NDA Full Form with Complete Details

Archana Shandilya

Updated: Dec 13, 2022 10:35 IST

Earlier, only unmarried males were allowed to write the UPSC NDA exam. However, with the intervention of the Supreme Court now, female applicants were also allowed to participate in the NDA exam. Read along to know the complete detail related to the NDA full form. 

Important Note: NDA Exam should not be confused with NDA (National Democratic Alliance). This is an alliance of political parties administered by the BJP and its 13 constituent parties. This alliance won elections in 1998 and 2004 and formed a coalition party led by Atal Bihar Bajpayee as Prime Minister. 

NDA 2023 Exam Overview

Check out the table below to get a complete idea regarding the NDA full form overview. 

NDA Exam Calendar 2023

Refer to the following table to know about the important dates as per the NDA calendar 2023. 

NDA Eligibility Criteria 2023

Earlier this year, the SC notified that women applicants are also allowed to apply and write the NDA examination. Go through the section below to know about the detailed eligibility criteria for the examination. 

Age Limit

As per the official notification, for NDA 1 exam, the unmarried candidates should have been born not earlier than July 2, 2003, and not later than July 1, 2006. Whereas, to apply for NDA 2 exam, the candidates must have been born not earlier than January 2, 2004, and not later than January 1, 2007. 

Educational Qualification

The candidate should have qualified class 10+2 from a recognized board with minimum passing marks for IMA. Whereas, for INA or AFA the candidate must have opted for PCM subject in class 12th examination. 

Physical Standard Test

Check out the admissible PST for both unmarried male and female candidates for the three Defence forces below.

NDA Selection Process 2023

The NDA selection process is going to be having two rounds, a written examination, and SSB interview. The candidates have to qualify for both rounds separately to get a call for admission to any of the three academies. 

Written Exam (900 Marks)

• The UPSC NDA exam shall be held in the offline mode
• The questions will be asked in the English & Hindi languages
• The candidates will get 2.5 marks for the correct answer and 0.83 marks will be deducted for the wrong answer.

SSB Interview (900 Marks)

The SSB interview round will be conducted for five days and will be conducted for 900 marks. It shall include the following activities. 

1. Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) tests 
2. Picture Perception Description Test (PP&DT)
3. Interviews
4. Group Testing Officer Tasks
• GD
• PGT
• HGT
• IoT
• Command Task
• Snake race/Group Obstacle Race
• GPE
• Individual lecture
• FGT
5. Psychology Tests
• Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
• Self Description Test (SD)
• Word Association Test (WAT)
• Situation Reaction Test (SRT)
6. Conference

NDA Admission Process and Courses

The authorities prepare a merit list with the names of the candidates qualifying for both rounds. These candidates can get admission in either of the three academies, Indian Military Academy (IMA), Air Force Academy (AFA) and Indian Naval Academy (INA) based on their ranks and marks scored. The final admission will be subject to the availability of seats available. 

Post admission, the candidates will be enrolled in the residential undergraduate program. The admissible courses are Bachelor of Arts/ Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Technology. The three-year course has to be studied in the NDA. Whereas, the fourth year of B. Tech has to be completed at the Indian Naval Academy and Indian Air Force Academy for Naval and Air Force candidates. 

NDA Salary Structure

After completion of the course, the candidates will be enrolled in the training period. During this training period, the candidates will be paid in the salary range of INR 56,100. After completion of the course, they will be commissioned as a Lieutenant and will be paid as per level 10th of the 7th pay commission. Go through the table below to know about the complete salary structure admissible to the NDA course. 

After going through the above-detailed information related to the UPSC NDA & NA 2023 Exam, the next step is to create a study plan and start working on it.