NDA is an examination which gives you an opportunity to become a commissioned officer at a relatively low age and after passing 12th exam. But to crack the NDA exam one needs to prepare with quite relevant strategy. If you are dreaming about to become an officer in Army after 12th standard then NDA (National Defense Academy) then NDA is the best medium to convert the dream into reality. Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the NDA exam twice in a year i.e. April/May and August/September.

Structure of examination

Written examination involves two papers of 2.5 hours each, first is Maths and second is General Ability. Maths is of 300 numbers and General ability is of 600 numbers. After qualifying the exam the selected candidates are called for SSB interview.

Start preparation with basics

Students appearing in 12th exam get very less time for preparation. So, to overcome with this problem they should take out some time and spend it in revising books of social science of class 10th. They must read text books of class 10th in a week. There are some questions which require knowledge of maps of India and the world, so students should also get in touch with Atlas.

Mathematics

The syllabus of mathematics includes topics like Arithmetic, Mensuration, Algebra, Geometry, trigonometry, Statistics and Probability, etc. The pattern of question paper is designed as such to test conceptual knowledge of students. Students must also know shortcut methods to solve the problems in order to solve 120 questions in a given time.
Students must keep in mind that the questions come from all the topics in syllabus, so don't leave any topic, it is better to cover all the topics. If your concept is clear in algebra and geometry then you can score good marks. Like other examinations questions from quadratic equation will also come.

General Ability

This paper is of 600 marks and will include 150 questions. One minute to solve one question. This paper is divided into two parts English and General Knowledge.

English

Questions of 200 marks will come from this section, so students should not take it lightly. to secure marks in this subject, students must do reading practice. There are some topic which require much practice like tense, preposition, subject verb relationship, etc. Practice more to improve grammatical mistakes.

General Knowledge

In this section 50% of questions come from physics, chemistry and general science, therefore students from arts background need to labour more in order to score good marks. In science, conceptual questions of physics, straight forward of chemistry and logical questions of biology will come. History, Geography and Indian Politics syllabus are very lengthy, so students must do selective study in these subjects.

Points to be kept in mind while preparation

1. Before exam cover the entire syllabus of 11 and 12 class.

2. Give attention on shortcut method to solve problems.

3. Important formulas and tips must be kept in mind in order to solve quickly.

4. Practice more in order to increase the speed of problem solving.

5. Instead of remembering long theorem, learn by trying to understand their application.

6. Try to solve easy questions first and then hard questions.

7. There is negative marking, so try not to give wrong answer.

8. Try to solve old question papers from time to time.

National Defence Academy (NDA)