National Defence Academy Exam is a very prestigious national level exam organized by UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) to recruit candidates in Army, Navy, and Air Force. It is conducted twice every year as NDA-I and NDA-II generally in the months of April and September. This post gives the detail of the exam.

IMPORTANT WEBLINKS

www.upsconline.nic.in

www.joinindianarmy.nic.in

www.joinindiannavy.gov.in

www.careerindianairforce.cdac.in

CONDITIONS OF ELIGIBILITY

A candidate appearing for NDA exam must satisfy the eligibility conditions of Nationality, Age, Sex, Marital Status and Educational qualification as follows to apply for the written exam. On qualifying the written exam, candidates have to clear the SSB interview followed by physical and medical examination.

1. Nationality : A candidate must be unmarried male/female and must be:

a) a citizen of India, or

b) a subject of Nepal, or

c) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka and East African Countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Ethiopia or Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

Note: Candidate belonging to categories (b) and (c) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.

Certificate of eligibility will not, however, be necessary in the case of candidates who are Gorkha subjects of Nepal.

2. Age Limits, Sex and Marital Status:

Only unmarried male/female candidates born not earlier than 02nd January, 2004 and not later than 1st January, 2007 are eligible.

NOTE: Only date of birth as recorded in the Matriculation/ Secondary School Examination Certificate available or an equivalent certificate on the date of submission of applications will be accepted by the Commission and no subsequent request for its change will be considered or granted.

Candidates must undertake not to marry until they complete their full training.

3. Educational Qualifications:

a) For Army Wing of National Defence Academy: 12th Class pass of the 10+2 pattern of School Education or equivalent examination conducted by a State Education Board or a University

b) For Air Force and Naval Wings of National Defence Academy and for the 10+2 Cadet Entry Scheme at the Indian Naval Academy: 12th Class pass with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics of the 10+2 pattern of School Education or equivalent conducted by a State Education Board or a University

Note: Candidates who are appearing in the 12th Class under the 10+2 pattern of School Education or equivalent examination can also apply for this examination.

Certificates in original issued by the Principals of the Institutions are also acceptable in cases where Boards/Universities have not yet issued certificates. Certified true copies/photostat copies of such certificates will not be accepted.

4. Physical Standards:

Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards for admission to National Defence Academy and Naval Academy Examination (II), 2020 as per guidelines given in Appendix-IV.

5. A candidate who has resigned or withdrawn on disciplinary grounds from any of the training academies of Armed Forces is not eligible to

EXAM FEES

Candidates are required to pay a fee of Rs. 100/- (Rupees one hundred only) either by depositing the money in any Branch of SBI by cash, or by using net banking facility of State Bank of India or by using Visa/MasterCard/Rupay Credit/Debit Card.

SC/ST candidates, female candidates and wards of JCOs/NCOs/ORs who are exempted from payment of fee, a certificate of eligibility for fee exemption is required to be obtained by the candidates from the Principals concerned individually and produced for verification at the time of SSB Test/Interview by the candidates who are declared qualified for the SSB Test/Interview.

VACANCY

The approximate number of vacancies to be filled on the results of this examination will be as under

Note1: Vacancies are provisional and may be changed depending on the availability of training capacity of National Defence Academy and Indian Naval Academy.

Note2: A candidate is required to specify clearly in the Online Application Form the Services for which he wishes to be considered in the order of his preference [1 to 4]. He is also advised to indicate as many preferences as he wishes to opt so that having regard to his rank in the order of merit due consideration can be given to his preferences when making

Note3: Candidates should note that they will be considered for appointment to those services only for which they express their preferences and for no other service(s). No request for addition/alteration in the preferences already indicated by a candidate in his application will be entertained by the Commission.

Note4: Admission to the above courses will be made on the results of the written examination to be conducted by the Commission followed by intelligence and personality test by the Services Selection Board of candidates who qualify in the written examination.

