NDA 2024 Exam Pattern: The Union Public Service Commission conducts the NDA exam to enrol candidates for admission to the INA, IMA, and IAF academies.
[custom_query_form]
The UPSC NDA selection is based on two stages: the NDA written exam and the NDA SSB interview.
As per the NDA exam pattern, the written exam consists of two papers: the NDA Math and the NDA General Ability Test (GAT). Both papers consist of objective-type questions with a total of 900 marks.
The candidates need to score 25% in each stage to clear the exam. To ace each NDA exam, candidates must prepare according to the UPSC NDA 2024 syllabus.
Get the details on the NDA 2024 exam pattern, mark distribution, marking scheme, sections, question type, and more in the article below.
NDA 2024 Exam Pattern Highlights
The NDA exam Date 2024 is out. As per the schedule, the NDA 1 2024 exam will be held on April 21, 2024, and the NDA 2 2024 exam will be conducted on September 1, 2024.
Specifications | Details |
Exam Mode | Offline (Pen and Paper) |
Number of Sections | Two |
Name of Sections | Mathematics General Ability Test |
Exam Duration | GAT: 2 Hours 30 minutes Mathematics: 2 Hours 30 minutes |
Exam Time | GAT: 10 am to 12.30 pm Mathematics: 2 pm to 4.30 pm |
Question Type | Objective-Type |
Language of Paper | Hindi and English |
Marking Scheme | 0.83 marks will be deducted for every wrong answer |
Total Marks | Written Exam: 900 (GAT: 600, Mathematics: 300) SSB Interview: 900 |
NDA Exam Pattern 2024
The first stage of the NDA exam is a written test. The NDA written exam comprises two papers: the NDA Maths and the NDA General Ability Test. Both papers only include objective-type questions.
As per the NDA exam pattern, the written exam consists of 270 questions with a total of 900 marks. The total duration of the NDA exam is 5 hours.
Candidates should note that the marks obtained in the written exam and the SSB interview will be considered while preparing the final merit list.
Papers | Subject | Total marks | Duration |
---|---|---|---|
Paper 1 | Mathematics | 300 | 2 ½ |
Paper 2 | GAT | 600 | 2 ½ |
Total | 900 | 5 hours |
NDA Exam Pattern 2024 For Paper 1
The NDA math paper consists of 300 marks with a total of 120 questions. Each question in the NDA math paper consists of 2.5 marks. Candidates can review the topic-wise distribution of marks in the given table.
SUBJECT | TOPICS | QUESTIONS | MARKS |
---|---|---|---|
Mathematics | Differential Calculus | 30 | 75 |
Differential Calculus | 30 | 75 | |
Trigonometry | 20 | 50 | |
Analytical Geometry of Two and Three Dimensions | 20 | 50 | |
Statistics and Probability | 10 | 25 | |
Matrices and Determinants | 10 | 25 | |
Total | 120 | 300 |
NDA Exam Pattern 2024 For Paper 2
Unlike the NDA Math paper, the GAT is further divided into two parts
- English
- General Awareness.
As per the NDA 2024 Exam Pattern, the NDA general awareness section consists of 400 marks, while the NDA English paper consists of 200 questions. The duration of NDA Paper 2 is two hours and thirty minutes.
This GAT exam will carry various objective-type questions to assess the mental ability of the candidates. Each question in the NDA GAT exam consists of 4 marks.
Candidates can check the NDA Paper 2 exam pattern in the table below.
Sections | Topics | Total Question | Total Marks |
---|---|---|---|
GAT English | Reading Comprehension | 25 | 100 |
Fill in the Blanks | 30 | 120 | |
Ordering of Sentence | 25 | 100 | |
Cloze Comprehension | 20 | 80 | |
Spotting Errors | 20 | 80 | |
Synonyms | 10 | 40 | |
Antonyms | 10 | 40 | |
Idioms and Phrases | 10 | 40 | |
GAT General Knowledge | General Science History, Freedom Movement, etc. Geography Current Events | Not available | |
Total | 150 | 600 |
NDA Marking Scheme 2024
The marking scheme for both NDA GAT and NDA math varies. There is a negative marking of 1.33 for each incorrect answer in the NDA GAT exam and NDA math, the negative marking is 0.83.
Subject | Marking Scheme |
---|---|
GAT | -1.33 |
Maths | -0.83 |
NDA 2024 Exam Pattern 2024 For SSB Interview
The candidates who meet the required NDA cutoff set by UPSC for the NDA 2024 written test will be shortlisted for an NDA SSB interview round. As per the NDA Exam Pattern 2024, the SSB interview is further divided into two stages.
The first stage is the screening test, which comprises an Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) and a Picture Perception and Description Test (PP&DT). The second stage consists of group testing officer tasks, psychology tests, and the conference.
Only those candidates who clear stage 1 will appear for stage 2. The SSB interview round carries a total of 900 marks.
Stages | Tests | Sections |
---|---|---|
Stage I | Screening Test | Verbal and Non-Verbal test PPDT |
Stage II | Psychological Test | Thematic Appreciation test Word Association test Situation reaction test Self Description test |
Group Officer Testing | GD GPE PGT HGT IOT Command Task Obstacle race Individual Lecture FGT | |
Personal Interview & Conference | Personality Test |
NDA 2024 Exam Pattern FAQs
Ans- The minimum score for the NDA 2024 exam is 25% in each section.
Ans- Two sections in the NDA 2024 exam are NDA Maths and NDA General Ability Test.
Ans- Yes, there is a negative marking on both papers in the UPSC NDA 2024 exam. For each incorrect answer, there is a negative marking of 0.83 marks in paper 1 and 1.33 marks in paper 2.
Ans- The NDA syllabus for English consists of vocabulary, comprehension, reading abilities, and grammar.
Ans- The NDA SSB interview round carries a total of 900 marks.
Ans- The NDA written exam consists of a total of 270 questions, the NDA math exam consists of 120 questions, and the GAT exam consists of 150 questions.
Ans: The UPSC NDA Exam Pattern 2024 has two stages: the NDA written exam and the SSB interview. The NDA written exam consists of two papers, i.e., the Mathematics and General Ability Test. The SSB interview consists of OIR and PP&DT, followed by group testing officer tasks, psychology tests, and the conference.
Ans- The NDA 1 2024 exam date is April 21, 2024.