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The UPSC NDA exam is one of the toughest competitive exams that is done to recruit interested and capable into the National Defense Academy and Indian Naval Academy. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts this national level exam two times a year. The interested and eligible participants must have cleared 10+2 exams to be able to appear for the NDA exam. It is a written offline examination conducted in two parts – Mathematics paper and GAT (General Ability Test). Once the candidates clear the written exams, the qualifying participants will be invited for an interview with the SSB which is the short form for Service Selection Board. It is a golden opportunity for aspirants. If you are a candidate who fulfills all the necessary eligibility clauses, you are in the right place. The present article is all information that you’ll need to know about examination and various aspects regarding the same. Updates will be made accordingly. The interested candidates are expected to follow up the same. Once the candidate is fully aware about the examination they can start preparing accordingly.
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NDA Exam 2024 Overview
Particulars |
Details |
Exam Name |
NDA |
NDA Full Form |
National Defence Academy & Naval Academy Examination |
NDA 2024 Exam Dates |
NDA 1 2024 exam – April 21, 2024 NDA 2 2024 exam – September 1, 2024 |
Commonly known as |
NDA |
Conducting Authority |
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) |
Exam category |
National |
Exam Level |
10+2/HSC |
Exam mode |
Offline |
Frequency of conduct |
Twice a year |
Stages |
Written exam and SSB Interview |
Exam Cities |
41 |
Scope of NDA |
Admission to
|
Vacancies |
TBA |
NDA Exam Dates 2024-Insights
The National Defense Academy (NDA) is one of the prestigious joint defense service training institutes of the Indian Armed Forces, where eligible candidates of the three services that are, the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force train together before they enroll on to their respective service academy for future pre-commission training.
- The NDA is situated in Khadakwasla, Pune, Maharashtra.
- It is the first Tri-service academy in the world.
- The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts this national level exam twice every year.
- The NDA has produced 27 chiefs of staff to date. At present, the chief of staff of all three services is NDA alumni.
- The NDA provides only a full-time, residential undergraduate program.
- The recruited candidates are awarded a Baccalaureate degree ,a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science) and a B.Tech (Bachelor of Technology) degree for Naval Cadets after 3 years of study.
- The Naval cadets complete their fourth year of BTECH from Indian Naval Academy.
- The Cadets further have a choice of two streams of study.
- The Science stream offers studies in physics, chemistry, mathematics and computer science.
- The Liberal Arts or the Humanities stream offers studies in history, economics, political science, geography and languages.
Academics and Training:
Listed below are few pointers that states important insights regarding the academics and training aspects of the NDA examination. The candidates can go through the pointers and have an idea regarding the various aspects of the examination.
The academics mainly consist of two broad divisions namely, compulsory course and foundation Course.
- In the Compulsory Course, the candidates must study English language and an additional Foreign Language
- The foreign language can either be Arabic, Chinese, French or Russian.
- Basic courses such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, history, political science, economics and geography must be chosen by the candidates
- It is important that the candidate must be aware that they must take basic classes in all these subjects except foreign languages , then take advanced classes depending on their chosen stream.
- The Foundation Course on the other hand is mandatory
- The course comprises of Military Studies and General Studies.
- Subjects such as military history, military geography, weapons systems and armaments, etc. are major topics discussed under the Military Studies.
- Subjects such as geopolitics, human rights, Laws of Armed Conflict and environmental sciences are major topics studied in General Studies.
- The Optional Course aims on subjects specific to the candidate’s chosen Service.
The training aspects which comes soon after the recruitment process are listed below.
- All the candidates joining the NDA after their 10+2 examination are trained in the Academy for three years culminating in graduation with BA(or)BSc or BCs (Computer Science) degree of Jawaharlal Nehru University.
- The first degree course to be awarded was the 46th course in 1974.
- Apart from academic training, the candidates are also trained in outdoor skills, like Drill, PT and games.
- Along with the academic training one of the foreign languages is also taught, which is up to the lower B1 level, according to the international standards
- The candidates spend the first four semesters on the Compulsory Course and the Foundation Course.
- The candidates must take the Optional Course during the fifth and sixth semesters.
- Candidates have the privilege’s to transfer to other Service academies for the optional courses.
NDA Application Form 2024-Steps to Apply
The National Defense Academy (NDA) is one of the prestigious joint defense service training institutes of the Indian Armed Forces, where eligible candidates of the three services that are, the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force train together before they enroll on to their respective service academy for future pre-commission training. Listed below are few pointers regarding the steps to apply for the examination. The mode of application is online. It is advised that the candidates go through before applying for the examination. It should be noted that the updates will be made accordingly and the candidates are expected to follow up the same.
The candidate must firstly visit the official website of NDA Exam and click on “Apply Online”. The candidates must complete their application form in two stages: Part I & Part II which listed below:
NDA Application Form-Part I
The part I registration process can be mainly divided into 4 steps:
Step-I The candidate must begin with the registration process and submit all the necessary information without any mistakes in the application form.
Step-II In the next step, the candidate must choose the preferred branch they want to enroll in the Defence Army.
Step-III The candidate must enter their email id and phone number and verify the details.
Step-IV The last step to complete the registration process and the candidate gets a Registration ID.
