The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts National Defence Academy & Naval Academy (NDA & NA) twice a year. The selection process for NDA & NA consists of written examination and SSB interview. Candidates who qualify in the objective-type written examination are only eligible for an interview. The written exam of the NDA & NA consists of two subjects namely, Mathematics and General Ability Test.
General Ability Test
This is the most important section in the written examination and consists of two parts namely, English and General Knowledge
The English language proficiency is tested in this section that includes grammar and its usage, vocabulary and comprehension
Reading the newspaper daily will improve your vocabulary and also useful in the comprehension
The General Knowledge section broadly cover the subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, General Science, Social Studies, Geography and Current Events
Never ignore the NCERT textbooks, because there is a chance for direct questions
In History, candidates are suggested to focus on the history of Moder India and freedom movement. Be strong with the timeline of events from the Gandhian era
Both physical and economic geography is important in the general ability test. While practising, highlight all the facts and figures
Aspirants should be familiar with at least 8 to 10 months of current affairs. Apart from regular newspaper reading, one should also focus on the monthly magazine for current affairs
Mathematics
Though the mathematics section has less weightage compared to the general ability test, it plays a significant role in the overall cut-off
The best way to start the preparation is with the class 11 and 12 NCERT mathematics textbooks
Make flash cards for remembering and revising the formulae
Many students lose marks while converting numbers from the decimal system to the binary system
Most of the concepts in differential calculus are important. However, give the first importance to the algebraic operations and applications
The statistics part in the mathematics is easy to crack once you've got the logic, but be meticulous while taking down the figures
The elementary theorems, Bayes' theorem and binomial distribution are important in probability