NDA Answer Key 2026: NDA (II) Representation Window, Score

For NDA & NA (II) 2026, held on 13 September 2026, UPSC's notice provided a five-day online window for representations on the question papers and the provisional answer keys, from the 3rd day of the examination date to 6.00 PM on the 7th day. UPSC uploaded the provisional answer keys for Mathematics and the General Ability Test on its NDA & NA (II) 2026 examination page on 16 September 2026. That window has closed and the written result was declared on 9 October 2026. UPSC has not published a date for a final answer key; its result note promises only marks and cut-off marks after the final result.

How the NDA representation window works

Section 7 of Examination Notice No. 10/2026-NDA-II says representations on the questions and on the provisional answer keys of the objective papers are accepted only by logging in to upsconline.nic.in, under 'Examinations > Representations on Question Paper & Provisional Answer Keys'. Representations by e-mail, post or hand are not accepted, none is accepted after the five days, and UPSC will not correspond on them. The notice mentions no fee for a representation. UPSC's time-frame notice shows how the days are counted: for a single-day exam on 1 March, representations run from 4 March to 8 March, till 6:00 p.m.

What changed from earlier NDA cycles?

The NDA & NA (I) 2026 and (II) 2025 notices offered only the Online Question Paper Representation Portal (QPRep), for 7 days from the day after the exam, on the questions asked, with no reference to provisional keys. The written-result note of NDA (II) 2025 said marks, cut-off marks and answer keys would be uploaded only after the final result and kept for thirty (30) days. The 2026 written-result notes, dated 8 May and 9 October 2026, repeat that promise for marks and cut-off marks only.

How to calculate your NDA written score

Both papers are objective, with four options per question and equal marks per question. UPSC's NDA (II) 2026 question papers, uploaded on 14 September 2026, show:

• Mathematics: 120 questions for 300 marks, so 2.5 marks each; a wrong answer costs about 0.83.
• General Ability Test: 150 questions for 600 marks, so 4 marks each; a wrong answer costs about 1.33.

The penalty is one third (0.33) of the marks assigned to the question. Marking more than one answer counts as wrong even if one of them is correct; a blank question carries no penalty. Your score per paper is (correct x marks per question) minus (wrong x one third of that), and the two papers add up to a written total out of 900. UPSC fixes the minimum qualifying marks for the written test at its discretion; the final merit list then adds SSB marks out of 900, for 1800 in all. For scale, the top-ranked male candidate of NDA (II) 2025 had a written total of 545.52.

NDA answer keys and representations in past cycles

Where to find the NDA question papers

UPSC places each cycle's question papers on the exam's page on upsc.gov.in: the NDA & NA (II) 2026 page carries the General Ability Test and Mathematics papers dated 14 September 2026. The scheme fixes 2½ hours for each paper, and the Mathematics paper and Part B of the General Ability Test are set in both Hindi and English, so a candidate can check answers in either language.