THE BEST EVALUATION OF THE RECOMMENDED BOOKS FOR CDS EXAM
(BOOKMARK THIS ARTICLE AS YOU WILL NEED IT AGAIN)
There is no substitute for hard work, but hard work without the right direction leads to nowhere
The Combined Defence Services Examination commonly known as CDS is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for recruitment of Commissioned Officers in Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force. Selected candidates undergo training at Indian Military Academy (IMA), Indian Naval Academy (INA), Air Force Academy (AFA), and Officers' Training Academy (OTA). The exam is held twice a year usually in February and September. Lakhs of candidates appear for the national-level defence entrance examination.
THE FOLLOWING ARE THE DETAILS OF THE EXAMS:
CDS Exam Pattern for IMA, INA, AFA
Subject Duration Maximum marks
English 2 hours 100
General Knowledge 2 hours 100
Elementary Mathematics 2 hours 100
CDS Exam Pattern for OTA
Subject Duration Maximum marks
English 2 hours 100
General Knowledge 2 hours 100
IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE DETAILED SYLLABUS CLICK HERE
PREPARATION METHOD FOR CDS :
There would be generally three categories of people who would be appearing for the CDS exam :
1. FRESH CANDIDATE WITH NON-SCIENCE-MATH BACKGROUND
2. FRESH CANDIDATE WITH STRONG SCIENCE-MATH BACKGROUND
3. REPEATER CANDIDATES WHO HAVE APPEARED IN THE EXAM ONCE
ON BASIS OF ABOVE THREE CATEGORIES, DIFFERENT PREPARATION METHOD AND BOOKS ARE RECOMMENDED AS BELOW
STUDY ONLY WHAT IS ASKED; NOT MORE, NOT LESS
START YOUR PREPARATION BY FIRSTLY BUYING THE FOLLOWING BOOKS WHICH HAVE THE PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS TOPIC WISE AND CHAPTER WISE.
I WILL EXPLAIN WHY WE NEED THEM LATER IN THIS ARTICLE BUT YOU MUST-MUST-MUST-MUST BUY THESE BOOKS BEFORE YOU START PREPARATION OR BUY ANY OTHER BOOK.
FOR IMA/AFA/INA CANDIDATES:
1. CDS 14 YEARS MATHEMATICS, ENGLISH, GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TOPIC WISE SOLVED PAPERS (2007-2020)
by Disha publication
USE THE LINK IN THE NAME/PHOTO OF THE BOOK TO BUY AT BEST ONLINE PRICE
(DON'T BUY ARIHANT PREVIOUS YEARS PLEASE!!)
FOR OTA CANDIDATES:
1. CDS & CDS OTA 14 YEARS GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TOPIC WISE SOLVED PAPERS (2007-2020)
by Disha publication
USE THE LINK IN THE NAME/PHOTO OF THE BOOK TO BUY AT BEST ONLINE PRICE
(DON'T BUY ARIHANT PREVIOUS YEARS PLEASE!!)
2. CDS & CDS OTA 14 YEARS ENGLISH TOPIC WISE SOLVED PAPERS (2007-2020)
by Disha publication
USE THE LINK IN THE NAME/PHOTO OF THE BOOK TO BUY AT BEST ONLINE PRICE
(DON'T BUY ARIHANT PREVIOUS YEARS PLEASE!!)
Why DISHA ONLY you may ask then the following feedback on amazon of other book which offer previous year questions and solutions may help you make up your mind:
1. CDS Solved Paper Chapterwise & Sectionwise 2020 by arihant
NOW THE RECOMMENDED PREPARATION METHODS CATEGORY WISE:
FOR FRESH CANDIDATE WITH NON-SCIENCE-MATH BACKGROUND
The candidates who have done graduation with non-science subjects and did not pursue mathematics as a subject in high school or college are going to face the maximum difficulty while appearing for the written exam of CDS especially if they are appearing for IMA/INA/AFA entries for the permanent commission. Those preparing for the OTA may still face lesser difficulty due to the omission of the mathematics part.
Thus I recommend the following method of preparation for such candidates:
FOR MATHEMATICS:
Although the mathematics that comes in the CDS exam is kept at an elementary level but any person who has lost touch with mathematics for a period of 3 to 5 years is bound to face difficulties in the exam so we suggest a dedicated one and a half month revision of the basic concepts of elementary mathematics and the best book for that is the PATHFINDER FOR CDS BY ARIHANT PUB. Many may suggest RS AGGARWAL but you don't really need to buy a separate book to brush up on mathematics. DON'T WASTE MONEY ON A SEPERATE MATHS BOOK!!
