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The UPSC will soon release the CDS 2 Cut Off 2026 for IMA, INA, AFA, and OTA along with the written exam result. Candidates will be shortlisted for the next stage of the selection process based on the UPSC CDS Cut Off marks. The cut off helps candidates understand the competition level and the overall difficulty of the examination.
Several factors affect the CDS 2 Cut Off 2026, such as the difficulty level of the question paper, number of vacancies, and total candidates appearing for the exam. The official minimum qualifying marks for UPSC CDS 2 2026 will be updated here after the announcement. Till then, candidates can check the previous year cut off trends and expected scores to estimate their chances of selection.
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The Combined Defence Service conducts the entrance exam for many academies such as IMA, INA, AFA and OTA (men and women). The official cut off of CDS will be updated here when UPSC declares it. At the moment, check the expected UPSC CDS cut off 2026 for all four academies in the table below.
|
Expected CDS 1 Exam Cut Off 2026 |
||
|
Academy |
Written Exam |
Final Exam |
|
IMA (Indian Military Academy) |
119 - 131 |
244 - 256 |
|
INA (Indian Naval Academy) |
104 - 121 |
232 - 246 |
|
AFA (Air Force Academy) |
146 - 151 |
267 - 271 |
|
OTA (Officers’ Training Academy) - Men |
73 - 84 |
161 - 170 |
|
OTA (Officers’ Training Academy) - Women |
75 - 85 |
164 - 170 |
Candidates can check the CDS Cut Off 2026 on the official UPSC website after the declaration of the final result. The cut off marks are released separately for IMA, INA, AFA and OTA courses along with the written and final selection marks.
Step 1: You can visit the official website at upsconline.nic.in
Step 2: Click on the "Examination" tab.
Step 3: Click on the "Cut Off Marks" dropdown menu.
Step 4: The candidate can find the link for CDS Cut off marks in the recent link.
Step 5: Click on the download link and save it for future reference.
To get the detailed CDS Exam Pattern, candidates can visit the linked article.
Candidates preparing for the exam should check out the CDS previous year cut off marks. This can help you set a safe target score and better prepare for the exam. It is also important to analyze the previous year cut off trends to understand the difficulty level of the paper. The passing marks for previous years are provided in tables. It contains cut off marks from 2017 to 2022. So make sure to go through them to learn about the CDS cut-off.
The official announcement of the CDS 2022 cut off has not yet been made. The passing scores have been predicted by our experts anyway. To find out if you are eligible for the next selection phase, check the projected score. Below are the specifics regarding the CDS cut off.
|
CDS 1 Exam Cut Off 2022 |
||
|
Academy |
Written Exam Aggregate marks of last qualified candidate* |
Final Exam Marks of last recommended candidate |
|
IMA |
136 |
258 |
|
INA |
128 |
256 |
|
AFA |
147 |
269 |
|
OTA (Men) |
100 |
181 |
|
OTA(Women) |
100 |
184 |
The CDS exam is conducted at two levels viz., Written Exam and Final Exam. The two examinations are conducted in all four academies as part of the entrance examination. Below are the category-wise UPSC CDS 2021 cut off for the CDS (I) examdetails.
|
CDS 1 Cut Off 2021 |
||
|
Academy |
Written Exam |
Final Exam |
|
Aggregate marks of last qualified candidate* |
Marks of last recommended candidate |
|
|
IMA |
145 |
268 |
|
INA |
136 |
260 |
|
AFA |
158 |
281 |
|
OTA (Men) |
107 |
189 |
|
OTA(Women) |
107 |
191 |
We have shared the predicted cut off for CDS 2 2021 in the table below based on the previous year cut off and extensive exam analysis. The following are the CDS cut off marks for the tier two Combined Defence Services exam:
|
CDS 2 Exam Cut Off 2021 |
|
|
Paper |
Cut Off |
|
IMA |
142-148 |
|
INA |
130-135 |
|
AFA |
150-155 |
|
OTA (Men & Women) |
112 - 118 |
The CDS 2020 cut off marks can be found here. The passing grades for the written and final exams are published separately. The overall score of the written test and the SSB interview is used to determine the final exam cut off. Check the table below for details on CDS cut off.
|
Name of Academy |
Written Test (*Aggregate marks of the last selected candidate) |
Final Exam (Marks of last recommended candidate) |
|
IMA (Indian Military Academy) |
130 |
250 |
|
INA (Indian Naval Academy) |
118 |
242 |
|
IAFA (Indian Airforce Academy) |
143 |
274 |
|
OTA (Officers Training Academy: Men) |
93 |
173 |
|
OTA (Officers Training Academy: Women) |
93 |
177 |
The CDS 2 2020 cut off marks are given below. The minimum scores for the written and final exams are published separately. The overall score of the written test and the SSB interview is used to determine the final exam cut off. Check the table below for details on cut off for CDS 2.
|
Paper |
Written Test (*Aggregate marks of the last selected candidate) |
Final Exam (Marks of last recommended candidate) |
|
IMA (Indian Military Academy) |
139 |
263 |
|
INA (Indian Naval Academy) |
134 |
257 |
|
IAFA (Indian Airforce Academy) |
152 |
279 |
|
OTA (Officers Training Academy: Men) |
97 |
179 |
|
OTA (Officers Training Academy: Women) |
97 |
178 |
Here we are providing the cut-off marks for 2019 based on the previous year's result. Check the table below to know more about the category-wise cut-off marks.
|
Academy course |
Written exam |
Final Exam |
|
IMA |
116 |
242 |
|
OTA (Male) |
78 |
160 |
|
OTA (Female) |
78 |
162 |
|
INA |
105 |
233 |
|
AFA |
129 |
264 |
To get the detailed UPSC CDS Salary, candidates can visit the linked article.
