The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the Joint Service academy for the Indian Armed Forces. Cadets of three armed services including Army, Navy and Air Force are trained together in the academy, before moving forward with the pre-commissioning training.Admissions in the academy are accepted via written examination conducted by UPSC, followed by extensive interview conducted by SSB. Finally, a medical test to verify the candidate’s overall health and physical fitness.

   Around 4,50,000 applicants sit for the exam every year, among which only 6,300 are called for the interview round. Out of these, only 320 cadets are accepted to the academy, each semester.