NOW YOU MUST READ THROUGH THE THOERY AND CONCEPT OF MATHS TOPICS FROM THIS BOOK AND PRAC THAT TOPIC'S QUESTIONS FROM CDS 14 YEARS MATHEMATICS, ENGLISH, GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TOPIC WISE SOLVED PAPERS (2007-2020) SO THAT YOU GET TO KNOW WHICH TOPICS YOU ARE ABLE TO HANDLE AND WHICH TOPICS YOU MAY NEED TO PRACTICE EXTRA TO MEET THE STANDARDS OF THE CDS EXAM.
THIS IS WHY THE PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION BOOK IS MOST IMPORTANT; SO YOU DON'T WASTE ANY EXTRA TIME.
1. Pathfinder CDS Combined Defence Services Entrance Examination
by Arihant Publications
"I say again DON'T waste money on separate maths book"
USE THE LINK IN THE NAME/PHOTO OF THE BOOK TO BUY AT BEST ONLINE PRICE
IT'S A BEST ALL-IN-ONE BOOK TO BUY WITH THE FOLLOWING ADVANTAGES:
ADVANTAGES
1. More than 8000 MCQs from the book allow complete coverage of syllabus and Chapterwise division of subject matter according to the topical distribution of marks from recent years. The chapters bind together a quick recap of the theoretical synopsis of Concepts, Solved Examples, Practice Exercises, and Previous Years’ Questions.
2. THIS BOOK IS THE BEST FOR THE PREPARATION OF MATHEMATICS AS IT GIVES ONLY REQUIRED ATTENTION THE TOPICS AND DOES NOT INDULGE YOU INTO THEORY AND PRACTICE MORE THAN REQUIRED.
DISADVANTAGES
1. The book is very vast but has quite a few spelling mistakes. but they do not really hamper as the book is overall factually correct.
RECOMMENDATION: IT IS A MUST BUY AS IT WILL FORM THE BASE OF YOUR PREPARATIONS FROM SCRATCH. (CLICK ON BOOK/NAME TO BUY AT BEST PRICE)
FOR BOTH FRESH CANDIDATE WITH STRONG SCIENCE-MATH BACKGROUND & FRESH CANDIDATE WITH NON-SCIENCE-MATH BACKGROUND
FOR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE:
The GK portion of the syllabus looks vast and vague and also for non-science background candidates it includes elementary physics chemistry and biology but at the same time if you may be pursuing history, geography, polity, and economics in graduation you may devote more time to these three (PCB). Similarly, for science graduates, they may face problems in arts subjects so may devote less time to science subjects and more to these. The PATHFINDER is enough to make the base for your GK paper too so first do give a read to the theory portion of the Pathfinder for Gk preparation.
NOW REPEAT THE SAME EXERCISE THAT WE DID IN MATHS PREPARATION :
"PRAC EACH TOPIC'S QUESTIONS FROM CDS 14 YEARS MATHEMATICS, ENGLISH, GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TOPIC WISE SOLVED PAPERS (2007-2020) (OR FOR YOU MAY USE OTHER TWO BOOKS TOO WHICH HAVE CDS 2020 SOLVED TOO FOR ENGLISH AND GK) SO THAT YOU GET TO KNOW WHICH TOPICS YOU ARE ABLE TO HANDLE AND WHICH TOPICS YOU MAY NEED TO PRACTICE EXTRA TO MEET THE STANDARDS OF THE CDS EXAM."
As you attempt previous year papers and realize your weak areas then buy the book ONLY FOR THAT WEAK AREA. The following are the suggestions for the various aspects of GK PAPER:
CURRENT AFFAIRS: To begin with, the current affairs, make a habit of reading/ listening to news daily. Better to go for reading newspaper as it will also be helpful for preparing for English. Jot down important dates, persons, schemes, updates, defense-related news especially in a concise way, and go through them for revision as there are no separate books for defence-related news. BUT NEWSPAPER ARE NEVER ENOUGH I ASSURE YOU, you will need to go through at least one yearbook and I personally recommend MANORAMA YEARBOOK.
by MALAYALA MANORAMA PRESS
IN-DEPTH AND RELEVANT GENERAL KNOWLEDGE AND CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR COMPETITIVE EXAMS AS WELL AS SSB.
AGAIN MUST-MUST-MUST-MUST READ FOR THE OVERALL AIM OF CLEARING SSB!!
