Difference Between AFCAT and CDS Exam

Aspirants you might have wondered many-a-times that in what way are AFCAT and CDSE different from each other. Well, you must be clear on the differences between the two exams in order to prepare nicely for both of them and choose the one that suits your priorities.

AFCAT stands for Airforce Common Admission Test and CDSE stands for Combined Defense Service Examination. Both are written exams which are followed by a SSB in order to select suitable young boys and girls for the Defense forces of India. Both of these exams differ from each other in a great deal and given below are the major differences between the two exams:

Type of Force: As the name clearly suggests AFCAT which means Air Force Common Admission Test is a test which is taken to select young boys and girls for Airforce only whereas CDSE which means Combined Defense Service Examination is an exam meant for selecting candidates for all the three wings i.e. Army, Navy and Airforce.
Conducting Body: AFCAT is conducted by the Indian Airforce twice an year whereas CDSE is conducted by the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) twice an year.
Time of notification and Exam: For AFCAT1 the notification comes in the first week of December and lasts for a month whereas notification for CDSE1 comes generally in the beginning of November and filling of application lasts for a month. For AFCAT2 notification comes in first week of June and applications are accepted for a month whereas for CDSE2 notification comes in the last week of month of May and applications are accepted for a month. AFCAT1 is conducted in the last week of February and AFCAT2 in the last week of August whereas CDSE1 is conducted in the beginning of the month of February and CDSE2 in the beginning of the month of September
Time of declaration of results: Generally AFCAT results are declared within a month of conduction of exam i.e. for AFCAT1 by end of March and for AFCAT2 by the end of September after which the qualified candidates are called for SSB’s. The results for the written of CDSE1 are declared by the month of June and for CDSE2 by the month of January after which SSB follows for the qualified candidates.
Eligibility: For both you must be a graduate at least (BA, B.Com, B.Tech etc.) further qualification depends on the type of service you want to join. There is also a difference in Age for both exams.
- For AFCAT the age depends on the course you want to join. Age limit is:
  - Flying: 19-23 years
  - Technical: 18-28 years.
  - Ground Duties: Graduate (20-23yrs), PG (20-25yrs), LLB (20-26 yrs.), MEd/PhD/CA/ICWA (20-27yrs).
- For CDSE the age limit differs for the different forces:
  - Indian Army – 19-24 years
  - Indian Air force – 19-23 years
  - Indian Navy – 19-22 years
Courses Offered: AFCAT makes the girls and boys to join the Indian Airforce in Flying, Technical or Ground Duty course. CDSE makes a way for the young boys to join the IAF for the Flying course only, girls can join only OTA i.e. SSC for Non-Technical course of Army and no other wing of the Defense through CDSE.
Exam Pattern: The exam pattern differs for the two exams in a great deal. AFCAT exam consists of a single paper which comprises of English, GA, Mathematics and reasoning making a total of 100 questions to be done in 2 hours. CDSE exam consists of three papers English, GA and Mathematics (optional for OTA candidates). Each paper consists of 120 questions each and time is 2 hours each.
Level of Difficulty: The level of difficulty varies for each subject in both exams. Hence let us see now what the difference in levels of both the exams is:

Exam	English	General Awareness	Mathematics
AFCAT	Variety is less, antonym-synonym is difficult, and passage is easy.	Consists mainly of Current Affairs and level is easier as compared to CDSE	Simple class 10th level questions.
CDSE	Variety of questions is more, level is okay and simpler.	Consists of a mix blend of questions, level is tough, and needs a good knowledge of basics.	A variety of questions from 10th level, level is slightly higher than AFCAT.

Apart from this reasoning in AFCAT is simple. As the level and standard of questions in AFCAT is seen to be rising with every exam hence it is advisable for you to work hard for AFCAT as well however in general the standard of questions are a slight bit low to that of CDSE.

Strategy for preparation: As we all know everything demands a continuous amount of hard work hence to crack both these exams you need to focus and prepare in well advance. Since we have an idea of the time when this exam is conducted and also of the syllabus hence you can prepare for both these exams in well advance. You need to be clear with the basics first, because generally the questions asked in these exams are a test to check how well you have understood the concepts.