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By this time next year when 90% applicants would have failed at clearing CDS. Here is how you will be in the 10%.
Stop everything you are doing! Put exactly five minutes of your undivided attention, because what I’m about to tell you will change how you look at CDS Preparation forever.
First, we understand and formulate a path. Let us look at all three papers one by one.
- Paper 1 General English
- Paper 2 General Knowledge
- Paper 3 Mathematics
Glance at the Cut off marks (Passing marks) for different attempts. Marks below are total of 3 papers, except OTA which is total of first two papers only. If you have confusion and are new to this, Click here to understand better
If you already know about preference of IMA, INA, AFA & OTA in CDS exam and different papers required for each academy then let’s go ahead!
These are official cut off marks, quickly glance at numbers.
Now, this is the latest official cut off marks for 2025.
Your subconscious would have noticed one thing that paper 3, “Elementary Mathematics” requires at least 35-40 Marks more than the Total OTA score (Total of English and General Knowledge paper). Another thing you would have noticed clearly is that AFA requires maximum marks (Highest cut off), followed by IMA and then lastly INA.
OTA on the other hand requires less marks, obviously as there are two papers only.
But for each paper UPSC wants you to score minimum of 20% or 20 Marks which varies in every attempt and goes as low as 18% (18 marks each paper) to as high as 25% (25 marks in each paper)
But 25 in each paper would be 50 in total for paper 1 & 2 while cut off ranges from 80 to 100! So, obviously you need to score high in one of the two papers. Which one is that? You may ask
ENGLISH!!
Yes, General English (Paper 1) is the only scoring paper in CDS and this is where you take the maximum advantage possible. So, put more time in English preparation?
Does it mean More value to English than GK?. Well! we will come to that. For Now, we go ahead and find out the path to follow for this paper
Road-Map for CDS Paper 1 General English
I will layout the total comprehensive Syllabus of general English Paper. There are some additional new topics too and we will check all of them.
There are certain topics that are simple, scoring and worth attempting. You should attempt 100% of those questions. There are certain challenging topics that aren’t easy or worth guessing. It is advised to tread with caution for these topics in exam. Further there are few topics that are not worth attempting as you will likely lose marks in negative marking.
No one will tell you what you will see next! Excited? Let us proceed then!
1.) Parts of Speech
Advice : Learn “Part of Speech“. It is limited foundation learning that you need to get in order to attempt 100% of these questions. These are scoring and worth attempting
2.) Prepositions and Determiners
Advice : Learn it . It is again limited foundation learning. Attempt 100% of these questions. These are scoring
3.) Error Detection
Advice : Attempt if you feel the error! . When you read stories, watch movies with subtitles, listen to two people talking, podcast etc your mind develops subconscious learning and when you hear wrong sentence you immediately realise it. So, when attempting these, if you feel something is wrong while reading the sentence – GO AHEAD Attempt it 100%. If you don’t – skip it!
4.) Synonym & Antonyms
Advice : This is tricky section! . You can attempt these only if you literally know the meaning of the word, which comes by vocabulary. Vocabulary of a person develops over months, years and decades. So, DO NOT ATTEMPT when you don’t know the actual meaning of the word.
5.) Idioms and Phrases
Advice : DO NOT TOUCH! There is no limited source for phrases and idioms. Just like synonym and antonyms, you can only answer these when you know the meaning of the phrase. There are more than thousands of idioms and phrases and you cannot learn them all. Meaning of Idioms and phrases are always different from what they seem by words. These will most certainly pull your score down by negative marking. Only answer when you know the definitive meaning of the idiom or phrase. This is 100% worth skipping!
6.) Reading Comprehension
Advice : Go for it! . This is the easiest section. Almost every time the answer is right in front of you. Read the passage carefully and there’s 100% chance you will get them all correct. Sometimes comprehension gets tricky, options given can have both fact based and observation based answer. Which one to choose? Comprehension is not a test of knowledge; it is a test of observation. The goal isn’t to find the “correct” fact, but to find the “matching” fact. Remember : If a piece of information isn’t inside the paragraph, it doesn’t exist for the duration of the test
7.) Completion of sentence
Advice : Go for it! . This is simple as long as you have practiced them before. Again these come with general English flow. You’ll know by reading that which option doesn’t fit in and which one seems perfectly fit. Sometimes they are tricky when two options fit closely. In such cases it is better to skip than attempting. These are generally scoring and you must attempt these
8.) Ordering of words
Advice : Easiest of all . This is as simple as it gets. Almost every time you will know the flow. If and when confused you know at least which two sentence go together and hence by ruling out options you can figure out the correct answer. You must attempt all of these
9.) Cloze test
Advice : Definitely Scoring . Just by reading the sentence you will know what will fit in. To excel in cloze test you must practice these more and more. Anyone with basic English should be able to get it. If you find this difficult then you should read either of magazines, newspaper or online articles, whichever available. Just by continuous reading regularly you will develop your subconscious mind.
