NDA Vacancies, Naval Academy vs NDA Navy, Training and Stipend

One NDA & NA written exam fills two academies: the National Defence Academy at Khadakwasla, Pune — Army, Navy and Air Force wings — and the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala, through its 10+2 Cadet Entry Scheme. In each 2026 cycle there were 394 seats: 370 at NDA and 24 at the Naval Academy. This guide sets out how the seats have moved since 2023, how the Naval Academy route differs from the Navy wing of NDA, where each wing trains after NDA, and what joining costs and pays.

Notifications 2026; UPSC cut-off PDFs 2023–2025.

The NDA side has not moved: 208 Army, 42 Navy and 120 Air Force seats in every cycle. All the change has been at the Naval Academy, which grew from 25 to 36 seats and then fell back to 24 in 2026. Anyone ranking the Naval Academy high in their preferences should expect that number to be the one that varies.

At NDA itself, training lasts three years, and the first two and a half are common to all three wings. Cadets graduate with JNU degrees: Army cadets a B.Sc., B.Sc. (Computer) or B.A.; naval cadets a B.Tech; Air Force cadets a B.Tech, B.Sc. or B.Sc. (Computer), with the B.Tech awarded at the later pre-commissioning academy.

The Army’s ten women’s seats and the Air Force’s six (two in each branch) have been fixed in every cycle. The Navy and the Naval Academy account for all the movement in women’s seats, which peaked at 35 in (II) 2023. Our guide for women candidates covers the separate women’s cut-off first published in the (II) 2025 cut-off PDF.

In the application you rank the four entries — Army, Navy, Air Force and the Naval Academy — and the order cannot be changed later. Allocation then follows “eligibility, medical fitness and merit-cum-preference”. Two practical points follow from the seat tables. First, a preference is only useful if you are eligible for it: the Navy, Air Force and Naval Academy need Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in Class 12, and flying needs a CPSS pass (a failure bars the flying branch) and the flying medical standard. Second, the smaller entries fill quickly. A candidate who ranks the Naval Academy (24 seats in 2026) or the Air Force ground duties (18 and 10) first should expect to need a high place on the merit list to get it, and should still rank the remaining entries they would accept.

Joining letters are issued through the candidate’s online profile. The notification warns that candidates who do not report within seven days of the reporting date without prior intimation “will have their candidature liable for cancellation”. The (I) 2026 cycle leads to the 157th NDA and 119th INAC courses from 1 January 2027; the (II) 2026 cycle to the 158th and 120th from 1 July 2027. Candidates who were still in Class 12 when they applied must prove they have passed by 10 December 2026 for (I) 2026 and by 10 June 2027 for (II) 2026.

The notification’s appendix also lists financial assistance and scholarships that cadets may receive from their home states. Joining is by letter through the online profile; a candidate who does not report within seven days of the reporting date without prior intimation risks having their candidature cancelled.