USE THE LINK IN THE NAME/PHOTO OF THE BOOK TO BUY AT BEST ONLINE PRICE
ADVANTAGES
1. The only yearbook with no mistakes and no factual errors.
2. Not just a compilation of news but rather the narrative style of the book aims to explain the particular news or incident with its background, current status, and probable future
3. Updated till December 2020.
RECOMMENDATION: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR PREPARATION OF SSB TOO.
(CLICK ON BOOK/NAME TO BUY AT BEST PRICE)
POLITY: For polity, go for INDIAN POLITY BY M Laxmikanth. It would be the best choice. There is need no for analysis as it is the bible for preparation on the polity. But please bear in mind and only look for topics from which questions were asked in previous years.
2. Indian Polity - For Civil Services and Other State Examinations
by M LAXMIKANTH
USE THE LINK IN THE NAME/PHOTO OF THE BOOK TO BUY AT BEST ONLINE PRICE
GEOGRAPHY: Book by Goh Cheng Leong is the best for geography. Additionally keep analyzing the maps, physical features, etc. below is the link for the book.
3. Certificate Physical And Human Geography; Indian Edition
by Goh Cheng Leong
USE THE LINK IN THE NAME/PHOTO OF THE BOOK TO BUY AT BEST ONLINE PRICE
HISTORY: Talking about history, the UPSC creates quite typical questions so, better to go with the NCERT books from 6-12 standards. In case of a brief time, you should refer to history portion of Lucent book on general knowledge. It has all the data in a very concise form and it is also easy to understand.
by Lucent Publication
USE THE LINK IN THE NAME/PHOTO OF THE BOOK TO BUY AT BEST ONLINE PRICE
SCIENCE: You should go for reading NCERT’s. Don't mug up stuff, you just need to go back to basics once. Again for concise preparations, opt for the Lucents book.
Do make notes for defence updates and details. As such there is no proper book for all the defence stuff. So, refer to the previous year's question papers and accordingly make notes.
FOR ENGLISH:
1. Wren & Martin's High School English Grammer & Composition.
2. KEY TO Wren & Martin's High School English Grammer & Composition.
3. SELF-PRACTICE BOOK FOR Wren & Martin's High School English Grammer & Composition.
OR BUY THEM SEPERATELY OR BUY THE COMBO PACK VIA THIS LINK
by S.Chand
MOST IN-DEPTH PRACTICE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE FOR WRITTEN AS WELL AS SSB
MUST-MUST-MUST-MUST READ FOR THE OVERALL AIM OF CLEARING SSB!!
USE THE LINK IN THE NAME/PHOTO OF THE BOOK TO DIRECTLY GO TO BUYING PAGE
ADVANTAGES
1. High School English Grammar & Composition provides ample guidance and practice in sentence building, correct usage, comprehension, composition, and other allied areas so as to equip the learners with the ability to communicate effectively in English.
2. The Self-practice book has been specially designed to cater to the demands of the users. Writing space has been provided to work out the answers in an organized manner.
3. THE KEY BOOK has been designed to provide users with a reliable and practical tool in the form of correct answers to the exercises in the book.
RECOMMENDATION: IT IS A MUST BUY AS ENGLISH IS THE PORTION IS MOST SCORING PART OF THE EXAM BUT BECAUSE THE OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS OF ENGLISH HAVE THAT GUESSABILITY FACTOR, IT LEADS TO THE MOST NEGATIVE MARKS THUS YOU MUST PRACTICE ENGLISH VERY THOROUGHLY SO AS TO BE ACCURATE ABOUT IT.
(CLICK ON BOOK/NAME TO BUY AT BEST PRICE)
FINAL REVISION (ONE TO TWO MONTHS)
It is a well-known fact that last month's study requires you to go through the previous year papers but what people don't understand is that the final months are not meant just for normal practice.
I recommend that:
1. YOU UTILIZE PREVIOUS YEAR PAPERS TO PUT YOURSELF UNDER EXAM PRESSURE WITH AN AIM TO JUDGE YOURSELF AS TO HOW MANY QUESTIONS YOU COULD ATTEMPT IN THE GIVEN TIME FRAME AND HOW MANY NEGATIVE MARKS YOU INCURRED
2. ALSO YOU SHOULD PRACTICE QUESTION PAPERS ALONG WITH FILLING ANSWERS IN OMR SHEET AS MISTAKE IN THE SAME LEADS TO DISASTER FOR YOUR RESULTS.
3. FOR THAT YOU REQUIRE A BOOK WITH QUESTION PAPERS AS A WHOLE AND NOT TOPIC WISE/ CHAPTER WISE. THUS I RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING BOOK:
1. CDS Entrance Examination: Previous Years Papers (Solved)
by R GUPTA'S
THIS IS THE BACKBONE OF YOUR FINAL PREPARATIONS, ONLY SOLVE PAPERS IN TIME BOUND PRAC AND IN ONE GO.
