NDA

REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99 The Gazette of India EXTRAORDINARY PART 1—Section III PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY CG-DL-E-05012026-269098 No. 04] NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2025/PAUSHA 10, 1947 MINISTRY OF DEFENCE NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 10th December, 2025 RULES No.B/51725/157/Rtg(NDA Entry)/17(2)/2025-DMA(AG-II):—The rules for the Competitive Examination viz National Defence Academy & Naval Academy Examination (I), 2026 to be held by Union Public Service Commission on 12th April, 2026 for admission to the Army, Navy and Air Force wings of the NDA for the 157th Course and for the 119th Indian Naval Academy Course (INAC) commencing from 1st January 2027 are published. The date of holding the examination as mentioned above may be changed, if so required, at the discretion of the Commission. The approximate number of vacancies to be filled on the basis of results of this examination will be as under:— +------------------------------+-------------------------+------+--------+-----------------------+ | Academy | Service | Male | Female | Total | +==============================+=========================+======+========+=======================+ | National Defence Academy | Army | 198 | 10 | 208 | | | Navy | 37 | 05 | 42 (All Executive branch) | | | Air Force | | | | | | (i) Flying | 90 | 02 | 92 | | | (ii) Ground Duties (Tech)| 16 | 02 | 18 | | | (iii) Ground Duties | 08 | 02 | 10 | | | (Non Tech) | | | | | Naval Academy (10+2 Cadet | Entry Scheme) | 21 | 03 | 24 (All Executive Branch) | | Total | | 370 | 24 | 394 | +------------------------------+-------------------------+------+--------+-----------------------+ Note: Indian Army Publishes the vacancies for Men and Women separately for various services and Entries keeping into account the operational and administrative needs of the force as envisaged in the existing and future scenarios. Though the vacancies for men and women categories for all services of NDA/Naval Academy are being notified through common Notification and tested through a common written examination for administrative purpose, NDA/Naval Academy men and women are separate entries and selection for both these categories is done separately but in a gender pure manner as per vacancies notified. THE PREPARATION OF WRITTEN RESULTS AND FINAL MERIT LISTS FOR MEN AND WOMEN IN NDA/NAVAL ACADEMY FOR THESE CATEGORIES WILL ALSO BE DONE SEPARATELY AS PER VACANCY NOTIFIED. The number of vacancies given in the Commission’s Examination Notice is provisional and may be changed depending on the availability of training capacity of National Defence Academy and Indian Naval Academy. A candidate shall be required to mandatorily indicate order of preferences only for those services for which he/she is interested to be allocated to, in the online application. No request for addition/alteration in the preferences/order of preferences once submitted in the online application by a candidate will be entertained. The order of preference may be indicated in the following manner: 1 to 4. It is mandatory for a candidate to exercise at least one preference to be considered for service allocation. 2. CONDITIONS OF ELIGIBILITY: (a) Nationality: A candidate must be unmarried male/female and must be: (i) a citizen of India, or (ii) a subject of Nepal, or (iii) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka and East African Countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Ethiopia or Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India. Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (ii) and (iii) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India. Certificate of eligibility will not, however, be necessary in the case of candidates who are Gorkha subjects of Nepal. (b) Age Limits, Sex and Marital Status: Only unmarried male/female candidates born not earlier than 01st Jul 2007 and not later than 01st July 2010 are eligible. The date of birth accepted by the Commission is that entered in the Matriculation or Secondary School Leaving Certificate or in a certificate recognised by an Indian University as equivalent to Matriculation or in an extract from a Register of Matriculates maintained by a University which must be certified by the proper authority of the University or in the Secondary School Examination or an equivalent examination certificates. No other document relating to age like horoscopes, affidavits, birth extracts from Municipal Corporation, service records and the like will be accepted. The expression Matriculation/ Secondary School Examination Certificate in this part of the instruction includes the alternative certificates mentioned above. NOTE 1: Candidates should note that only the date of birth as recorded in the Matriculation/Secondary School Examination Certificate available or an equivalent certificate on the date of submission of applications will be accepted by the Commission and no subsequent request for its change will be considered or granted. NOTE 2: Candidates should also note that once a date of birth has been claimed by them in the Online Application form and entered in the records of the Commission for the purpose of admission to an Examination, no change will be allowed subsequently or at any subsequent examination on any ground whatsoever. NOTE 3: The candidates should exercise due care while entering their date of birth in the respective column of the Universal Registration Number (URN) profile for the Examination. If on verification