10.) Sentence Improvement
Advice : Tricky! Tread with caution . Sometimes the options given are very confusing. To add to it, you have “No Improvement” option too. You have to understand the words that naturally live together. We don’t say “guilty for,” we say “guilty of.” We don’t say “liable to,” we say “liable for. While in casual speaking and expressing the terms like “guilty for” and “liable to” works but not in a written sentence. Here you use logic and see if the words fit together in the written context and not in speaking.
11.) Ordering of Sentence
Advice : Worth Attempting . This is little complex than ordering of words but almost as scoring. If you find connection between any two sentences, say “RS” than more or less by ruling out options that don’t have “RS” together you will find out the correct answer. If you are confused between two options then it is recommended to take time and figure out the correct answer. There are high chances that you will get this correct! You must attempt all of these.
12.) Fill ups
Advice : Attempt all . Again, these can be solved easily just by the look of it. If you know the correct usage of prepositions then you will know how the correct word will fit in the sentence. This certainly comes after a lot of practice but this section is worth attempting.
13.) Miscellaneous
Advice : Lot of practice required! These are certain new topics that have recently been added to CDS English Syllabus. There are a mix of both simple and complex topics which are somehow related to your basic understanding of grammar.
To excel in all of them, you need a very good practice. First, learn the parts of speech, preposition & determiners along with basic grammar and then you proceed with practice exercises. Additionally, it is recommended to read a fiction book or genre of your interest every night before sleep. Even a simple book like secret seven or famous five will do! Remember this will add to your vocabulary and subconsciously help with your grammar knowledge.
Where can you get these? As for the 2026 updated syllabus of CDS English is concerned, I suggest you to get MISSION CDS 2026.
This new edition Book has learning source for parts of speech, proposition, determiners and grammar with solved practice exercises from all sections. Explanatory solutions so that you know – what is why?
Once, you have completed the syllabus, start doing 1 mock test paper everyday. Yes! Time yourself and attempt one English paper every week. Check your answers, check the markings in booklet, cross check OMR. You will then realise the reason behind the wrong answers. Was it wrong marking in OMR? Or Was it wrong guess? Was it a concept problem?
If you are wondering where to get Individual Paper Booklets and OMR sheets then you can get this Countdown Pack that contains 20 Sample Paper Booklets with 20 OMR sheets along with explanatory solutions for each booklet.
This is how you will learn from mistake, you will learn to take calculated guess, work on your weak areas. Again begin with another Booklet next week. Follow until you complete all booklets. It will be a 2 months process and by the end of it you will be extremely confident and prepared.
I will also talk about what should be the marking strategy in the question paper booklet and this is really important.
When you follow this marking technique in question paper booklet, it is very easy for you to revisit the questions later. Further, you know which question you most likely know the answer to – with the help of “star” marked next to the question. All this will save time and anxiety.
Now, how much should you aim to score in English paper? Well! at least aim to score 80 marks which means at least 96 correct answers out of 120 questions. This is very practical and doable. Remember that English is Key to clearing CDS and higher marks in this paper will compensate for GK.
Usually average candidate will be able to score 40-50 Marks even when they are poor at English, Anyone above Average will somehow get 60+ Marks but if you are good at English than you should easily be able to get 70-80.
Learning the right resource from MISSION CDS 2026 and adding the necessary practice from the book will make you reach 60+ no matter how bad you are at English. Practicing 1 mock test every week consistently and analysis mistakes will reduce your guesses, negative markings and build confidence taking you to 70+ score. To reach 80+ your effort in regularly reading newspaper, articles, magazines and a fiction book before sleep will come into play. No one can stop you from getting 80+ if you follow this Masterplan for English.
Mission CDS has proved itself for many successful candidates. At the end it is your effort and preparation that makes the difference but we can say this with confidence that this book won’t let you down! Below is the feedback of one of the successful candidates who had trusted us with Mission CDS 2025. Now with Mission CDS 2026, We are even more confident that this is your Path to success!
“If this is achieved, 50% of the success is achieved”
Do you wish to have the same Roadmap for GK or Maths section too? Let us know your reaction below and leave us a comment!
Best Wishes. Jai Hind!