(don't refer to key for solutions as they are missing or may be wrong)
USE THE LINK IN THE NAME/PHOTO OF THE BOOK TO GET THE BEST PRICE ONLINE
NOTE:
1. This book is highly non-recommended by many readers as well as so-called web pages on google because the answer key to many questions is wrong as well as solutions to many questions are not given in the answer key. SO DO NOT REFER TO ANSWER KEY FOR SOLUTIONS
2. However, it's the best book in the market which has INTACT PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION PAPERS TO CARRY OUT TIMED PRACTICE AND OMR SHEET FILLING PRACTICE.
NOW TO OVERCOME THE DISADVANTAGES OF THE ABOVE BOOK YOU NEED A BOOK THAT MAY GIVE THE BEST AND MOST ACCURATE SOLUTIONS TO THE PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS. THUS USE THE TOPIC WISE SOLUTION TO PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS IN THESE THREE BOOKS WHICH WE RECOMMENDED YOU BUY AT THE BEGINNING.
FOR IMA/AFA/INA CANDIDATES:
1. CDS 14 YEARS MATHEMATICS, ENGLISH, GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TOPIC WISE SOLVED PAPERS (2007-2020)
by Disha publication
USE THE LINK IN THE NAME/PHOTO OF THE BOOK TO BUY AT BEST ONLINE PRICE
(DON'T BUY ARIHANT PREVIOUS YEARS PLEASE!!)
FOR OTA CANDIDATES:
1. CDS & CDS OTA 14 YEARS GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TOPIC WISE SOLVED PAPERS (2007-2020)
by Disha publication
USE THE LINK IN THE NAME/PHOTO OF THE BOOK TO BUY AT BEST ONLINE PRICE
(DON'T BUY ARIHANT PREVIOUS YEARS PLEASE!!)
2. CDS & CDS OTA 14 YEARS ENGLISH TOPIC WISE SOLVED PAPERS (2007-2020)
by Disha publication
USE THE LINK IN THE NAME/PHOTO OF THE BOOK TO BUY AT BEST ONLINE PRICE
(DON'T BUY ARIHANT PREVIOUS YEARS PLEASE!!)
END NOTE:
THE ABOVE BOOKS ARE ALL-INCLUSIVE AND YOU DO NOT NEED TO BUY ANY OTHER BOOKS FOR PREPARING FOR THE EXAM, SO PLEASE DON'T BUY UNNECESSARY BOOKS AND WASTE YOUR MONEY!!
ALSO, I RECOMMED THAT YOU BUY ONLY THE DISHA PREVIOUS YEARS AND ARIHANT PATHFINDER AND LATER ONLY THOSE BOOKS OF TOPICS WHICH YOU ARE WEAK IN. AND NOT BUY THEM ALL AT ONCE AND FOR THAT ONLY I MENTIONED THAT YOU MUST BOOKMARK THIS ARTICLE FOR FURTHER REFERENCE
SYLLABUS FOR CDS WRITTEN EXAM:
English
Spotting Errors Questions
Sentence Arrangement Questions
Synonyms & Antonyms
Selecting Words
Ordering of Sentence
Comprehension Questions
Ordering of words in a sentence
Fill in the blanks questions
Idioms and Phrases
General Awareness (GK)
Economics
Physics
Current Affairs
Politics
Chemistry
Sociology
History
Defense-related news
Geography
Environment
Sport
Biology
Cultural
Book
Statement
true/false
Elementary Mathematics
Algebra
Basic Operations
simple factors
Remainder Theorem
H.C.F.
L.C.M.
Theory of polynomials
solutions of quadratic equations
relation between its roots and coefficients (Only real roots to be considered)
Simultaneous linear equations in two unknowns—analytical and graphical solutions
Simultaneous linear inequations in two variables and their solutions
Practical problems leading to two simultaneous linear equations or inequations in two variables or quadratic equations in one variable & their solutions
Set language and set notation
Rational expressions and conditional identities
Laws of indices
Arithmetic
Number System: Natural numbers, Integers, Rational and Real numbers.
Fundamental operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, Square roots, Decimal fractions
Unitary method
time and distance
time and work
percentages
applications to simple and compound interest
profit and loss
ratio and proportion
variation
Elementary Number Theory: Division algorithm
Prime and composite numbers
Tests of divisibility by 2, 3, 4, 5, 9 and 11
Multiples and factors. Factorization Theorem
H.C.F. and L.C.M.
Euclidean algorithm