NDA Papers

NDA Exam is conducted in two stages. One written exam, qualifiers of which will be eligible for an interview to be selected into the academy. There are two papers each of two and a half hour duration. The first paper is core Mathematics concepts for 300 marks. The second paper is General Ability test. General Ability sections consists of two sub sections – English and General Knowledge. This is for 600 marks. Questions are objective type.

Tips for the exam

Ideally it is recommended for students to start the preparation a year before. Since the syllabus of NDA exam is similar to class 12 syllabus, refer the class 12 NCERT books for basic concepts. Topics like Trigonometry, Integration, Differentiation, Permutation Combinations are given more value. Hence, it is very important to get the basic formulas right. And practice well for application based questions. Basic concepts in English should also be brushed. This avoids silly mistakes

To improve general knowledge, read newspapers regularly. Pay interest on topics and deals in the defence sector. There are always few questions related to defence in the general ability section. If reading newspaper and making notes daily is difficult then scan through the important topics of year books. Also, brush up your social science knowledge by reading class 10, 11, 12 NCERT books, as most students find these questions a bit hard. For History preparation, study the topics related to indian freedom movement more in detail. Do not guess answers in General Ability section especially. Answer only if you are absolutely sure of the answers.

Physics, chemistry sections are fairly straightforward. Studying school books or class 11, 12 NCERT books should suffice. Glance over previous year papers to get an idea as the types of questions are similar.

Do not forget to allocate time each week to practice full papers as this will give you the stamina and ability to sit through the actual exam without getting tired and losing focus.

For complete guide on the previous years papers refer the book –