NDA Eligibility 2024 – Age Limit, Qualification

The UPSC NDA exam is one of the difficult competitive exams that is done to recruit interested and capable candidates into the National Defense Academy and Indian Naval Academy. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts this national level exam. The exam is conducted twice in a year. The interested and eligible participants must have cleared 10+2 examination to be able to appear for the NDA exam.  UPSC NDA 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 fantastic opportunity for aspirants. If you are a candidate who fit in 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 2024 Eligibility Criteria – Overview

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 Eligibility 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 eligibility clauses 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

NDA Eligibility Criteria:

The aspirants to be able to secure the post must fulfill the minimum of eligibility clauses. The eligibility is distinguished as criteria. The eligibility criteria are listed below,

• The Nationality of the candidate
• Age limit of the candidate
• Gender and Marital Status of the candidate
• Educational Qualification of the candidate.
• Physical Standards
• Height and Weight Standards

The further proceedings of the article consists of detailed description of these criteria and the candidates are advised to go through it meticulously prepare accordingly.

NDA Eligibility Criteria-Nationality

In general this eligibility criteria defines the nationality of the applicant that can apply for the examination. It is an important feature as it filters out the other participants who do not fall in this category, and mainly focuses on the need and wants of the post.

Listed below is a table consisting of all the details regarding the nationality clauses:

NDA Eligibility Criteria-Age limit

In general this eligibility criteria defines the minimum to maximum age group that can apply for the examination. It is an important feature as it filters out the other participants who do not fall in this category, and mainly focuses on the need and wants of the post.

Listed below is a table consisting of both minimum and maximum age limit.

The following part consists of few pointers regarding the Age limit of the NDA Examination. The candidates are expected to go through it and proceed further.

• The date of birth mentioned during the application form filling must be the same as the date of birth given in the documents of secondary school leaving certificate.
• Aspirants born between 2nd July 2003 to 1st July 2006 are eligible to appear for the NDA 2022 exam.
• Only unmarried applicants can apply for the NDA examination.

NDA Eligibility Criteria-Gender and Marital Status

Candidates who want to appear for the UPSC NDA 1 and 2 2024 exam must be unmarried and must remain unmarried till such time that the National Defence Academy & Naval Academy training is in effect. If the candidate marries in between the UPSC NDA training he will be discharged from the Academy.

NDA Eligibility Criteria-Education Qualification

The candidates must be aware of the fact that the candidates who are appearing in the 12th Class under the 10+2 pattern of School Education or equivalent examination are too eligible to appear in the UPSC NDA examination.

NDA Eligibility Criteria-Physical Standards

The candidates must be physically fit as per the physical standards for National Defense Academy and Naval Academy, Listed below are the criteria’s that fall under physical standards that the candidates must fulfil to be eligible for the examination.

NDA Eligibility Criteria- Height Standards

The candidates who wants to apply for NDA must look up  the physical and medical standards required for NDA. The fitness and medical criteria are listed below:

• The minimum acceptable height for Army is 157cms.
• The minimum acceptable height for Air Force is 162.5 cms
• Certain exceptions are allowed to applicants based on the region they belong to.
• These exceptions are listed as follows:
  • Candidates belonging to the hills region like the hills of North India, Kumaon, Garhwal, Gorkhas will get a 5cms relaxation in maximum height required
  • The candidates belonging to the Lakshadweep region will get 2cms of relaxation in maximum height.

The standard for weight and height based on the age group is given below in the table:

The Physical Standards for Navy for applicants who are willing to join the Navy through NDA must fulfill the physical standards are listed below:

1. Leg Length: The minimum of 99 cm and maximum of 120 cm
2. Thigh Length: Maximum of 64 cm
3. Sitting Height: The minimum of 81.50 cm and maximum is 96 cm

Medical Fitness

The applicants should be medically fit and must not be suffering from any of the minor diseases which is tabulated below:

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