The National Defence Academy (NDA) is a prestigious institution that gives training to young cadets for the Indian Armed Forces. The Union Public Service Commission conducts the NDA written examination twice a year to select candidates for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The NDA I exam is generally conducted in April, and the NDA II exam in September. Candidates qualified in the written exam go through a 4 to 5-day SSB Interview. After that merit list is prepared of candidates qualified in the SSB Interview and medical test. Here, we have given all details related to NDA 1 2026 Notification, and the PDF can be downloaded from the link given below.
All about NDA 1 2026 Exam & Notification
UPSC had released the notification date and exam date in the annual calendar. The notification for the NDA 1 2026 exam was released on December 10, 2025. The application form for the NDA 1 2026 exam will be filled from 10th December 2025 to 30th December 2025, and the exam will be conducted on 12th April 2025.
Important Dates for NDA 1 2026
| Notification Release Date | 10th December 2025 |
| Application Form Start Date | 10th December 2025 |
| Application Form Last Date | 30th December 2025 |
| Form Correction Window Open Date | First week of Jan 2026 |
| Form Withdrawal Date | First week of Jan 2026 |
| Exam Date | 12th April 2026 |
| Written Exam declaration | April 27, 2026 (Expected) |
| SSB Interview | May-June 2026 |
| Final Result | To be announced |
NDA Eligibility Criteria
Students dreaming of filling out the NDA Application Form 2026 must meet the eligibility criteria, i.e. Age Limit, Height and Educational Qualification. The eligibility criteria for the NDA Exam are given below. Students must check before applying for the NDA Exam.
Age Limit: Students who want to fill the NDA 1 2026 form must be born between 1st July 2007 to 1st July 2010, including both dates.
Education Qualification: Many students ask whether 12th-grade appearing students can apply for the NDA Exam, or if students with an Art and Commerce background can fill out the NDA Exam form. Then, the answer is Yes. Students studying in 12th Class or who have passed 12th class are eligible to fill out the NDA Application Form.
Marital Status: Both boys and girls can apply for the NDA Exam, but they should be unmarried.
NDA Exam Pattern
Before starting preparation, aspirants must refer to the NDA 1 2026 Notification for the exam pattern and marking scheme of NDA Exam. There are two papers in NDA – the First Paper is Mathematics, and the second paper is General Ability Test (GAT). There are 120 questions in Maths that contain 300 marks and 150 questions in GAT that contain 600 marks.
Maths Test Exam Pattern (Paper-1):
| Paper I- Mathematics | |
| Total Marks | 300 Marks |
| Total No. of Questions | 120 |
| Marks awarded for a Correct answer | 2.5 marks |
| Marks deducted for the wrong answer | -0.83 |
| Exam Duration | 2.5 Hours |
General Ability Test (GAT) Exam Pattern (Paper-2):
| Paper-II- General Ability Test | |
| Total Marks | 600 marks |
| Total No. of Questions | 150 |
| No. of questions in English Section | 50 |
| No. of questions in General Knowledge Section | 100 |
| Maximum Marks for English | 200 marks |
| Maximum Marks for G.K. | 400 marks |
| Marks for Correct Answer | 4 marks in both sections |
| Marks for Incorrect Answer | -1.33 marks in both sections |
| Exam Duration | 2.5 Hours |
NDA Syllabus as per NDA 1 2026 Notification
Before filling out the application form, students must go through a comprehensive NDA Syllabus. Students must understand the trend of the previous 4 to 5 years of papers.
NDA Maths Topics: Algebra, Matrices and Determinants, Trigonometry, Calculus, Vector Algebra, Analytical Geometry of Two and Three Dimensions, Statistics and Probability. Students can check NDA Maths detailed syllabus from here.
NDA GAT Topics: NDA GAT topics can be divided into parts: English and GS. To check NDA GAT detailed syllabus, click here.
NDA 1 2026 Vacancy
Generally, UPSC releases 400+ vacancies in each notification, including both male and female candidates. As there were a total of 406 vacancies in NDA 2 2025, 381 were for male candidates and 25 for female candidates. NDA 1 2026 Vacancy details can be checked from the table given below, and also refer NDA Notification 2026. There are a total of 394 vacancies for NDA 1 2026 exam.
| Academy | Wings | No. of Vacancies |
|---|---|---|
| NDA | Army | 208 (including 10 for female candidates) |
| Navy | 42 (including 05 for female candidates) | |
| Air Force | (i) Flying: 92 (including 02 for female candidates) (ii) Ground Duties (Tech):18 (including 02 for female candidates) (iii) Ground Duties (Non-Tech): 10 (including 02 for female candidates) | |
| Naval Academy (10+2 Cadet Entry Scheme) | – | 24 (including 03 for female candidates) |
| Total Vacancies | – | 394 |
NDA Selection Process
To know the detailed NDA Selection Process, students can check the given link. Here, we have given a short overview of NDA selection process, which is divided into 7 parts:
- Release of Notification and Application Form
- Issue of Admit Card
- Written Exam
- Written Exam Result Declaration
- SSB Interview
- Medical Test &
- Final Merit List
Preparation Tips for NDA 1 2026
Aspirants must read NDA Preparation Tips because implementing the NDA Exam Preparation Strategy will help them understand the weak areas and focus on those areas. To boost your chances of selection, download Target Defence Academy Mobile App and join our NDA 1 2026 Online Batch.