NDA is one of the most sought after defence entrance exams in the country. The exam is conducted for admission to Army, Navy and Air Force wings of NDA and Indian Naval Academy Course (INAC). NDA is conducted twice a year in two stages: written exam and SSB Interview. Around four lakh, aspirants appear for NDA every year, out of which approximately 6,000 are called for SSB Interview. UPSC prepares a list of candidates who obtain minimum qualifying marks in the written exam. Such candidates are called for SSB Interview for Intelligence and Personality Test.
NDA 2021 Highlights
| Exam name | National Defence Academy & Naval Academy Examination (NDA & NA) |
| Conducted by | UPSC |
| Exam level | National |
| Exam category | After Class 12 |
| Frequency of exam | Twice a year |
| Exam stages | Written Test and SSB Interview |
| Exam mode | Offline |
| Exam duration | Five hours (Mathematics: 2 ½ hours, General Ability Test (GAT): 2 ½ hours) |
| Exam syllabus | Mathematics: Algebra, Matrices and Determinants, Trigonometry, Analytical Geometry of two and three dimensions, Differential Calculus, Vector Algebra, Statistics and Probability. GAT: English, General Knowledge, Physics, Chemistry, General Science, Geography, Current Events etc. |
| Exam pattern | GAT: 150 objective type questions Mathematics: 120 objective type questions |
| Language | English and Hindi |
| Exam purpose | For admission to National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Naval Academy Course (INAC) |
| Test cities | 41 |
| Official website | upsc.gov.in |
NDA Exam Date 2021
The commission has announced the commencement of NDA I 2021 recruitment from December 30, 2020. As per the notification, NDA Exam date 2021 is given below-
| NDA I 2021 Exam Dates | |
| NDA I exam event | NDA 2021 Dates (Tentative) |
| NDA I Notification 2021 | December 30 2020 |
| NDA I Online Application start date | December 30 2020 |
| NDA I Online Application last date | January 19th 2021 |
| NDA I Admit Card 2021 | To be announced |
| NDA I Written exam 2021 | April 18th 2021 |
| NDA I Result 2021 | To be announced |
As per the latest UPSC Calendar, the commission has scheduled to release the NDA II 2021 notification by June 2021. The NDA II 2021 exam date is as mentioned below:
| NDA II 2021 Exam Dates | |
| NDA II exam event | NDA 2021 Dates (Tentative) |
| NDA II Notification 2021 | June 9th 2021 |
| NDA II Online Application start date | June 9th 2021 |
| NDA II Online Application last date | June 29th 2021 |
| NDA II Admit Card 2021 | To be announced |
| NDA II Written exam 2021 | September 5th 2021 |
| NDA II 2021 Result | To be announced |
NDA Exam Eligibility
The eligibility for NDA exam is determined by the conducting body i.e. the UPSC. Aspirants willing to appear for National Defense Academy Exam and Naval Academy Exam must meet the eligibility conditions as prescribed by the commission on the official notification.
The eligibility criteria for NDA/NA exam is as follows-
- Candidates must be a citizen of India.
- Only Male candidates are allowed to apply for NDA exams.
- Candidates must be of the age group 16.5 years to 19.5 years.
- Minimum education qualification is 12th pass under 10+2 pattern of school education or equivalent for Army Wing of NDA.
- For the Air Force, Navy and Naval Academy of NDA, candidates must pass 12th pass under the 10+2 pattern of school education with Physics and Mathematics conducted by a State Education Board or a University.
NDA Exam Pattern & Syllabus
The UPSC determines the NDA selection process as well as the syllabus of the examination. Generally, the exam pattern and syllabus of NDA exams remain the same every year.
The NDA Selection Process goes as under –
- NDA exam is conducted in two stages – Written Exam and SSB Interview.
- UPSC holds the exam recruitment for NDA while SSB conducts the interview round, thus called SSB interview.
- The written exam is conducted in two parts – Mathematics and General Ability Test. The total duration of the paper is 5 hours.
- GAT is further subdivided into two parts – Part A is English paper and part B is General Knowledge paper.
- The Total of NDA written exam counts to 900 marks i.e. 300 marks for Maths and 600 marks for GAT.
- The papers in all the subject cob=vered in NDA syllabus consists of objective type questions only. The question paper of Mathematics and Paper B of GAT is set Bilingually i.e. in both English and Hindi language.
- The SSB Interview is also conducted in two stages and carries 900 marks.
- Stage I comprises of Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) tests are Picture Perception * Description Test (PP&DT) and Stage II Comprises of Interview, Group Testing Officer Tasks, Psychology Tests and the Conference. These tests are conducted over 4 days.