CDS-1 2023 was conducted on the 16th of April 202 by the Union Public Service Commission. Like previous many years, this year too we are providing a very accurate and pinpointed exam analysis of the CDS-1 2023. CDS-1 2023 Exam Paper Analysis will cover topics asked in each paper, the number of questions from each topic, and the difficulty level of each topic.
The Expert Team of Mentors Defence Institute has done thorough research on the CDS Exam conducted on 16th April and we are presenting you a very accurate and reliable exam analysis and expected cut-off for CDS-1 2023. Our exam analysis will cover not only topics but also their difficulty level. After presenting you with this accurate analysis, we shall tell you the expected cut-off for CDS-1 2023.
The Combined Defense Services (CDS) examination is conducted twice a year by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to recruit eligible candidates for various posts in the Indian Armed Forces. The CDS-1 2023 exam was conducted on 16th April 2023, and as always, it was eagerly awaited by thousands of aspirants across the country. In this article, we will provide a detailed analysis of the CDS-1 2023 exam.
The CDS-1 2023 exam was conducted in two sessions: the morning session (9:00 AM – 11:00 AM) and the afternoon session (2:00 PM – 4:00 PM). The exam consisted of three papers – English, General Knowledge, and Elementary Mathematics – with a total of 300 marks. Each paper was of two hours in duration.
English Paper
The English paper consisted of 120 questions, each carrying one mark. The level of the paper was moderate, and candidates who had prepared well for grammar, vocabulary, and comprehension would have found it relatively easy. The questions were distributed evenly among topics such as synonyms and antonyms, fill-in-the-blanks, idioms and phrases, sentence improvement, and comprehension.
| Topics | No of Questions | Difficulty Level | ||
| Easy Questions | Moderate Questions | BrainBusters (Difficult) | ||
| Spotting Error | 10 | 10 out of 10 | – | – |
| Idioms & Phrases | 10 | 10 out of 10 | – | – |
| Reading Comprehension | 10 | 10 out of 10 | – | – |
| Ordering of Chunks in a sentence | 10 | 10 out of 10 | – | – |
| Ordering of Sentences | 10 | 10 out of 10 | – | – |
| Fill in the Blanks | 10 | 10 out of 10 | – | – |
| Antonyms | 10 | 1 10 out of 10 | – | – |
| Cloze Composition | 10 | – | 10 out of 10 | – |
| Synonyms | 10 | 10 out of 10 | – | – |
| Completion of Sentence | 10 | 10 out of 10 | – | – |
| Preposition & Determiners | 10 | 10 out of 10 | – | – |
| Word Classes- (POS) Recognition | 10 | 10 out of 10 | – | – |
General Studies Paper
The General Knowledge paper consisted of 120 questions, with each question carrying one mark. The level of the paper was moderate to difficult, with a few questions being quite tricky. The questions were distributed among topics such as current affairs, history, geography, economy, polity, and defense-related issues. The defense-related questions were particularly challenging, and candidates who had prepared well for this section would have had an advantage.
| Topics | Sub-Section | No of Questions | Difficulty Level | ||
| Easy Questions | Moderate Questions | Brain Busters (Difficult) | |||
| Science | Physics | 10 | 5 | 5 | – |
| Chemistry | 10 | 6 | 4 | – | |
| Biology | 10 | 8 | 2 | – | |
| History | Ancient History | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Medieval History | 6 | 3 | 3 | – | |
| Modern History | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | |
| Geography | Indian Geography | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| World Geography | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | |
| Physical Geography | 3 | 1 | 2 | – | |
| Economics | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | |
| Polity | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | |
| Current Affairs | 20 | 10 | 5 | 5 | |
| Static GK | 4 | 4 | – | – | |
Elementary Mathematics Paper
The Elementary Mathematics paper consisted of 100 questions, with each question carrying 1.5 marks. The level of the paper was moderate, and candidates who had prepared well for topics such as algebra, trigonometry, geometry, and mensuration would have found it relatively easy. There were a few tricky questions, but overall, the paper was doable.
| Topics | No of Questions | Difficulty Level | ||
| Easy Questions | Moderate Questions | Brain Busters (Difficult) | ||
| Geometry | 15 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| Data Sufficiency | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Mensuration | 15 | 2 | 11 | 2 |
| Set | 1 | 1 | – | – |
| Trigonometry | 9 | 6 | 3 | – |
| Height & Distance | 2 | 0 | 2 | – |
| Polynomial | 7 | 3 | 4 | – |
| Number System | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 |
| Logarithm and Exponential | 1 | 1 | 0 | – |
| Surds & Indicies | 2 | 1 | 1 | – |
| LCM & HCF | 4 | 1 | 3 | – |
| Percentage | 1 | 0 | 1 | – |
| Profit & Loss | 1 | 0 | 1 | – |
| SI & CI | 2 | 0 | 2 | – |
| Time & Work | 2 | 0 | 2 | – |
| Pipe & Cistern | 1 | 0 | 1 | – |
| Partnership | 1 | 0 | 1 | – |
| Problem on Ages | 1 | 0 | 1 | – |
| Average | 1 | 0 | 1 | – |
| Time and Distance | 2 | 0 | 2 | – |
| Boat & Streams | 1 | 0 | 1 | – |
| Statistics | 4 | 0 | 4 | – |
| Ratio & Proportion | 1 | 1 | 0 | – |
CDS-1 2023 Expected Cut off for OTA, IMA, AFA, and INA
| CDS-1 2023 Expected Cut off | |
| OTA (Women) | 90-100 |
| OTA (Men) | 90-100 |
| IMA | 130-140 |
| AFA | 140-150 |
| INA | 115-125 |
