CDS SEP 2019 EXAM(II) ANALYSIS

SNAPSHOT -2019 CDS(II) EXAM

The Combined Defence Services (CDS) Exam is conducted twice a year for recruitment into one of the following wings of INDIAN ARMED FORCES.

a) Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun

b) Indian Naval Academy (INA), Ezhimala

c) Indian Air Force Academy (AFA), Hyderabad

d) Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai.

Anyone who is in the final year of graduation or has completed graduation can write the CDS exam. The analysis, as shown below, is for the exam conducted on 8th Sep 2019 (Sunday).There were three test areas -ENGLISH, GENERAL KNOWLEDGE and ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS. Each test area was conducted for a time period of 120 mins. The exam was conducted in Paper Pencil Mode.

The broad summary of the three test areas is as indicated below.

Paper Subject Duration Number of qs Maximum Marks
I English 2 hours 120 100
II General Knowledge 2 hours 120 100
III Elementary Mathematics 2 hours 100 100
Total 340 300

Let us analyze the different types of questions from each of the test area along with the overall difficulty level of each of the test area.

ENGLISH

As shown in the table below, this test area comprises questions from Reading Comprehension, Synonyms, Antonyms, Fill in the blanks, Cloze passages etc.A total of 120 qs (with a total of 100 marks) has to be attempted in 120 mins. Each question carried equal marks. For any question wrongly answer marked, one-third of the marks assigned to that question was deducted as penalty. Any net score above 60 marks (out of a maximum possible 100) is considered to be very good.

AREA DESCRIPTION Qs DIFFICULTY LEVEL ESTIMATED GOOD MARKS
English Usage, Grammar & Vocabulary Antonyms 10 Easy-Moderate 50
Synonyms 10
Identify the correct spelling 7
Ordering of words in a sentence 13
Idioms and Phrases 10
Identification of the parts of speech 10
Ordering of Sentences (Para-Jumbles) 9
Spotting Errors 15
CLOZE Comprehension -2 passages 19
Reading Comprehension Passage on “Equitable distribution of land” (300 words) 6 Easy-Moderate 10
Passage on “Economic History of Man” (280 words) 5
Passage on “Employee Attitude Surveys” (300 words) 6
Overall 120 EASY-MODERATE 60

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

As shown in the table below, this test area comprises questions from History, Geography, Polity, Economy, Science, Current Affairs etc A total of 120 qs (with a total of 100 marks) has to be attempted in 120 mins. Each question carried equal marks. For any question wrongly answer marked, one-third of the marks assigned to that question was deducted as penalty. Any net score above 35 marks (out of a maximum possible 100) is considered to be very good.

S No DESCRIPTION NUMBER OF Qs DIFFICULTY LEVEL ESTIMATED GOOD MARKS
1 History 22 Difficult 35
2 Geography 24
3 Polity 22
4 Economy 13
5 Physics 10
6 Chemistry 8
7 Biology 10
8 Current Affairs/Armed Forces/Miscellaneous 11
Overall 120 Difficult 35

ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS

As shown in the table below, this test area comprises questions from various areas. More than 50% of the questions were from areas -Polynomial Equations(including Quadratic Equations), Geometry, Mensuration and Numbers. A total of 100 qs (with a total of 100 marks) had to be attempted in 120 mins. Each question carried one mark. For any question wrongly answer marked, one-third of the marks assigned to that question(0.33 marks)was deducted as penalty. Any net score above 35 marks (out of a maximum possible 100) is considered to be very good.Those who would have done adequate practice would have found the questions quite doable. The success in this particular test area depended on one's basic conceptual skills, and calculation skills. Overall, the test area can be classified as MODERATE- DIFFICULT.

AREA DESCRIPTION MARKS DIFFICULTY LEVEL ESTIMATED GOOD MARKS
Arithmetic Numbers, Indices and Surds 19 Moderate -Difficult 35
Geometry 12
Mensuration 22
Percentages, Profit, Loss, Partnership 3
Polynomial Equations (including Quadratic Equations) 13
Averages, Mixtures and Alligations 1
Logarithm 5
Data Interpretation 8
Time & Work 3
Simple Interest, Compound Interest 2
Simple Equations, Ratio, Proportion and Variation 3
Time & Distance 2
Higher Math Trigometry, Heights and Distance 5 Moderate -Difficult
Statistics 2
Overall 100 Moderate -Difficult 35