CDS Answer Key 2026: CDS (II) Representation Window, Marking

For CDS (II) 2026, held on 13 September 2026, UPSC's notice provided a five-day online window to make representations on the question papers and the provisional answer keys, from the 3rd day of the examination date to 6.00 PM on the 7th day. That window has closed and the written result was declared on 19 October 2026. UPSC has not given a date for a final answer key.

How the CDS representation window works

Section 7 of Examination Notice No. 11/2026-CDS-II says representations are accepted only by logging in to upsconline.nic.in, under 'Examinations > Representations on Question Paper & Provisional Answer Keys'. Nothing sent by e-mail, post or hand is accepted, nothing is accepted after the five days, and UPSC does not correspond on them. The notice does not mention any fee. UPSC's time-frame notice counts the days this way: for a single-day exam on 1 March, representations run from 4 March to 8 March, till 6:00 p.m.

What changed from CDS (I) 2026?

The CDS (I) 2026 notice, like the 2025 notices, offered only the Online Question Paper Representation Portal (QPRep), for 7 days from the day after the exam, on the questions asked, with no mention of provisional keys. The written-result notes for CDS (I) 2026 and CDS (II) 2026 say marks-sheets will be available within 15 days of the final result of the OTA course and for 30 days; neither note mentions answer keys.

How to calculate your CDS score

All three papers are objective, with four options per question and equal marks per question. UPSC's CDS (II) 2026 question papers, uploaded on 14 September 2026, show:

• English: 120 questions for 100 marks, about 0.83 a question.
• General Knowledge: 120 questions for 100 marks, about 0.83 a question.
• Elementary Mathematics: 100 questions for 100 marks, 1 mark a question.

A wrong answer costs one third (0.33) of the question's marks, so about 0.28 in English and General Knowledge and 0.33 in Elementary Mathematics. Two answers to one question count as wrong; blanks carry no penalty. Add the papers for your course: IMA, INA and AFA use all three papers (300 marks), while OTA uses English and General Knowledge only (200 marks). UPSC can fix qualifying marks in any or all subjects, and the SSB adds a further 300 marks for IMA, INA and AFA and 200 for OTA.

CDS answer keys and representations in past cycles

Where to find the CDS question papers

The CDS (II) 2026 exam page on upsc.gov.in carries the English, General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics papers dated 14 September 2026. General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics are set in both Hindi and English; English is in English only. Each paper is 2 hours.