UPSC: NDA/NA Exam - About Examination

(A) Tentative Schedule (Examination held twice a year)

• Notification of Examination October - Novermber & April - May
• Conduct of Examination April - May & Sept. - Oct

Eligibility Criteria

• XII Class / Equivalent passed certificate conducted by State Board / Universities. Candidate appearing for above examination can also apply.
• Unmarried male candidates only
• Age between 16 1/2 to 19 years
• Nationality - A candidate must be either:
  • A citizen of India, or
  • A subject of Bhutan, or 
  • A subject of Nepal, or
  • A Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962, with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
  • A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, the East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika and Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Ethiopia and Vietnam, with the intention of permanently setting in India)

Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India. Certificate of eligibility will not, however, be necessary in the case of candidates who are Gorkha subjects of Nepal.

About a year before the commencement of a Course, a brief notice appears in the leading daily newspapers and a detailed notification in the Government of India Gazette, offering about the entrance examination to be held by the UPSC six months later at Agartala, Ahmedabad, Aizwal, Allahabad, Bangalore, Bareilly, Bhopal, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chandigarh, Cochin, Cuttack, Delhi, Dharwar, Dispur (Guwahati), Gangtok, Hyderabad, Imphal, Itanagar, Jaipur, Jammu, Jorhat, Kavaratti (Lakshadweep), Kohima, Lucknow, Madras, Madurai, Nagpur, Panji (Goa), Patna, Port Blair, Raipur, Sambalpur, Shillong, Shimla, Srinagar, Tirupati, Trivandrum, Udaipur and Vishakhapatnam.

A candidate seeking admission to the examination must apply to the Secretary, Union Public Service Commission, Dholpur, House, New Delhi-110011, on the application form published in newspapers. The candidates may utilise the original form published in newspapers or in "Employment News" and fill up the columns in their own handwriting with ball-point pen. They may also use the application form and the Attendance Sheet neatly typewritten on white paper (foolscap size) in double space typed on only one side of the paper. There is no objection to candidates using printed/Application Form and Attendance Sheet, if available, from private agencies as long as the format is exactly the same as published in the advertisement. Candidates who have appeared for the previous examinations will not be considered. The envelope containing the application should be superscribed in bold letters as "APPLICATION FOR NATIONAL ACADEMY EXAMINATION" .

The process of selecting cadets for the National Defence Academy is split into three phases :

• A written examination held by the Union Public Service Commission.
• An interview by the Service Selection Board to assess a candidate's officer potentialities ( Intelligence and personality test ).
• A medical examination by a Service Medical Board.