What is National Defence Academy (NDA Full Form)?

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The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the national level entrance exam, organised by Union Public Service Commission ( UPSC) as the main conducting authority. The exam is conducted in our country for admissions in the Indian Armed Forces. Through NDA the recruitment for Army, Navy and Air Force occurs.

NDA is conducted 2 times per year and is divided into two stages: 1. Written examinations and 2. SSB Interview. The candidates who endeavour to join NDA firstly need to clear the written test and then are allowed to appear for the SSB interview. Every year more than 3.5 lakhs aspirants appear for the examination and only 6000 among them on an average are selected for the SSB Interview.

Among them, only 380 to 400 candidates are selected and admitted in the National Defence Academy (NDA) located in Khadakwasla, Pune, Maharashtra. It is also the first tri-service academy in the world. In NDA the Army, Navy and the Air Force candidates are trained together. When the training is complete they are sent to their respective forces: Indian Military Academy (IMA) for the army, Indian Naval Academy (INA) for Navy and Air Force Academy ( AFA) for Air Force.

NDA Full Form

National Defence Academy.

Qualifications required for NDA examinations :

The aspirants appearing for NDA examinations should be unmarried male candidates with age between 16.5 years to 19 years old. The candidates are required to pass the 12th examinations. For Army wing only clearing the 12th examination is required but for Air Force wing and Naval wing passing marks on Mathematics and Physics are indispensable. Proper physical fitness according to the requirement is also a criterion to join the NDA academy. Given below is a detailed discussion about the qualifications and eligibility of NDA. For more vivid information visiting the UPSC website is necessary.

  1. Nationality: The candidate must be from India; subject to Bhutan; subject to Nepal; Tibetan refugee staying in India pernapertly before January 1, 1962; migrants from Sri Lanka, Burma, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zankia, Zaire, Malawi, Vietnam, Ethiopia. Foreign Nationals applying for the examination needs to issue the eligibility certificate from the Government of India, except the ones who are Gorkha subjects from Nepal.
  2.  Age limit: In the NDA examinations the birth date is calculated according to the Secondary school leaving certificate or the certificate provided by other equivalent examination under-recognised board or university. The age should be between 16.5 years to 19 years.
  3.  Educational Qualifications: the aspirants appearing in class 12 can apply. They must pass the class 12th examination or any equivalent examination from a recognized board conducted by the state education board or university to get admitted in NDA. For Army wing passing 12th class is mandatory. For Air Force wing and Naval wing passing of 12th class along with Mathematics and Physics are required.
  4. Physical Fitness: Physical fitness is an important aspect of the NDA test. Several exams are taken to test the physical fitness, the visual ability of the candidate. A chest X-ray and a Visual standard test are also conducted. The average height is 157 cm to apply for the academy. Exceptions are also noted for the ones considering the places they come from. The Physical stats also depends on the age, height and weight of the individual.

Also Read: RRB JE Syllabus, Exam Pattern & Eligibility

Subjects and Syllabus for NDA examinations :

The NDA examinations comprise two sets of paper and are divided between Mathematics and General Ability. The mathematics paper consists of 300 marks and the General Ability paper is made up of 600 marks. The General Ability paper is divided into two sections. The first section is English, comprising of 200 marks and the second section is general knowledge comprising of 400 marks. Thus the total paper is 900 marks. The use of a calculator or any other type of communication devices is not allowed in the examination. The SSB examination also comprises of 900 marks. The total is 1800 marks. The detailed syllabus for each subject is given below :

  1. Mathematics: Matrices and Determinants, Analytical Geometry of Two and Three Dimensions, Integral Calculus and Differential equation, Statistics and Probability, etc.
  2. English: Grammar and usage, Comprehension and cohesion, Spotting of error, Para Jumbling, Fill in the blanks, Synonyms and antonyms, Vocabulary, Cloze test, Sentence correction and improvement, Idioms and proverbs and completion of Sentence and para.
  3. General knowledge: physics, chemistry, general science, geography and current events.

For SSB there is Part 1 and Part 2 as follows :

  1. Stage 1:  Two tests are taken, namely,  Officers Intelligence Rating ( OIR) and Picture Perception and Description ( PP and DT ). After clearing these two tests, the candidates are capable to appear for Stage 2.
  2. Stage 2: This stage takes 4 days to complete and Psychological tests and conferences are taken place.

NDA Question Pattern and other details : 

  1. The question paper is based on objective questions which are Multiple Choice Questions ( MCQs).
  2. The candidates are allowed to use only black ball pen.
  3. The language of the written examination would be bilingual. The question paper would be in both English and Hindi language.
  4. Total marks of the question paper are 900.
  5. There will be 270 questions in total. ( Mathematics: 120 and General Ability: 150 ) .
  6. The exam direction is 2 hours and 30 minutes.
  7. Each question carries 2.5 marks. Poison Max will only be allotted for the correct options.
  8. For wrong answers, 0.33 marks will be deducted.
  9. after the written test has cleared the candidates are passed on to the SSB test.
  10. The SSB interview process will have 900 marks.
  11. Thus the total of the examination is 1800.

Tips for exam day :

  1. Admit card should be carried.
  2. Id proof is required along with the admit card.
  3. Sheets are provided from the exam centre and no unwanted items must be carried.
  4. Black ballpoint pen should be carried for marking the paper.
  5. Strict actions will be taken if any candidate is found doing any misconduct or carrying anything unnecessary.

For National Defence academy aspirants it is the best to start preparation from 9th grade along with a proper time table. Special practice should be given to do the subjects which are in examinations. NDA Sample papers should be exercised.

The forms of the NDA exams are geberagen available in June and December in the website of UPSC. For more details UPSC website can be checked.

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