at any subsequent stage any variation is found in their date of birth from the one entered in their Matriculation or equivalent Examination certificate, disciplinary action will be taken against them by the Commission under the Rules. NOTE 4: The candidates should also note that no addition/deletion/any changes are allowed in of the online application form in the NDA & NA Examination in any circumstances once it is submitted. NOTE 5: Candidates must undertake not to marry until they complete their full training. A candidate who marries subsequent to the date of his/her application though successful at this or any subsequent Examination will not be selected for training. A candidate who marries during training shall be discharged and will be liable to refund all expenditure incurred on him/her by the Government. (c) Educational Qualifications: (i) For Army Wing of National Defence Academy :—12th Class pass of the 10+2 pattern of School Education or equivalent examination conducted by a State Education Board or a University. (ii) For Air Force and Naval Wings of National Defence Academy and for the 10+2 Cadet Entry Scheme at the Indian Naval Academy :—12th Class pass with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics of the 10+2 pattern of School Education or equivalent conducted by a State Education Board or a University. Candidates who are appearing in the 12th Class under the 10+2 pattern of School Education or equivalent examination can also apply for this examination. Such candidates who qualify the SSB interview but could not produce Matriculation/10+2 or equivalent certificate in original at the time of SSB interview should forward duly self-attested Photocopies to ‘Directorate General of Recruiting, Army HQ, West Block III, R.K. Puram, New Delhi-110066’ and for Naval Academy candidates to ‘Naval Headquarters, DMPR, OI&R Section, Room No. 204, ‘C’ Wing, Sena Bhavan, New Delhi-110011’ by 10th December 2026 failing which their candidature will be cancelled. All other candidates who have produced their Matriculation and 10+2 pass or equivalent certificates in original at the time of attending the SSB interview and have got the same verified by the SSB authorities are not required to submit the same to Army HQ or Naval HQ as the case may be. Certificates in original issued by the Principals of the Institutions are also acceptable in cases where Boards/Universities have not yet issued certificates. Certified true copies/photostate copies of such certificates will not be accepted. In exceptional cases the Commission may treat a candidate, who does not possess any of the qualifications prescribed in this rule as educationally qualified provided that the candidate possesses qualifications, the standard of which in the opinion of the Commission, justifies his/her admission to the examination. NOTE 1: Candidates appearing in the 11th class exam are not eligible for this examination. NOTE 2: Those candidates who have yet to qualify the 12th class or equivalent examination and are allowed to appear in the UPSC Examination should note that this is only a special concession given to them. They are required to submit proof of passing the 12th class or equivalent examination by the prescribed date (i.e. 10th December 2026 and no request for extending this date will be entertained on the grounds of late conduct of Board/University Examination, delay in declaration of results or any other ground whatsoever. NOTE 3: Universal Registration Number (URN) and Common Application Form (CAF): A candidate who is willing to apply for National Defence Academy and Naval Academy Examination shall be required to apply on-line and submit the requisite information and supporting documents towards various claims, such as date of birth, educational qualification, etc. as may be sought by the Commission alongwith the Universal Registration Number (URN), Common Application Form (CAF) and the fourth module i.e. Examination Specific module (including fees and centre etc.). For detailed instructions for filling up the form, the Notice for National Defence Academy and Naval Academy Examination (I), 2026 may be referred. The failure to provide the required information/documents alongwith the Common Application Form (CAF) will entail cancellation of candidature for the examination. NOTE 4: Candidates who are debarred by the Ministry of Defence from holding any type of commission in the services shall not be eligible for admission to the examination and if admitted, their candidature will be cancelled. NOTE 5: Those candidates, who have failed CPSS/PABT (Computerized Pilot Selection System/Pilot Aptitude Battery Test) earlier, are now eligible for Air Force in Ground Duty branches if they fill their willingness in the Exam Specific Form available at the Commission’s website and also at the Selection Centres. (d) Physical Standards: Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards for admission to National Defence Academy and Naval Academy Examination (I), 2026 as per guidelines given in the Appendix-II. (e) A candidate who has resigned or withdrawn on disciplinary grounds from any of the training academies of Armed Forces is not eligible to apply. 3. FEE Candidates (excepting SC/ST/female candidates, wards of JCOs/NCOs/ORs specified in the Commission’s Notice) must pay the fee as prescribed in the Commission’s Examination Notice. The wards of serving/ex-Junior Commissioned Officers/Non-Commissioned Officers/Other Ranks of Army and equivalent ranks in the Indian Navy/Indian Air Force are also not required to