UPSC Publishes NDA and Naval Academy Examination (I) 2026 Official Cut-Off Marks
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has published the official cut-off marks for the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Naval Academy (NA) Examination (I) 2026, alongside details of vacancies, recommendations and the standards applied in the selection process.
The vacancy distribution covers the Army, Navy, Air Force and Naval Academy. Female candidates were allocated places in each of the listed services and Air Force streams.
NDA and NA Examination (I) 2026 vacancies
- Army: 208 vacancies, including 10 reserved for female candidates.
- Navy: 42 vacancies, including 5 reserved for female candidates.
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Air Force:
- Flying: 92 vacancies, including 2 for female candidates.
- Ground Duties (Technical): 18 vacancies, including 2 for female candidates.
- Ground Duties (Non-Technical): 10 vacancies, including 2 for female candidates.
- Naval Academy: 24 vacancies, including 3 reserved for female candidates.
NDA 1 2026 official cut-off marks
Previous-year NDA cut-off marks
The figures below show the written-examination cut-off and the combined written examination and Services Selection Board (SSB) cut-off for earlier NDA and NA examination cycles. For NDA & NA (II) 2025, the published figures are listed separately for male and female candidates.
| NDA EXAM YEAR | WRITTEN EXAM MARKS | WRITTEN + SSB |
|---|---|---|
| NDA & NA (II) 2025 | 304.90 (For Men) & 358.84 (For Women) | 666.01 (For Men) & 737.40 (For Women) |
| NDA & NA (I) 2025 | 334 | 699 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2024 | 305 | 673 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2024 | 291 | 654 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2023 | 292 | 656 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2023 | 301 | 664 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2022 | 316 | 678 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2022 | 360 | 720 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2021 | 355 | 726 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2021 | 343 | 709 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2020 | 355 | 723 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2020 | 355 | 723 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2019 | 342 | 704 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2018 | 325 | 688 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2018 | 338 | 705 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2017 | 258 | 624 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2017 | 342 | 708 |
| NDA & NA (II) 2016 | 229 | 602 |
| NDA & NA (I) 2016 | 288 | 656 |
Minimum qualifying standards
At the written-examination stage, the minimum qualifying standard was 207.83 for male candidates and 287.01 for female candidates. Candidates also had to secure at least 20% in each subject to be considered for advancement.
Among those recommended, the last male candidate scored 557.00, while the last female candidate scored 649.18.
How ties were resolved
Where candidates had the same aggregate marks, the commission applied a sequence of tie-breaking rules. The candidate with higher marks in the written examination was ranked higher. If those marks were also equal, the candidate with the higher score in Paper-II (General Ability Test) took precedence. If both scores remained identical, the older candidate received the higher rank.
