CDA and NDA exams are renowned for joining the Indian Armed forces. The main question is which of the Combined Defence Services (CDS) or National Defence Academy is more challenging and easier to crack.
UPSC conducts both exams in two rounds, the first round is of written exams, and the second round is of SSB interview sessions. Aspirants who pass the written exams can only attend the SSB interview for final selection. However, profound preparation is required to crack both exams. One can use BYJU’s Exam Prep to get every information and preparation guide for CDS and NDA exams.
Comparing the CDS and NDA Exam
| Criteria | Combined Defence Services | National Defence Academy |
| Age (in years) | 19 to 25
| 16.5 to 19.5 |
| Gender Eligibility | Both males and females
| Both males and females
|
| Minimum Education | Graduation in any discipline | 12th grade or 10 + 2 certificate |
| Examination Scheme | Written test + SSB interview | Written test + SSB interview |
| Exam Occurrence | Two times a year (In Fab. And Nov.) | Two times a year (In April. And Sept.) |
| Awarded Degrees After Training | PG Diploma in ‘Military and Defence Management for IMA. PG Diploma in DMSS for OTA. | BA, B.Sc., B.Tech. to Army Cadets. B.Tech. to Naval and Air Force Cadets. |
| Initial rank | Lieutenant | Lieutenant
|
| Number of written papers | Three papers for IMA, AFA, and INA. Two papers for OTA. | Two papers for every entry |
| Syllabus | Class 10 level math and Graduation level for remaining subjects. | Class 10 to 12 group. |
| Subjects asked in exams. | Elementary mathematics, GK, and English for IMA, AFA, and INA. GK and English for OTA. | GAT and mathematics |
| Written exam duration | 2 hours for each | Two and ½ hours for each |
| Question from each subject | Mathematics: 100 English: 120 GK: 120 | General Ability Test (GAT): 150 Math: 120 |
| Negative marking | 0.33 mark for every wrong answer. | 1.33 for every wrong answer in GAT and 0.83 for every wrong answer in mathematics. |
| Total marks | IMA, INA, and AFA: On paper exams and SSB interview = 300 + 300 = 600. OTA: On paper exam and SSB interview = 200 + 200 = 400. | On paper exams and SSB interview = 900 + 900 = 1800. |
CDS or NDA, which is more challenging in written exams?
If you aspire to serve the nation and want to clear CDS or NDA exams, you must focus on robust preparation for basic subjects like English, Mathematics, and General Science. It would help if you also concentrate on Basic awareness, GK, and Current Affairs.
However, when comparing these two examinations, we cannot precisely measure which one is more challenging.
Talking about NDA, it becomes somewhat challenging in Mathematics written exams because of the high standard of maths compared to the CDS written exam.
While on the other side, the CDS written exam is challenging in the GS portion compared to the NDA.
CDS or NDA, which is more challenging in the SSB Interview round?
The SSB Interview round is relatively uncomplicated for NDA entry compared to CDS entry. In simple words, this round has more scope for NDA selection.
CDS selection becomes challenging in this round because of two main reasons.
- The CDS entry has a high scope of elimination because the CDS is a graduate-level entry, and as per the Services Selection Board (SSB), candidates with overall perfect senses can only be recommended and given responsibilities.
The SSB expects that candidates who clear the CDS written exam must be an officer personality already. During the 5-6 days of the interview round, board members look for those officer traits in every interviewing candidate.
- Another primary reason is lesser vacancies for CDS entry. The scope of selection is so narrow that only two to five candidates are generally selected from the batch of 100. The number of selections is not fixed; depending upon the officer personality of candidates, SSB might select more than five people, or no one gets selected from the batch.