The candidates who were a part of the CDS (II) cycle for the year 2019 can check the official final cut-off marks for each academy.
|
Sr. No. |
Academy/Course |
Minimum Aggregate Marks of Last Qualified Candidate |
Marks of Last Recommended Candidate |
|
1 |
IMA |
134 marks (i.e. 44.67%) |
258 |
|
3 |
INA |
122 marks (i.e. 40.67%) |
245 |
|
4 |
AFA |
148 marks (i.e. 49.33%) |
272 |
|
5 |
OTA (Men) |
95 marks (i.e. 47.5%) |
176 |
|
5 |
OTA (Women) |
95 marks (i.e. 47.5%) |
179 |
For details on the CDS Previous Year Question Papers, refer to the linked article.
In the table below we are providing candidates with the previous year's written exam’s category-wise cut-off marks. We hope this table will help candidates to get an idea of what basis and how to prepare for the upcoming exam.
|
Name of the Academy |
Written Test (*Aggregate marks of the last selected candidate) |
Final Exam (Marks of last recommended candidate) |
|
IMA (Indian Military Academy) |
118 |
240 |
|
INA (Indian Naval Academy) |
98 |
225 |
|
IAFA (Indian Airforce Academy) |
138 |
279 |
|
OTA (Officers Training Academy: Men) |
69 |
154 |
|
OTA (Officers Training Academy: Women) |
69 |
150 |
Check out the UPSC CDS Cut Off for CDS 2 2018 in the table below.
|
Name of the Academy |
Written Test (*Aggregate marks of the last selected candidate) |
Final Exam (Marks of last recommended candidate) |
|
IMA (Indian Military Academy) |
116 |
242 |
|
INA (Indian Naval Academy) |
102 |
228 |
|
IAFA (Indian Airforce Academy) |
131 |
253 |
|
OTA (Officers Training Academy: Men) |
80 |
162 |
|
OTA (Officers Training Academy: Women) |
80 |
163 |
To get the detailed CDS Selection Process, candidates can visit the linked article.
In the table below we are providing candidates with the previous year, written exam cut-off of CDS . We hope this table will help candidates to get an idea of what basis and how to prepare for the upcoming exam.
|
Academy course |
Written exam (minimum qualifying marks in each subject) |
Final Exam (marks of last recommended candidates) |
|
IMA |
125 |
248 |
|
OTA (Male) |
82 |
163 |
|
OTA (Female) |
82 |
164 |
|
INA |
144 |
268 |
|
AFA |
118 |
241 |
To get the detailed UPSC CDS Syllabus, candidates can visit the linked article.
The table below we are providing cut-off with the previous year's written exam cut-off marks. We hope this table will help candidates to get an idea of what basis and how to prepare for the upcoming exam.
|
Academy course |
Written exam (minimum qualifying marks in each subject) |
Final Exam (marks of last recommended candidates) |
|
IMA |
120 |
244 |
|
OTA (Male) |
111 |
237 |
|
OTA (Female) |
135 |
260 |
|
INA |
86 |
167 |
|
AFA |
86 |
171 |
For details on the UPSC CDS Apply Online, refer to the linked article.
The applicants should solve numerous question papers and collate their scores with the CDS cut off, they will be able to gauge the difference and analyze how many more questions they need to target to get qualified.
|
Name of the Academy |
CDS 1 Written Test (Aggregate marks of the last selected candidate) |
CDS 1 Final Exam (Marks of last recommended candidate) |
|
CDS IMA Cut Off(Indian Military Academy) |
72 |
214 |
|
INA (Indian Naval Academy) |
63 |
217 |
|
IAFA (Indian Air force Academy) |
123 |
249 |
|
CDS OTA Cut Off (Officers Training Academy: Men) |
68 |
150 |
|
CDS OTA Cut Off (Officers Training Academy: Women) |
68 |
157 |
Applicants should check out the CDS Cut Off for CDS 2 2016 in the table below.
|
Name of the Academy |
CDS-II Written Test (Aggregate marks of the last selected candidate) |
CDS-II Final Exam (Marks of last recommended candidate) |
|
IMA (Indian Military Academy) |
105 |
227 |
|
INA (Indian Naval Academy) |
90 |
225 |
|
IAFA (Indian Air force Academy) |
135 |
258 |
|
CDS OTA Cut Off (Officers Training Academy: Men) |
72 |
157 |
|
CDS OTA OTA (Officers Training Academy: Women) |
72 |
159 |
There are several factors that determine the CDS exam cut off 2026. The applicants must be aware of all the factors that influence the cut off of CDS, which are mentioned as follows:
To get the detailed CDS Result, candidates can visit the linked article.
In this article, we have explained the UPSC CDS Cut Off 2026 in detail along with the previous year's cut-off details. We hope now you know how to check the cutoff details and what are the factors that affect the cutoff marks for any exam. Keeping this in mind, candidates should prepare well and make sure to score more than the required cut-off marks.
The hope you found this article interesting. If you have any queries related to this article you can drop the comment below. And for more information, the aspirants can download the Testbook App.
Last updated: Sep 13, 2026
-> The UPSC CDS Admit Card has been released on 3rd September 2026.
-> The UPSC CDS 2 Result for 2025 Cycle has been released on 7th August 2026.
-> The UPSC CDS 2 Notification has been released on 20 May 2026.
-> The CDS 2 Exam will be conducted on 13 September 2026.
-> The selection process includes Written Examination, SSB Interview, Document Verification, and Medical Examination.
-> Attempt UPSC CDS Free Mock Test to boost your score.
-> Refer to the CDS Previous Year Papers to enhance your preparation.

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