HOW TO APPLY AND WITHDRAW APPLICATION

Candidates are required to apply online on the website upsconline.nic.in. Last date for applying online is as given above in important dates section. Click here for Brief instructions for filling up the online Application Form.

The Commission has introduced the facility of withdrawal of Application for those candidates who do not want to appear for the Examination. The online Applications can be withdrawn from during the period as given in important dates section. Click here for instructions on withdrawing application

Identity Card: Any of the following identity cards is required at the time of application.

The details of this photo ID will have to be provided while filling up the online application form. The same photo ID card will have to be uploaded with the Online Application Form. This photo ID will be used for all future referencing and is required to be carried while appearing for examination/SSB.

Admit Card: All eligible candidates will be issued e-Admit Card three weeks before the commencement of the examination. The e-Admit Card can be downloaded from the UPSC website (upsconline.nic.in). No Admit Card will be sent by post.

FACILITATION COUNTER FOR GUIDANCE OF STUDENTS:

In case of any guidance/information/clarification regarding their application, candidature etc. candidates can contact UPSC’s Facilitation Counter near Gate ‘C’ of its campus in person or over Telephone No.011-23385271/011-23381125/011-23098543 on working days between 10.00 hrs. to 17.00 hrs.

EXAM CENTRES

The list of exam centres is given below. You have to fill the most suitable centre for appearing in the written examination.

• Each centre can accommodate a limited number of candidates except Cennai, Dispur, Kolkata and Nagpur.
• Allotment of Centres will be on the first-apply-first-allot basis.
• Applicants, who cannot get a centre of their choice due to ceiling, will be required to choose a Centre from the remaining ones.
• Also, commission reserves the right to change the Centres at their discretion if the situation demands.
• No request for change of centre will be granted.

EXAM PATTERN

The subjects of the written examination, the time allowed and the maximum marks allotted to each subject is as follows:-

• The papers in all the subjects consist of Objective Type Questions only. The question papers (Test Booklets) of Mathematics and Part “B” of General Ability Test will be set bilingually in Hindi as well as English.
• In the question papers, wherever necessary, questions involving the metric system of Weights and Measures will be set.
• The candidates are not permitted to use calculator of Mathematical or logarithmic table for answering objective type papers (Test Booklets). They should not therefor, bring the same inside the Examination Hall.
• For detailed syllabus click here

PENALTY FOR WRONG ANSWERS:

Candidates should note that there will be penalty (Negative Marking) of 1/3^rd marks allotted for the question for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the Objective Type Question Papers. 

SELECTION PROCESS

1. Written examination of NDA has to be cleared by securing the minimum qualifying marks as fixed by Union Public Service Commission.
2. Candidates who have qualified the written examination have to register themselves online on Directorate General of Recruiting website www.joinindianarmy.nic.in using same E-mail ID as provided to UPSC while filling online application. These candidates are allotted Selection Centres.
3. Candidates have to report at the Selection Centre for SSB Interview which lasts for 4 days. Click here to know more about SSB Interview.
4. Candidates opting for Air Force will additionally have to qualify Computerised Pilot Selection System (CPSS). This Pilot Aptitude Test (PAT) can be taken only once in lifetime.
5. After successfully clearing the SSB Interiew, candidates have to go through rigorous Medical Examination before final entry in the training for joining forces.
6. Candidates finally selected for training at the Academy will be required to deposit approximately INR 60,000/- on their arrival there.

To know about Scholarships for training expenses, click here

DISQUALIFICATION FOR ADMISSION TO THE TRAINING COURSE:

Candidates who were admitted to an earlier course at the National Defence Academy, or to the 10 + 2 Cadet Entry Scheme of Indian Naval Academy but were removed there from for lack of officer-like qualities or on disciplinary grounds will not be admitted to the Academy.

Candidates who were previously withdrawn from the National Defence Academy or Indian Naval Academy on medical grounds or left the above Academy voluntarily are however, eligible for admission to the Academy provided they satisfy the medical and other prescribed conditions.