CDS 2026

Key facts from the UPSC Combined Defence Services notification, with a calculator for the written papers.

Calculators

Every tool follows the official rule and links its source.

CDS Marks CalculatorWritten papers with the one-third penalty

Key facts from the notification

Papers (IMA, INA, AFA)English, General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics; 2 hours and 100 marks each, 300 marks in total
Papers (OTA)English and General Knowledge only; 200 marks in total
QuestionsEnglish 120, General Knowledge 120, Elementary Mathematics 100, all objective
Negative markingOne third of the marks assigned to that question. More than one answer counts as wrong; a blank carries no penalty
InterviewMaximum marks equal to the written examination: 300 for IMA, INA and AFA, 200 for OTA
LanguageGeneral Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics are set in both Hindi and English

Source: UPSC: Combined Defence Services Examination (II), 2026 notification, dated 20 May 2026 — Appendix I scheme (each paper 2 hours, 100 marks) and paragraph 3, penalty for wrong answers: "one third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty". Checked 28 September 2026.

What the marking scheme actually costs you

What your answer sheet is worth. IMA, INA and Air Force Academy has 340 questions for 300 marks, with a different penalty in each section. Officers' Training Academy has 240 questions for 200 marks, with 5/18 off for a wrong answer. The marks calculator works the score out section by section from the official answer key.

A wrong answer does not cost a third of a mark. It costs a third of that question’s marks, and the two are only the same in Elementary Mathematics. English and General Knowledge put 100 marks over 120 questions, so each question is worth five sixths of a mark and a wrong answer takes off 5/18 of a mark, about 0.28. Most CDS calculators apply a flat one third to every paper, which overstates the penalty in two papers out of three.

Because a blank carries no penalty at all, an unattempted question is never worse than a wrong one, but it is never better than a right one either. The arithmetic of guessing in English and General Knowledge is that roughly one right answer in four covers the cost of three wrong ones.