NDA

NDA examination is a gateway for candidates to Army, Navy and Air Force wings of the National Defence Academy (NDA).

• It is a national level examination, which is organized two times in a year, i.e. NDA 1 and NDA 2, generally in the month of April and September.
• NDA exam is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission(UPSC).

• NDA 2019 will be conducted offline on April 21, 2019.
• NDA has two exams: Mathematics (300 marks) and General Knowledge (600).
• The time duration for each paper is 2 hours and 30 minutes.
• Each paper has Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs).

The following table has further information regarding duration, number of sections and number of questions:

• Physics (100 marks)
• Chemistry (60 marks)
• General Science (40 marks)
• History and Freedom Movement (80 marks)
• Geography (80 marks)
• Current Events (40 marks)

• Nationality:

  As per the nationality standards set by UPSC for NDA 2019, candidates must be:

  • Indian citizens
  • Subject of Bhutan
  • Subject of Nepal
  • Tibetan refugee who came to India prior to January 1, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India.
  • A PIO (Person of Indian Origin), who has come back from Burma, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and East African Countries of Uganda, Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Ethiopia or Vietnam with the intention to settle down permanently in India.
• Age Limit
  • Only unmarried male candidates can apply for this exam who are not born before 2nd January 2000 and not after 1st January 2003, are eligible to appear for NDA 2019 conducted by UPSC.
  • For NDA-I 2019, students must have born between 2nd January 2000 to 1st July 2003.
  • For NDA-II 2019, students must have born between 2nd January 2001 to 1st July 2004.
  • You should enter your date of birth as recorded in the matriculation or Secondary School Leaving Certificate or in a certificate recognized by an Indian University.
• Educational Qualification
  1. For the Army wing
     • You must have passed Class 12 or cleared equivalent examination of the State board to be eligible for NDA 2019.
  2. For the Air Force wing, Naval wings and 10+2 cadet entry scheme at the Indian Naval Academy
     • You must have passed Class 12 with Physics and Mathematics as subjects or cleared equivalent examination of the state board to be eligible for NDA 2019.
     • Candidates who are appearing in Class 12 or equivalent examination of the state board are also eligible for NDA 2019.
• Registration for NDA:
  • You can access the application form of NDA 2019 on the website of UPSC.
  • You can apply online to register for the exam.
  • There are some points that you need to keep in mind while registering for NDA 2019:
    • Form for NDA 1 2019 will be available from 9th January 2019 and for NDA 2 2019 will be available from 7th August 2019.
    • Fill in the information carefully, as no changes will be allowed thereafter.
    • All the necessary scanned copies of the documents should be accessible, while registering for the test.
    • Note down the registration number once you have registered successfully.
    • You must not send any printed form to UPSC.

• The application fee is Rs. 100/- for General and OBC students.
• SC/ST candidates and wards of NCOs/ JCOs/ORs are not required to pay any application fee.
• The fee payment can be done via online mode (VISA/Master/Debit Card and Net banking) or via offline mode (through e-challan of SBI Bank).

• The authority will release NDA 2019 admit cards online.
• You have to visit http://www.upsc.gov.in to download NDA Hall Ticket 2019.
• To download the admit card, you have to fill up details like date of birth, roll number etc.
• The admit card will contain details like your name, roll number, exam centre, exam date, timing etc.
• Without the admit card, you will not be permitted to appear for the examination.

* Dates are tentative and subject to change.

• NDA 2019 result will be declared on the website, in a PDF format.
• The result of NDA written examination is released one or two month from the exam.
• Marks will be published after 15 days of result declaration.
• Last year 371 candidates cleared NDA exam with the topper scoring 1026 marks out of 1800.
• The result of shortlisted candidates for SSB Interview will be displayed in a PDF format.
• Shortlisted candidates need to appear for the SSB Interview round organized by the Services Selection Board (SSB) of the Ministry of Defence.
• After clearing the SSB interview and other rounds, the final result will be declared.

• The cutoff for the two cycles of NDA 2019 shall be declared approximately one month after the conduction of exams in both the cycles.
• NDA 2019 cut-off is prepared by UPSC after the declaration of results.
• The candidates who score the minimum qualifying marks of the cut-off are approved for further processes of SSB.

• The selection process in the National Defense Academy is a two-stage process.
• Stage 1 is the written examination i.e. NDA 2019 test
• Stage 2 is the SSB interview stage
• The complete recruitment decisions in the NDA are based on marks scored out of 900, collectively in both the stages.
• After stage 2 is complete, a final merit list of recruited candidates is generated by the UPSC.

• The SSB interview will be conducted in 2 stages for 5 days
• Stage 1 comprises of Officer Intelligence Rating, picture perception and description test
• Stage 2 comprises of GTO tasks, psychology tests, interview and conference

After the personal interview round, eligible candidates need to appear for the verification round. The qualified candidates have to present the required original documents along with 1 set of photocopies of the required documents at Services Selection Center (SSC).

• Qualification certificate
• Proof of identity (Pan card, voter ID, Aadhar Card, etc.)
• Birth certificate
• Passport size photographs
• Category certificate for the reserved category candidates
• Proof of residence

Medical examination is the final round in the selection process. You will then be referred to the Board of Service medical officers by the SSB for medical examination. You shall be deemed eligible for recruitment if and only if, you are found to be medically fit.

• Practice is the key: Practice as much as you can. 70% of your NDA preparation comprises of practice. Toppr offers over 3.5 lakh questions in our question bank to help you learn and strengthen concepts in each chapter.
• Take All-India Level mock tests: Give time-bound mock tests in a completely exam-like environment to improve your efficiency at attempting questions. Toppr offers an All-India Test Series that lets you compete with other students from all over India.
• Clear all your doubts: Don't get stuck with doubts. Discuss and clarify them with Subject Experts at Toppr to get an instant reply.
• Study from the best sources: NCERT and several recommended books for NDA are the minimum resources you need. Toppr offers the best study material from all over the web to help you prepare better.
• Revision is important: When you go through a formula or concept, maintain revision notes in the form of bullet points. Revision will be useful when the exam is close and a good revision pattern will take less time. Normally, without these notes, you would have to go through the entire chapter to understand important points once again.

Here are some recommended books to help you prepare for NDA :

• Physics NCERT Textbooks for Classes 10th, 11th and 12th

• NCERT Textbooks

• R.D. Sharma – Objective Mathematics, Part 1 and Part 2 (NCERT difficulty)

Solving sample papers and previous year papers is not only advisable, but also mandatory if you want to stay ahead of the stiff competition in NDA 2019. Solving sample papers will help you to prepare for the expected paper and its pattern while also assisting you in learning efficient time management. You can also assess your own performance by practicing sample papers and judge your level of preparations for NDA 2019.

Practising previous years’ NDA papers is important as it helps you simulate the real exam. Toppr provides you with a complete set of all question banks from previous years which you can practice to sharpen your skills.