Hello aspirant ,

There are various exams other than NDA and XY through which you can become officer in the defence forces.

First let's talk about Indian Army.

For becoming an officer in the Indian army , there are two types of commission offered depending upon the time and tenure of the service.
One is permanent commision and another is short term commission.

1. PERMANENT
For this the various exams conducted are ;

DIRECT ENTRY (Through UPSC)
ENGINEERING GRADUATES - TGC
UNIVERSITY ENTRY SCHEMES 10+2 TES

2. SHORT SERVICE
Through CDS entry;
NON-TECH (Both men & women)
TECH ENTRY (men)
And
NCC SPECIAL ENTRY (Both men & women)


1). TES ENTRY
Candidates can also join the Indian Army by qualifying in Technical Scheme Exam. .

Qualification: Candidates who have passed the 10+2 Examination or its equivalent with a minimum aggregate of 60% marks in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics from recognized education boards are eligible to apply for this entry.
Age Limit: A candidate must not be below 16 years and above 19 year
Gender: Only unmarried male candidates can apply to this exam.


2. Combined Defence Services Exam [CDS Exam ]
The CDS Exam is conducted by UPSC for the aspirants who are in the final year of graduation or passed out of college. Through CDS exam, one can join, IMA, AFA, INA and OTA.
Maximum age for appearing in this exam is between 19 to 25 years.

3). Short Service Commission (Technical) Entry

The Short Service Commission (Technical) Entry Scheme recruits eligible technical graduates/post graduates into Technical Arms. After SSB and Medical Board, the selected candidates are required to undergo approximately  49 weeks of  pre-commission training at OTA, Chennai. On completion of training, they are inducted as Short Service Commissioned Officers.

4). NCC (Special Entry Scheme)
University graduates possessing NCC C Certificate with minimum B grade and 50% aggregate marks in graduation examination are eligible to apply for Short Service Commission through this entry. This entry gives one direct access to SSB interview.

For joining AIRFORCE following exams are being conducted;

1). CDSE - candidate who has completed the graduation or is in last year of graduation can appear for this exam.
2). AFCAT - candidate who has completed the graduation or is in last year of graduation can appear for this exam.
Engineering graduates have to give an EKT exam along with AFCAT.
3). NCC special entry - University graduates possessing NCC C Certificate with minimum B grade and 50% aggregate marks in graduation examination are eligible to apply for Short Service Commission through this entry.
4). Meterological entry


For joining Indian Navy as an officer ; one must clear one of Combined Defense Service (CDS) examinations.

On the other hand, direct recruitments such as 10+2 BTech entry, UES Navy, NCC special entry are conducted by the Indian Navy.


Hope it would have helped you.

National Defence Academy & Naval Academy Examination

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