NDA

The training at NDA is rigorous. In addition to service training for the army, navy and air force, the cadets are also taught academics to cover the graduation level degree in Arts, Sciences or Computers. The training at NDA is broken into six terms and the total duration of training is three years. Once their training is concluded, the cadets are awarded their bachelor’s degree at the passing out parade of NDA. Thereafter the cadets go to their respective service institutes i.e. the Indian Military Academy or IMA for army cadets, Air Force Academy Hyderabad for Air force cadets and Naval Academy Ezhimala for Naval Cadets.

HOW TO APPLY FOR NDA

NDA and NA written entrance examination is conducted by UPSC twice a year. Notification for the exam appears in all major national dailies in the month of Dec/Jan for the April exam and in the months of May/June for the September exam. The exam is held in the months of April and September. Candidates must apply to sit for the examination, online on the UPSC website after notification is released by UPSC.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

NDA EXAM PATTERN

NDA written exam is comprised of two tests. Duration of each test is two and a half hours and both are conducted on the same day, consecutively. Examination is set by the UPSC.

THERE WILL BE PENALTY (NEGATIVE MARKING) FOR WRONG ANSWERS MARKED BY A CANDIDATE IN THE OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTION PAPERS (One third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty).

SYLLABUS FOR NDA EXAMINATION

MATHEMATICS (Maximum Marks 300):

Algebra: Concept of a set, operations on sets, Venn diagrams. De Morgan laws. Cartesian product, relation, equivalence relation. Representation of real numbers on a line. Complex numbers – basic properties, modulus, argument, cube roots of unity. Binary system of numbers. Conversion of a number in decimal system to binary system and vice-versa. Arithmetic, Geometric and Harmonic progressions. Quadratic equations with real coefficients. Solution of linear inequations of two variables by graphs. Permutation and Combination. Binomial theorem and its application. Logarithms and their applications.

Matrices and Determinants: Types of matrices, operations on matrices Determinant of a matrix, basic properties of determinant. Adjoint and inverse of a square matrix, Applications – Solution of a system of linear equations in two or three unknowns by Cramer’s rule and by Matrix Method.

Trigonometry: Angles and their measures in degrees and in radians. Trigonometrical ratios. Trigonometric identities Sum and difference formulae. Multiple and Sub-multiple angles. Inverse trigonometric functions. Applications – Height and distance, properties of triangles.

Analytical Geometry of two and three dimensions: Rectangular Cartesian Coordinate system. Distance formula. Equation of a line in various forms. Angle between two lines. Distance of a point from a line. Equation of a circle in standard and in general form. Standard forms of parabola, ellipse and hyperbola. Eccentricity and axis of a conic. Point in a three dimensional space, distance between two points. Direction Cosines and direction ratios. Equation of a plane and a line in various forms. Angle between two lines and angle between two planes. Equation of a sphere.

Differential Calculus: Concept of a real valued function – domain, range and graph of a function. Composite functions, one to one, onto and inverse functions. Notion of limit, Standard limits – examples. Continuity of functions – examples, algebraic operations on continuous functions. Derivative of a function at a point, geometrical and physical interpreatation of a derivative – applications. Derivatives of sum, product and quotient of functions, derivative of a function with respect of another function, derivative of a composite function. Second order derivatives. Increasing and decreasing functions. Application of derivatives in problems of maxima and minima.

Integral Calculus and Differential equations: Integration as inverse of differentiation, integration by substitution and by parts, standard integrals involving algebraic expressions, trigonometric, exponential and hyperbolic functions. Evaluation of definite integrals – determination of areas of plane regions bounded by curves – applications. Definition of order and degree of a differential equation, formation of a differential equation by examples. General and particular solution of a differential equation, solution of first order and first degree differential equations of various types – examples. Application in problems of growth and decay.

Vector Algebra: Vectors in two and three dimensions, magnitude and direction of a vector. Unit and null vectors, addition of vectors, scalar multiplication of vector, scalar product or dot product of two-vectors. Vector product and cross product of two vectors. Applications-work done by a force and moment of a force, and in geometrical problems.

Statistics and Probability: Statistics: Classification of data, Frequency distribution, cumulative frequency distribution – examples Graphical representation – Histogram, Pie Chart, Frequency Polygon – examples. Measures of Central tendency – mean, median and mode. Variance and standard deviation – determination and comparison. Correlation and regression.

Probability: Random experiment, outcomes, and associated sample space, events, mutually exclusive and exhaustive events, impossible and certain events. Union and Intersection of events. Complementary, elementary and composite events. Definition of probability – classical and statistical – examples. Elementary theorems on probability – simple problems. Conditional probability, Bayes’ theorem – simple problems. Random variable as function on a sample space. Binomial distribution, examples of random experiments giving rise to Binominal distribution.

GENERAL ABILITY TEST

Part ‘A’ – ENGLISH (Maximum Marks 200): The question paper in English will be designed to test the candidate’s understanding of English and workman like use of words. The syllabus covers various aspects like: Grammar and usage, vocabulary, comprehension and cohesion in extended text to test the candidate’s proficiency in English.

Part ‘B’ – GENERAL KNOWLEDGE (Maximum Marks 400): The question paper will consist of current affairs questions, questions from science, history, geography and polity. The NDA written exam syllabus includes subjects like History, Polity, Economics, Maths, Geography, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Current Affairs, GK, English etc.

For viewing the detailed syllabus for general ability paper, please click the link.

RESULTS OF NDA EXAMINATION

UPSC declares the result of NDA written exam in 3-4 months after the written exam. The same can be viewed on the UPSC website. Being a competitive exam and there is no fixed cut off percentage for passing. Candidates who perform better are sent the call letters for SSB interviews. The final merit list is prepared after the SSB interviews final result and displayed on the UPSC website. Joining instructions are sent to students based on vacancies available as per the merit list.