This CDS GK blog is in continuation of “CDS Masterplan 2026”, 👉🏼 Click here to read from beginning
Now, as we have already covered the path to Paper 1 – General English. Let us now move forward to Paper 2 – General Knowledge.
In previous blog we spoke about the timing and effort you need to put between English and General Knowledge. Clearly, more time in English paper make sense from scoring perspective but more effort has to be put into General Knowledge. Why?
It is because CDS GK paper is the toughest paper of Combined Defence Service Exam and one of the toughest papers of UPSC. Getting just the cut off Marks in GK will be sufficient to clear CDS although it is suggested to aim at minimum 30 Marks in CDS GK paper. Seems so easy? isn’t it? We’ll see! 😁
How many correct questions do you need to answer in order to score 30 Marks you may ask?
Precisely, 36! 🏆
Yes! only 36 correct answers out of 120 will do. Now, let me tell you this may look easy here in paper but about 80% fail to qualify in GK. You see General Knowledge questions here are not basic general questions like who was the founder of “Gupta Dynasty” or little average like “who was considered Napoleon during Gupta Period. Rather there will be complex questions with multiple statement like what was “Bhaga” tax during Gupta rule about, what was the name of tax for sale and purchase of land during Gupta period? what was the the role of “Dandpala” during Gupta rule. In short, CDS GK Paper won’t be anywhere near to Simple!
Therefore, we will dive straight into the masterplan for CDS General knowledge.
Road-Map for CDS Paper 2 General Knowledge
When people say study from NCERT, they aren’t wrong! Everything is from NCERT as NCERT covers chapter and topics in extreme depth. But also, when they say NCERT they aren’t referring to the CBSE NCERT at central level but “State NCERT”
e.g Tamil Nadu NCERT for geography has such in depth content that cannot be matched with the CBSE class 7, 8, 9 and 10th Geography NCERT. Standard NCERTs (Central) are designed by a committee to be “minimalist” while Sate NCERT bridge gap between basic and advance reference. Similarly, other states do justice for certain other subjects and believe me every questions you have ever seen in UPSC would have come from here.
What should be your strategy?
Attempt at least 36 correct questions that you surely know are correct. Once done with this, that is when you can do guesswork but there’s a technique you need to follow here too. What is the technique?
Each Mark attained from the correct answer is nullified with 3 three wrong answers. Once you secure 36 correct answers, every additional correct answer provides a safety net to guess three more questions. This works because three wrong guesses only negate one correct answer, preserving your minimum score of 30 marks. So, for every next correct question you can safely guess 3 more to maintain score. Don’t worry about time management as you will get plenty of time in this paper. It is still recommended to follow the marking technique in question paper booklet i.e Circle questions you are skipping and mark “star” against those on which you can make a calculated guess but aren’t 100% sure!
This will help you to flip through pages without anxiety and find the questions that you had skipped for revisiting at the end.
What should your preparation look like?
I recommend practicing one question paper of CDS GK every week with an OMR sheet under proper timing and exam conditions. Finish the paper and after the test check your question paper booklet (This is not the same as checking your score through OMR Sheet)
Revisit each question in the booklet so that you will know what was your mindset for every skipped and wrong question while you were attempting the paper. You will realise what went wrong? was it wrong marking? How many wrong guesses did you make and what prompted you to make those guesses?
All this will improve how you attempt paper, your calculated guesses will improve, your negative marking will reduce. The marking strategy doesn’t come just by looking at it. You really need to practice and analyse to master the art of attempting the paper.
Some aspirants prefer to do Mock test at the end but I suggest you to do it alongside your final preparations. How to do it? You may download UPSC previous year papers in the form of booklets and grab some OMR sheets locally. Otherwise you can avoid this hassle as we’ve made it simple for you, we recommend getting Countdown Pack from Amazon or Flipkart. CDS Countdown contains 10 individual Booklet of each paper (CDS English, CDS GK, CDS Mathematics) and respective OMR sheets along with explanatory solutions. These are not previous year papers but carefully picked questions that makes the perfect Mock Test for you.
Now, let us dive into the most important part
Masterplan for different sections of CDS GK Paper
1.) Science :
The most Important part of CDS General Knowledge and is often undervalued. In fact large part of your effort in General Knowledge should be attributed to Science.
