How is the AFCAT different from the CDS?

Airforce Common Admission Test and Combined Defense Service Examination are written exams accompanied by an SSB Interview in order to pick appropriate young boys and girls for India's Defense Forces. Air Force General Admission Test is a test that is only taken for Airforce to select young boys and girls, while Combined Defense Service Examination is an examination designed to select candidates for all three wings, i.e. Army, Air Force, and Navy.

Given below are some of the major differences between CDS and AFCAT examinations.

Examination - Notifications:

AFCAT is carried out by the Indian Air Force, while CDSE is carried out twice a year by the Union Public Service Commission.

• The AFCAT1 notification is released by the first week of December and is conducted in the last week of February, while the CDS 1 notification is released by the beginning of November and is conducted at the beginning of February.

• Notification for AFCAT2 comes in the first week of June and the exam is conducted in the last week of August, whereas notification for CDS 2 comes in the last week of May, and the exam is conducted at the beginning of September.

Eligibility:

Both CDS and AFCAT requires an applicant to hold a bachelor’s degree(B.E/BA/B.Tech/B.Sc)

Age Limit:

The age limit for different wings at CDS and AFCAT is tabulated below.

Exam Pattern:

• The AFCAT exam consists of a single paper that includes English, GA, mathematics, and reasoning, with a total of 100 questions which are to be completed within 2 hours.

• The CDS exam consists of three papers English, GA, and Mathematics. For students opting for the OTA(Officer Training Academy), mathematics is optional. There are 120 questions in each paper and the time is 2 hours.

Level of Difficulty:

For each topic in both tests, the level of difficulty varies. The reasoning is considered to be the most difficult segment of AFCAT.

Results of AFCAT1 and AFCAT2 are declared by the end of March and September respectively, while the results of CDS1 and CDS2 are declared by June and January respectively. After the results are declared, students are scrutinized through SSB Round.