Hello,

Yes, you are eligible for CDS OTA if you have completed your Graduation or would be appearing for the final year degree examination and fulfill other criteria such as age, marital and physical criteria defined.

Kindly explain the meaning of your 2nd question as it is not clear as what you mean by entry. This will help us in providing you with an accurate answer.

Best wishes!

Hello,

CDS examination is conducted by Union Public Service Commission twice in a year. CDS examination open doors for various defence institutes like Indian Military Academy (IMA), Indian Naval Academy (INA), Officers Training Academy (OTA) and Indian Air Force Academy (IAFA). There is a slight difference in the CDS exam pattern for OTA . You have to give exam only for two papers , i.e. English - which will be a 2 hour exam comprising of 120 questions of 100 marks and General Knowledge - which will also be a 2 hour exam comprising of 120 questions and 100 marks.There will be NO Mathematics paper for OTA. The exam will be conducted in offline mode i.e. through pen and paper. The exam will consist of multiple choice questions and for every wrong answer the candidate gives, 1/3rd marks will be deducted.

The Eligibility Criteria for the CDS examination are as follows:

1) The candidate must be

A) a citizen of India, or

B) a subject of Bhutan, or

C) a subject of Nepal, or

D) a Tibetan refugee who came to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India or

E) 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, Ethiopia or Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

2) The candidate must have a degree from a recognized institution.

3) The age of the candidate must be between 19 and 25 years.

Unlike other defence academies, both men and women are eligible to apply if they fulfill the above criterias.

So there is no such obligation as to have a particular subject at 10+2 level. All you need is a degree from a recognized university andd you must fulfill other criterias.

So YES you are eligible for CDS examination.

Now coming to the second part.

The other ways by wich you can join Officers Training Academy are through

1) SSC Technical- This requires a candidate to possess an engineering degree so you cannot apply through SSC Technical.

2) NCC Special Entry Scheme- Male and female graduates with LLB/LLM with 50 % aggregate marks, two year service in NCC in senior Divisional army  with minimum B grade.

3) Judge Advocate Entry- Minimum 55 % marks in LLB degree are eligible to apply.

So after observing all these I would suggest you to go for entry through CDS examination only as other channels require other qualifications.

All the best.