Physics, chemistry and biology add up to 45% of the paper. A lot of questions can be very direct one liners from this section. There are many practical daily life related questions from science around us. This section is worth investing your quality preparation time.
2.) Geography :
The only other section that is as important as Science. Geography alone covers 20-25% of syllabus. It is undoubtedly vast but perhaps the only section which is interesting. The efforts put into this section will likely payoff. You need in depth learning of topics in geography and it is also suggested to practice maps too so that you remember better.
3.) History :
It will never be sufficient, No matter how much you cover.Covering about 15% of paper, History is the most vast section of all. There is no limit to its extremities. Question can be asked from anywhere. All you can do is go to the depths of topics aligned to the syllabus and pray that you would be able to answer a few questions. You can only remember history facts if it goes like a story. E.g If you know what led to the beginning of an empire, what led to its fall and how the transition happened to the next empire than you are more likely to remember history facts.
Now, it depends on your source too because your facts of each empire should be in depth. E.g as we discussed above, if reading about Gupta empire, you need to know How it came to existence, famous facts, famous men, famous rules, famous events and its downfall with transition information. Also, History Maps like maps of empires will subconsciously help you to remember their reach and borders. Further, events too like independence events can be better remembered with Maps. Check these images below from Mission CDS 2026, if your resource doesn’t cover it this way, it’s basically useless to invest your time in this section.
4.) Polity :
Limited Syllabus but lot to remember. Acts, amendments, post, powers, responsibilities. Entire polity is full of these and it’s not easy to remember all. If polity isn’t neatly structured and tabulated then you are going to have a tough time navigating through syllabus to find what has to be mugged up. There can be direct and sometimes multiple statement questions from polity. 10% of your paper will be from polity and if you have grasped most of it then you will be able to attempt this section. Polity can be scoring but requires you to remember a lot. Check these images below from Mission CDS 2026, It’s better studied this way.
5.) Defence :
This is the smallest section. It attributed to 2-4% of syllabus and you can expect 2-3 questions. It is very easy to cover this and though there is stuff to remember, it’ll mostly be interesting as you are preparing to join Indian Armed Forces. Also, this information is generally something you should know as a defence aspirant. It may be asked in your SSB Personal Interview too.
6.) Economics :
Limited but a web of complexities. Microeconomics, macroeconomics, Schemes, Niti, Banking, International Trade, Economic reforms, Economic Terms. These sub-sections lack close links, and you cannot predict which one the upcoming question paper will focus on All you can do is cover up the limited syllabus and hope that the 8-10% of the paper will have few direct questions that you will be able to answer. Your time is clearly worth the limited syllabus of Economics.
The reality of Candidates appearing for CDS Paper
Usually average candidate will be not be able to answer even 10-15 questions with 100% accuracy. You could answer 20-25 Questions When you are above average and good at basic GK but that’s not enough and negative marking will pull you down. To be able to answer 36 correct questions you need to have a solid CDS Preparation
- Deep Learning from New MISSION CDS 2026 (You could also refer different state NCERTs too, but we have consolidated all of that in one book for your easier access)
- Weekly Mock Test from CDS Countdown
- Practicing 5000+ Most Expected MCQs (These are collection of those GK questions that have appeared repeatedly in different government exam like UPSC, CAPF, SSC, Banking, IB etc and have higher chance of being repeated in your upcoming examination)
Learning the right resource from MISSION CDS 2026 and adding the necessary practice from 5000+ MCQs book will make you capable of attempting 35-40 questions. Practicing 1 mock test every week consistently for 10 weeks and analysing mistakes will reduce your guesses, negative markings and build confidence taking you close to 40 score. To reach 40 your effort in regular mock test and MCQs practice will come into play.
While Mission CDS has proved itself as a successful Guide, At the end it is your effort and preparation that makes the difference. 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! 🔥
“There is this feeling where you will know that you have cleared the paper in the exam hall without checking the answer key. That’s the confidence you should aim for”
Next we will be covering Mathematics. Let us know your reaction below and leave us a comment if you have a question or feedback to share
Jai Hind 🇮🇳
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