NDA (National Defence Academy)

The National Defence Academy (NDA) is a training institution where cadets are trained for 3 years before they join their respective Service Academies, viz. Indian Military Academy, Naval Academy and Air Force Academy.

The examination to gain admission to the National Defence Academy is conducted by the UPSC twice a year, after which the selected candidates are sent to National Defence Academy for training. The 3 year training culminates in a graduation in B.A/B.Sc. or B. Sc. (Computer Science) degree of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

The candidate should

• Have a XII Class / Equivalent passed certificate conducted by State Board / Universities. Those appearing for the exam can also apply provided they furnish the proof of passing the Class XII exam at a later date as specified by the UPSC.
• Have Physics & Maths in 10+2 if he has applied for Navy & Air Force.
• Be an unmarried male.
• Be between 16 1/2 to 19 years of age.
• Be physically fit.

Clearing the written test will be a cakewalk if your NCERT fundamentals are clear. Get thorough with the 10+2 syllabus, the rest will fall into place. Since there is a GK section as well, brush up your general knowledge. If you are not up-to-date with the current affairs, get yourself a good GK book or an yearbook like the Manorama Yearbook or Competition Success Yearbook. Do not ignore Biology since the General Ability section focuses on it a lot. Go through topics like diseases and causes, animal kingdom, plant anatomy and morphology. Even though questions from previous years rarely get repeated, practicing old papers as well as sample papers is very important to assess where you stand and to plan your preparation schedule.

• The Indian Military Academy

• The Naval Academy

• The Air Force Academy

Since the exam is conducted twice a year, they are termed as “NDA 1” (April) & “NDA 2”(August)

Following are the dates for NDA I 2013:

• Starting date for online registration: 22nd Dec 2012
• Last date of submission of application form (NDA forms): 21th Jan 2013
• Date of Examination: 14th April 2013

Following are the dates for NDA II 2013:

• Opening Date for Online Registration: 4th May, 2013
• Last Date for Online Registration: 3rd June, 2013
• Date of Examination: 11th August, 2013