NDA age limit explained
The National Defence Academy (NDA) and Naval Academy (NA) exam is held by UPSC twice a year. The age rule is the same for every session: on the day the course begins, a candidate must be at least 16½ and under 19½ years old. Because the course starts in January or July of the following year, UPSC turns that rule into a fixed date-of-birth window in each notification.
| Session | Course starts | Born between (both dates included) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| NDA & NA (II) 2026 | 2 July 2027 | 2 January 2008 – 1 January 2011 | Official notification |
| NDA & NA (I) 2027 | 2 January 2028 | 2 July 2008 – 1 July 2011 | Expected |
| NDA & NA (II) 2027 | 2 July 2028 | 2 January 2009 – 1 January 2012 | Expected |
How the calculator works
- For each session it takes the course start date (2 January or 2 July).
- It subtracts 19 years 6 months to get the earliest allowed birth date, and 16 years 6 months (minus one day) to get the latest.
- It checks whether your date of birth falls inside that window and shows your exact age on the first day of the course.
Other NDA eligibility conditions
- Marital status: only unmarried candidates can apply, and they must stay unmarried until training is complete.
- Gender: both male and female candidates can apply.
- Education: Class 12 (10+2) passed or appearing. The Army wing accepts any stream; the Air Force and Navy wings require Physics and Mathematics.
- Age relaxation: there is no age relaxation for any category in NDA, unlike the civil services exam.
Always confirm the final dates in the official notification on upsc.gov.in. If you are preparing for the civil services instead, use our UPSC age limit calculator, or find your exact age between any two dates with the age calculator.
Planning your NDA attempts
The NDA window is three years wide, so most candidates get about six chances. Use the table in the calculator to see which sessions fall inside your window, then work backwards: the written exam is held around April for NDA (I) and September for NDA (II), and the application window usually opens three to four months earlier. Candidates who will still be in Class 12 can apply, provided they pass before the deadline set in the notification.
Common mistakes when checking NDA age
- Using the exam date instead of the course start date. Age is fixed by the date of birth window printed in the notification, which is built from the course commencement date — not from the day you sit the paper.
- Assuming category relaxation. Unlike the civil services, NDA has no age relaxation for OBC, SC, ST or any other category.
- Relying on an old notification. Each session moves the window by six months. A date of birth that fits NDA (II) 2026 may already be too old for NDA (II) 2027.
- Ignoring the date on your certificate. UPSC only accepts the date of birth recorded on the Class 10 (matriculation) certificate; later corrections are not accepted.
What if you are over the NDA age limit?
Candidates who have passed 19½ can still join the armed forces as officers through graduate entries such as the Combined Defence Services (CDS) exam, the Air Force Common Admission Test or technical entries after engineering. Each has its own age and education rules, so check the relevant notification. To work out your exact age on any cut-off date, use the age calculator between two dates.