Table of Contents
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 Date 2024
NDA 1 & 2 2024 dates have been announced by UPSC. The written exam of NDA 1 2024 will be conducted on April 21, 2024. The written exam of NDA 2 2024 will be conducted on September 1, 2024. In the table below, we have provided NDA 2024 dates.
Events | Dates |
---|---|
NDA 1 2024 exam | 21-Apr-2024 |
NDA 1 2024 notification | 20-Dec-2023 |
NDA 1 2024 application form | 20-Dec-2023 to 09-Jan-2024 |
NDA 2 2024 exam | 01-Sep-2024 |
NDA 2 2024 notification | 15-May-2024 |
NDA 2 2024 application form | 15-May-2024 to 04-Jun-2024 |
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.
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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.
- Â 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 Cut off 2024 – Expected Cut off
Based on previous years’ NDA cutoff analysis by experts, Careers360 has determined the expected UPSC NDA 2023 cutoff. Check the table below for NDA expected cutoff 2023.
NDA 2 2023 cut off
Events |
NDA written exam cutoff |
Final NDA cutoff |
NDA Cut off |
349- 359 (With at least 25% marks in each subject) |
709- 719 |
NDA 2023 Minimum Qualifying Marks
Minimum qualifying marks for written (out of 900 marks) |
Marks secured by the last candidate in the merit order (out of 1800 marks) |
355 (With at least 25% marks in each subject) |
719 |
NDA Cut off Marks 2024
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 expected cut off for the examination. 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
Listed below is table consisting of overall cut off marks.
SI No | Name of the Wing | Vacancies | Number of Recommended candidates | Minimum qualifying standard at the written stage (out of 900) |
Marks secured by last recommended candidate
[Final Stage] (out of 1800) |
1 | Army | 208 |
517
|
343
(With at least 25% marks in each subject) |
709 |
2 | Navy | 709 | |||
3 |
Air Force
|
709 | |||
4 | 709 | ||||
5 | Academy | 709 | |||
6 | Total | 709 | |||
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NDA Cut off Marks 2024-Previous year
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 expected cut off for the examination. 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 candidates must clear the NDA Written exam to appear for the next round of selection which is, SSB Interview. The candidates have to score the minimum qualifying marks allotted by the authorities to get selected for the next round. The NDA cutoff marks depends on many factors like the difficulty level of the paper, the number of candidates who appeared for the exam, the category of the candidates, etc. Listed below is a table consisting of cut off marks of the NDA Exam from past couple of years. As mentioned earlier that candidate must be aware that the expected cut off marks id analyzed based on the patterns and trends depicted in the previous year cut off. The candidates are expected to look up to the same as reference only. Listed below is table consisting of previous year cut off marks.
SI No | Year | Written Exam | Final Marks |
1 | NDA 2 2020 | 355 | 719 |
2 | NDA 1 2020 | 355 | 726 |
3 | NDA 2 2019 | 346 | 709 |
4 | NDA 1 2019 | 342 | 704 |
5 | NDA 2 2018 | 325 | 688 |
6 | NDA 1 2018 | 338 | 705 |
7 | NDA 2 2017 | 258 | 624 |
8 | NDA 1 2017 | 342 | 708 |
9 | NDA 2 2016 | 229 | 602 |
10 | NDA 1 2016 | 288 | 656 |
11 | NDA 2 2015 | 269 | 637 |
12 | NDA 1 2015 | 306 | 674 |
13 | NDA 2 2014 | 283 | 656 |
14 | NDA 1 2014 | 360 | 722 |
15 | NDA 2 2013 | 360 | 721 |
16 | NDA 1 2013 | 333 | 698 |
NDA Cut off Marks 2024- Expected Cutoff
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 expected cut off for the examination. 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 candidates must clear the NDA Written exam to appear for the next round of selection which is, SSB Interview. The candidates have to score the minimum qualifying marks allotted by the authorities to get selected for the next round. The NDA cutoff marks depends on many factors like the difficulty level of the paper, the number of candidates who appeared for the exam, the category of the candidates, etc.
The expected cutoff for the written exam tend to vary and is expected to be 342 marks and for the total cutoff, it is expected to be 708. The candidate must be aware that the data given is based on assumptions and the candidates must use them for reference only. It is given that the cutoff marks can either increase or decease based on various factors as mentioned above
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NDA Exam 2024-Exam Pattern
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 interested and eligible candidates must have cleared 10+2 exams to be eligible for the NDA exam. This is a written offline examination conducted in two parts – mathematics paper and GAT (General Ability Test ). Once the written exams are done, the qualifying candidates will be invited for an interview with the SSB (Service Selection Board). The written test and the interview each will be of 900 marks .
SI No | Paper | Mathematics |
General Ability Test (GAT)
|
1 | Exam Duration | 2 hours and 30 minutes |
2 hours and 30 minutes
|
2 | No. of Sections | 1 |
2 (English and General Knowledge)
|
3 | Total no. of Questions | 120 | 150 |
4 | Total Marks | 300 |
600 (English (200) + GK (400))
|
5 | Medium | English and Hindi |
English for the English section. English and Hindi for the GK section
|
6 | Type of Questions | Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) |
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
|
NDA Exam 2024-Vacancy
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 is a table consisting of vacancy details regarding the NDA Exam 2024. The aspirants can refer to it to have an idea regarding the number of posts available, competition level and prepare accordingly.
SI No | Course | Vacancy |
1 | 148th National Defence Academy (Indian Army) |
208 (Including 10 female vacancies)
|
2 | 148th National Defence Academy (Indian Navy) |
42 (Including 03 female vacancies)
|
3 | 148th National Defence Academy (Indian Air Force) |
120 (Including 06 female vacancies)
|
4 | 110th Indian Naval Academy Course | 30 |
5 | Total | 400 |
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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