Everything you need to know about UPSC Combined Medical Services (CMS) Examination
The UPSC CMS is a national-level exam held annually by the Union Public Service Commission to recruit Medical Officers in government services (e.g. Indian Railways, Central Health Services/NDMC/MCD, Ordnance Factories). For 2025, the CMS exam was scheduled on July 20, 2025.
Selection has two stages:
CMS recruits Class-1 Medical Officers such as:
The exact vacancies vary by year – for example, 705 posts were notified in 2025.
Educational Qualification: Candidates must have an MBBS degree. Final-year MBBS students (or those completing internship) may apply, but admission is provisional until internship completion.
Age Limit: The upper age limit is 32 years for General category (as of a specified date, e.g. August 1, 2025), with typical relaxations:
Nationality: Only Indian citizens are eligible. Certain foreign-origin Indians – e.g. Nepalese, Bhutanese citizens, or Tibetan/other refugees – can also apply with a government certificate.
There is no fixed attempt-limit for CMS – candidates may appear each year so long as they are within the age limit. In practice, one can take the exam annually until exceeding the upper age (32 for General, 37 for SC/ST, 42 for PwBD, etc.).
Note: Medical or internship-related delays do not grant extra attempts beyond the age relaxations.
Yes. Those who have completed the final MBBS exam (or are in final year) can apply, provided they furnish the passing certificate and internship certificate when required. Admission to CMS is provisional in such cases, pending completion of the compulsory rotating internship.
In other words, you may sit CMS before finishing internship, but must finish it before joining service.
Apply online via the UPSC website (www.upsc.gov.in or the UPSC Online portal upsconline.gov.in). The official notification is usually released in Feb–Mar, and the application window runs for a few weeks. For example, CMS 2025 applications were open Feb 19 – Mar 11, 2025.
Candidates fill the form, upload documents, and pay the fee online. All updates and forms are on the UPSC site.
For CMS 2025, the fee is ₹200 for General/OBC/EWS candidates. SC/ST, PwBD and female candidates are exempt (no fee).
Payment is done online (net banking/credit/debit cards or e-Challan) during application.
The written exam (Part I) is a Computer-Based Test with two papers (Paper 1 and Paper 2), each of 2 hours and 250 marks.
All questions are objective MCQs (English medium), and each wrong answer carries a penalty of –⅓ marks.
To qualify, candidates must score at least 25% in each paper (62.5/250).
The CMS syllabus essentially mirrors MBBS curriculum in the covered subjects.
Paper 1 includes:
Paper 2 includes:
For full details, candidates should refer to the official UPSC notification on www.upsc.gov.in (which lists all sub-topics).
Final selection is based on 600 marks total: 500 from the written exam (Paper 1+2) and 100 from the Personality Test (interview).
After the written exam, UPSC shortlists candidates for interview. The final merit list is prepared by adding written and interview marks.
As noted, candidates must also meet the 25% per-paper cutoff to be eligible for the interview.
Use standard MBBS textbooks that cover the CMS syllabus. Top-recommended books include:
For Previous Year Questions: Rather than using outdated compilations, we highly recommend using our UPSC CMS PYQ platform for the most accurate, well-explained previous year questions. Our platform offers:
In short: focus on 1–2 authoritative standard textbooks per subject, plus our UPSC CMS PYQ platform for targeted practice and revision.
Solving past UPSC CMS papers is crucial. It helps you understand the exam's question style and identify high-yield topics.
Why outdated compilations and PDFs are problematic:
The most effective way to practice with PYQs is through our UPSC CMS PYQ platform, which offers:
Analyzing PYQs reveals recurring subjects (e.g. common pediatrics and PSM questions) and improves speed and accuracy. Regular practice with our platform's PYQs will help you bridge knowledge gaps and develop exam strategy far more effectively than static PDFs or compilations.
Cutoffs vary yearly. For example, the General (Unreserved) final cut-off (out of 600) was about 324 in 2022 and 332 in 2023. Earlier years saw ~370 in 2021, ~324 in 2022.
Other categories' cutoffs are lower (e.g. OBC, SC, ST). Candidates should aim well above these past cutoffs.
Remember that 25% per paper (62.5/250) is the minimum qualifying mark for all candidates (10% for PwBD).
Final cutoffs are published by UPSC (see UPSC website or official press releases after results).
In case of a tie in aggregate marks, UPSC follows tie-break rules:
UPSC publishes CMS results and cut-off marks on its website (www.upsc.gov.in). Look under "Notices" or "Recruitment" for "Combined Medical Services Examination" to download the final result and cut-off PDFs.
The official notification and final merit list give category-wise cut-offs. Many coaching sites also post these after UPSC releases them.