UPSC NDA & NA 2026: Notification, Vacancy, Syllabus, Cut Off, Result

UPSC NDA & NA (National Defence Academy and Naval Academy Examination) is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission to recruit for Cadet entry to the National Defence Academy (Army, Navy and Air Force wings) and to the Indian Naval Academy under the 10+2 Cadet Entry Scheme. The NDA & NA (II) 2026 notification declares 394 — Army 208, Navy 42, Air Force 120 (Flying 92, Ground Duties Tech 18, Ground Duties Non-Tech 10) and Naval Academy 10+2 Cadet Entry Scheme 24. Of these, 24 are for female candidates..

UPSC NDA & NA selection process

1. Written Examination (Mathematics and General Ability Test)
2. SSB Interview — Stage I screening and Stage II psychological, group and personal tests
3. Medical examination and merit list

UPSC NDA & NA selection runs through the stages below, each of which must be cleared in sequence.

1. Written Examination (Mathematics and General Ability Test)
2. SSB Interview — Stage I screening and Stage II psychological, group and personal tests
3. Medical examination and merit list

Exam pattern by stage

Document verification

UPSC verifies eligibility against original documents only after a candidate has qualified for the Interview or Personality Test. Until that point, admission to every stage is purely provisional — the issue of an e-Admit Card does not mean your candidature has been cleared. A candidate can therefore sit and clear a paper and still be found ineligible later.

Final merit

Merit is prepared from the marks that count for this examination, and posts are allotted by merit-cum-preference against the confirmed vacancies. Ties are broken by rules published by the Commission — typically the marks in the compulsory papers, and where those are equal, seniority in age.

UPSC NDA & NA exam pattern

Total marks

Written 900 marks + SSB Interview 900 marks = 1800 marks.

Negative marking

Yes — one third of the marks assigned to a question is deducted for each wrong answer in both papers of the written examination.

UPSC does not normalise marks

This is the single most common misconception carried over from SSC. UPSC conducts each paper in one sitting with one question paper, so there are no shifts to equate and no normalisation formula. A published UPSC cut off is a raw mark you could actually have scored on the paper — which is why the figures are clean numbers rather than five-decimal scores.

What is next for UPSC NDA & NA

NDA & NA (II) 2026 was held on 13 September 2026, and the written result was declared on 9 October 2026; qualified candidates now face the SSB interview for the 158th NDA and 120th INAC courses commencing 1 July 2027. The NDA & NA (I) 2027 notification is due on 2 December 2026 for an examination on 11 April 2027.

NDA Eligibility

UPSC NDA & NA eligibility requires the following. 12th Class pass of the 10+2 pattern for the Army wing. For the Air Force and Naval wings of the NDA and for the 10+2 Cadet Entry Scheme at the Indian Naval Academy, 12th Class pass with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Candidates appearing in 12th may also apply. The age limit is Only unmarried candidates born not earlier than 1 January 2008 and not later than 1 January 2011 are eligible for NDA & NA (II) 2026 — roughly 16½ to 19½ years at the course commencement date.

Educational qualification

12th Class pass of the 10+2 pattern for the Army wing. For the Air Force and Naval wings of the NDA and for the 10+2 Cadet Entry Scheme at the Indian Naval Academy, 12th Class pass with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Candidates appearing in 12th may also apply.

Age limit

Only unmarried candidates born not earlier than 1 January 2008 and not later than 1 January 2011 are eligible for NDA & NA (II) 2026 — roughly 16½ to 19½ years at the course commencement date.

Age relaxation

The NDA & NA notice provides no category-wise relaxation — the date-of-birth window above applies to every candidate, whatever the category.

Number of attempts

No limit on attempts — the constraint is the narrow age window, which in practice allows about four sittings.

Nationality

A candidate must be a citizen of India, or fall within the other categories of nationality set out in the Examination Notice — which for most services include subjects of Nepal and Bhutan, Tibetan refugees who came to India before 1 January 1962, and persons of Indian origin who have migrated from certain countries with the intention of permanently settling in India.

NDA Application Form

UPSC NDA & NA applications are submitted online at upsconline.nic.in. Since 2025 UPSC uses a four-module portal, and three of those modules can be completed before the notification is even published.

Important dates — NDA & NA (II) 2026

Application fee

₹100. Female candidates and SC / ST candidates are exempted. Sons of Junior Commissioned Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks are also exempted.

The URN and the Common Application Form

UPSC issues every candidate a Universal Registration Number (URN), which is registered once in a lifetime and is common to every UPSC examination. The Application Number, by contrast, is generated per examination and changes each time. Keep both — UPSC asks for them in any future correspondence.

How to apply

1. Create an account on upsconline.nic.in.
2. Complete Universal Registration to generate your URN. This can be done at any time — you do not need to wait for a notification.
3. Fill the Common Application Form (CAF) with your personal details, qualification and category, and upload the supporting documents. A live photograph must be captured at this stage in addition to the uploaded photo.
4. Open the examination-specific module during the application window, choose your centre and options, pay the fee and submit.

UPSC advises using an Aadhaar card as the identity document, because it verifies automatically and avoids manual checks later.

Correcting your application

UPSC provides a one-time facility to update the URN profile. Changes made to the profile do not flow back into applications already submitted — they apply only to applications made after the profile is re-locked. This catches people out every cycle.

NDA Vacancy

UPSC NDA & NA vacancies for NDA & NA (II) 2026: 394 — Army 208, Navy 42, Air Force 120 (Flying 92, Ground Duties Tech 18, Ground Duties Non-Tech 10) and Naval Academy 10+2 Cadet Entry Scheme 24. Of these, 24 are for female candidates..

Posts covered

Cadet entry to the National Defence Academy (Army, Navy and Air Force wings) and to the Indian Naval Academy under the 10+2 Cadet Entry Scheme.

Pay

Stipend of ₹56,100 per month during the final year of training; on commissioning, Pay Level 10 of the Defence Pay Matrix plus Military Service Pay of ₹15,500.

How UPSC announces vacancies

UPSC publishes an approximate vacancy figure in the Examination Notice and states in the same paragraph that the number is liable to alteration. The final figure is settled once the cadre controlling authorities confirm their requirements, which is usually after the Main Examination. The number in the notice is therefore an indication, not a commitment.

Reservation

Vacancies are reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, the Economically Weaker Sections and Persons with Benchmark Disability as fixed by the Government. The notice sets out the category-wise break-up, including the sub-categories of disability against which each PwBD vacancy is identified.

NDA Salary & Job Profile

UPSC NDA & NA posts carry Stipend of ₹56,100 per month during the final year of training; on commissioning, Pay Level 10 of the Defence Pay Matrix plus Military Service Pay of ₹15,500, plus Dearness Allowance, House Rent Allowance and Transport Allowance.

Posts and pay

Cadet entry to the National Defence Academy (Army, Navy and Air Force wings) and to the Indian Naval Academy under the 10+2 Cadet Entry Scheme.

Allowances

Because HRA and Transport Allowance are city-linked, two officers on identical basic pay take home noticeably different amounts — a metro posting pays more in allowances than a district posting, though the district posting usually comes with official accommodation and a vehicle.

Career progression

Promotion follows time scales fixed for the service, moving through Junior Time Scale, Senior Time Scale, Junior Administrative Grade, Selection Grade and above. The pay matrix levels rather than the entry salary are what make these posts competitive over a career.