NDA Enterance Exam Pattern 2021

 NDA Exam Pattern is set by the UPSC. There is a written exam that the candidates need to pass. Then the qualified candidates have to pass the SSB interview. Candidates who qualify both the written test and the interview will be eligible to enrol themselves into the National Defence Academy. The written exam has two papers carrying a total mark of 900. In this article, we will discuss the NDA exam pattern in detail, the duration of the exam, question topics, etc. At the end of the article, we shall reveal some tips that will help you crack the exam. So, read on to know more about the NDA exam pattern.

NDA 2021 Exam Date : November 14, 2021

NDA Exam Pattern -Summary 

NDA Exam will have two parts- written exam and interview. The written exam will consist of two papers - Mathematics and General Ability Test (GAT). The Mathematics paper is for 300 marks. The GAT paper will carry 600 marks. So, the written exam will carry a total of 900 marks. The Mathematics question will be up to the 12th standard. The GAT paper will include questions pertaining to English, General Knowledge and General Science. 

The SSB interview will also have two stages. The first stage will have OIR and PP&DT tests, while the second stage will have psychology tests and the conference. The interview will also carry a maximum of 900 marks.

The total duration of the written exam is 5 hours - two and a half hours for Maths and the same for GAT. The written exam is conducted in a single day. The questions will be in Hindi and English. More details of the NDA exam pattern are discussed below. 

Syllabus for the Maths Paper of NDA Exam 

• Algebra
• Vector Algebra
• Operations on Matrices
• Determinants
• Trigonometry
• Analytic Geometry In Two Or Three Dimensions
• Differential Calculus
• Integral Calculus
• Differential Equations
• Operations On Statistics
• Probability

Syllabus for the GAT Paper 

The topics for the GAT paper are as follows:

• English Grammar, Vocabulary, Comprehension and Cohesion
• Physics (Class 12 standard)
• Chemistry (Class 12 standard)
• General Science
• Indian and International History
• Geography
• Current Affairs

NDA Written Exam Pattern

Mathematics: In the written test, the Maths paper will have 120 questions. The mark for the correct answer to each of these questions is 2.5. The total marks of this section are 300. There will be negative marking. The negative marking for each of the incorrect answers is ⅓ of 2.5 - that is 0.83. 

General Ability Test: The GAT paper will consist of 150 questions. Each of these questions carries a total of 4 marks, and thus the total marks for this section are 600. There will be negative marking too. The negative marking for each of the incorrect answers is ⅓ of 4 - that is- 1.33. This is where the NDA exam pattern differs a bit from other exams. 

NDA Written Test Marks Distribution :

Marking Scheme For NDA Written Exam

One thing that should be noted is that you need to attain the pass marks for both the papers. Suppose you do not get the pass marks for Maths paper, then as per the NDA exam pattern, your GAT answer sheet will have no value.