Turn the update into action
Prepare for CDS
Review the exam structure and use a timed practice test instead of stopping at the announcement.
Frequently asked questions
What is an exam notification, and what does the CDS one contain?
A notification is the advertisement a conducting body publishes to open a recruitment or admission cycle. It is the governing document for that cycle: it fixes the vacancies or seats, the eligibility conditions, the application window and fee, the examination scheme, and the reservation and relaxation rules. Where a later notice and the notification disagree, the notification is what counts until a corrigendum amends it. Anything published about CDS before its notification, including the pattern reproduced on this site, describes the previous cycle until the new one is read.
What is the CDS exam pattern?
The Elementary Mathematics stage is 100 questions for 100 marks in 120 minutes, covering Arithmetic, Algebra and Trigonometry and Geometry and Mensuration. Wrong answers are penalised 0.33 per question. Every figure is taken from the official source linked on the pattern page and carries the date it was last checked.
Are there free CDS mock tests?
Yes. There are 14 free tests for CDS on TakeMockTest, with no sign-up and no paywall. Each is marked to the exam's own scheme rather than a flat one mark per question, so the score you see reflects what the same attempt would earn in the real paper.
How is this update verified, and how current is it?
This summary was written from Union Public Service Commission's own published notice, which is linked on this page, and it records the date that source was last checked rather than the date this page was generated. That is the limit of the claim: it says the notice read as summarised on that date. Conducting bodies revise dates, vacancy counts and eligibility conditions without notice, so confirm anything you are about to act on against the official source before you act.