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 written test has 2 papers both of which will last for 2.5 hours each:

• Mathematics (300 marks): Topics to be covered include Arithmetic, Mensuration, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Statistics
• General Ability (600 marks): This paper includes English (200 marks) & GK (400 marks). Questions from Physics, Chemistry, General Science, History & Freedom Movement, Geography and Current affairs will be asked in the GK section. These 6 topics carry 25%, 15%, 10%, 20%, 20% and 10% weightage respectively.

All questions will be set in English and will be objective type. The detailed subject-wise prospectus is published by the UPSC every six months, i.e. in April/May and October/November in all the local newspapers and Employment News.

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 were the dates for NDA I 2012:

• Release of Notification: 31st Dec 2012
• Last date of submission of application form (NDA forms): 30th Jan 2012
• Date of Examination: 15th April 2012

Following are the dates for NDA II 2012:

• Release of Notification: 5th May 2012
• Last date of submission of online application form (NDA forms): 4th June 2012 (11:59pm)
• Date of Examination: 19th Aug 2012