NDA Application Form-Part II
The part Ii registration process can be mainly divided into 4 steps:
Step-I The candidate must pay the application fee for UPSC NDA I Exam as applicable.
Step-II The candidate must select the preferred city where they want their exam center to be allotted.
Step-III After the centre selection, the candidate must upload your photograph, signature, and photo-identity proof. The candidate must note that the file should not exceed 300 kb and must be less than 20 kb
Step-IV Finally, the candidate must agree to the declaration and submit their application form for UPSC NDA Exam and download a copy of the application form for future reference.
NDA Application Form 2022-Apply Online
NDA Application Form 2024-Application Fee
The National Defense Academy (NDA) is one of the prestigious joint defense service training institutes of the Indian Armed Forces, where eligible candidates of the three services that are, the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force train together before they enroll on to their respective service academy for future pre-commission training. Listed below are few pointers that the candidates must go through before applying for the examination. It should be noted that the updates will be made accordingly and the candidates are expected to follow up the same.
- The application fee for NDA Exam is Rs.100.
- The fee is not applicable for candidates belonging to categories such as, ST/ SC/ NCOs/ Ors/ Sons of JCos
- The candidates have the option of paying the application fee either online and offline mode.
- Credit cards, debit cards, and net banking are all options for online payment.
- Fees will be submitted using the SBI Bank challan system in offline mode.
NDA Application Form 2024-Exam Centres
The National Defense Academy (NDA) is one of the prestigious joint defense service training institutes of the Indian Armed Forces, where eligible candidates of the three services that are, the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force train together before they enroll on to their respective service academy for future pre-commission training. Listed below are few pointers that the candidates must go through before applying for the examination. It should be noted that the updates will be made accordingly and the candidates are expected to follow up the same.
- The NDA exam is conducted in multiple states and the candidates are allotted centers according to the preferences the candidates fill in the application form.
- The allotment of center’s is done on the basis of first-apply-first-allot.
- If the preferable centres are not allotted due to full capacity at some of the centres, the candidate has to choose another centre.
- The exam centres have limited seats, thus the candidates are advised to apply early to get their preferred exam centre.
Listed below ais a table consisting of names of cities that are considered as exam centres for NDA Examination 2024
SI No | Exam Centres |
1 | Ahmedabad |
2 | Agartala |
3 | Aizawl |
4 | Bengaluru |
5 | Bhopal |
6 | Bareilly |
7 | Chennai |
8 | Cuttack |
9 | Dispur |
10 | Delhi |
11 | Dehradun |
12 | Gangtok |
13 | Itanagar |
14 | Imphal |
15 | Jorhat |
16 | Jaipur |
17 | Kolkata |
18 | Kochi |
19 | Lucknow |
20 | Nagpur |
21 | Ranchi |
22 | Sambalpur |
23 | Visakhapatnam |
24 | Dharwad |
25 | Kohima |
26 | Shillong |
27 | Patna |
28 | Shimla |
29 | Tirupati |
30 | Prayagraj (Allahabad) |
31 | Hyderabad |
32 | Panaji (Goa) |
33 | Udaipur |
34 | Madurai |
35 | Port Blair |
36 | Srinagar |
37 | Thiruvananthapuram |
38 | Chandigarh |
39 | Jammu |
40 | Raipur |
41 | Mumbai |
NDA Application Form 2024-Allotment Process
The National Defense Academy (NDA) is one of the prestigious joint defense service training institutes of the Indian Armed Forces, where eligible candidates of the three services that are, the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force train together before they enroll on to their respective service academy for future pre-commission training. Listed below are few pointers that the candidates must go through allotment process for the examination. It should be noted that the updates will be made accordingly and the candidates are expected to follow up the same.
SI No | Stages |
Activities conducted
|
1 | Testing |
Screening
Verbal and Non-verbal test PPDT |
2 | Psychological Test |
Thematic Appreciation Test [TAT]
Word Association Test [WAT]
Situation Reaction Test [SRT]
Self Description Test [ SD]
|
3 | Group Testing Officers Test |
Group Discussion (GD)
Group Planning Exercise (GPE) Progressive Group Task (PGT) Half Group Task (HGT) Individual Obstacles Task (IOT) Command Task Snake race/Group Obstacle Race Individual lecture Final Group Task (FGT) |
4 | Personal Interview | |
5 | Conference |
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I hope this article was helpful. The key point to clear an exam lies in methodical and planned preparation. If you are a candidate who wants to pursue your dream career and looking for a good start, our Entri app has got it covered for you. Our team will help you with content and insights related to the topics of your concern. Subscribe to our app today and enrol yourself into various programmes our app offers. Tune in to the app to stay updated regarding various aspects of the subject you are interested in. Feel free to post any queries and doubts in the comment section. We will try our best to reach out. Push away all those self-doubts and negative thoughts. Try to have a clear vision. Ask yourself why you want this. Focus on the good and work hard. There is a saying that goes like this, Get up and set your shoulders to the wheel-how long is life for you? as you have come to this world leave some mark behind or where is the difference between your trees and stones they too come into existence decay and die. Each day is a precious gift bestowed upon us so make it count. Work on yourself. Stop procrastinating. Today is the day, hope for the best. Good luck