NDA 2026: Last 5 Years' Papers Analysis, Maths and GAT Weightage Trends

Every serious NDA aspirant eventually works out the same thing: the National Defense Academy exam is remarkably predictable. Conducted twice a year by the UPSC, its two papers, Mathematics and the General Ability Test, draw from the same pool of topics year after year. Only the questions get rephrased.

This analysis looks at recent NDA papers and pulls out the patterns that matter: which maths chapters carry the most weight, how the GAT splits between English and General Knowledge, and where the marks actually sit inside that GK half. Read it as a map of where your preparation hours will pay off most.

A note on the numbers below. These are distributions observed across recent NDA papers, not official figures. UPSC never publishes a topic wise breakdown, and the exact count shifts a little each session. Treat the shares as a guide to relative weight, not a guarantee.

The Two Papers, in One Glance

Before the trends, the frame they sit in. NDA is a two paper exam written on the same day, both papers 150 minutes long.

That is 270 questions in a single sitting. Since UPSC holds the exam twice a year, NDA I and NDA II, a full year gives you 540 questions across the two papers to learn from. The only recent exception is 2020, when the two cycles were merged and the exam was held just once.

Two things follow from the marks column. First, the GAT is worth twice as much as Mathematics, 600 marks against 300, so a candidate who treats it as the easy paper and under prepares it is throwing away the larger half of the exam. Second, negative marking is exactly one third of the correct value in both papers, which makes blind guessing a losing strategy over a full sitting.

The GAT itself splits into two parts. Part A is English, 50 questions and 200 marks. Part B is General Knowledge, 100 questions and 400 marks. One thing worth knowing early: the question numbers do not neatly separate the two halves of Part B by subject. Physics, history and geography questions are interleaved, so you cannot jump to your section. You read through.

If you need the full eligibility, dates and syllabus picture first, start with our NDA 2026 exam guide, then come back here for the paper level trends.

Why Past Papers Matter in NDA

Unlike exams that reinvent themselves each year, NDA rewards familiarity. The maths paper recycles roughly the same thirty chapters, drawn straight from the Class 11 and 12 syllabus. The English half of the GAT tests a fixed, small set of question types. The GK half leans heavily on static science and the static humanities, portions that never really change.

That means a candidate who has worked through several years of past papers walks into the hall having already seen the shape of almost every question. The concepts repeat. Only the wrapping is new. You can browse every recent NDA paper on Padhify, organized by subject and chapter, and see this for yourself.

Mathematics: The Trends

The maths paper is where past paper analysis pays off most, because the weightage is the most stable of the two papers. The striking thing about recent papers is how evenly the marks spread across four big blocks. There is no single chapter you can build a score on, but there is no chapter that can be safely ignored either.

Zoom in one level and the individual chapters that repeat hardest become obvious. Probability alone accounts for around 11% of the paper, more than any other single chapter by a clear margin. Behind it sit Trigonometric Functions, Relations and Functions, Statistics, 3D Geometry, Determinants, Methods of Differentiation, Matrices, Sequences and Series, and Vector Algebra, each reliably worth several questions per paper.

The takeaway for planning is clear. Probability, Statistics and Permutations and Combinations together form roughly a fifth of the maths paper, and they are among the most formula driven, most repetitive topics in the syllabus. That is the single highest return block in NDA Mathematics, and it is where a weak candidate should start.

Matrices, Determinants and Vector Algebra deserve a mention for a different reason. They are only about 13% of the paper between them, but they are mechanical. Once you know the procedure, the questions are close to automatic. There is no reason to lose those marks.

Put the trend to work. Solve NDA Mathematics past year questions by chapter here, starting with Probability and Statistics, then Calculus and Algebra, then cleaning up Matrices and Vectors.

General Ability Test, Part B: General Knowledge

Part B is 100 questions and 400 marks, the largest single block of marks in the entire NDA exam. Across recent papers, its internal split is far more lopsided than most candidates expect.

That table should reset a lot of preparation plans. Physics alone is a quarter of Part B, about 100 marks. Add Chemistry and Biology and the science block is half of the entire General Knowledge paper. A candidate who prepares the GAT as a general knowledge and current affairs paper has misread it. In practice it is a science paper with humanities attached.

Physics, Chemistry and Biology at NDA level track the NCERT Class 9 to 12 syllabus closely, which is good news. The same reading that supports your Mathematics preparation supports a quarter of your GAT score. Geography and History are the other stable pillars, and both repeat across years more openly than any other portion of the exam.

Current affairs, meanwhile, is smaller than the panic around it suggests, typically around seven questions. It is worth steady monthly reading, not weeks of last minute cramming at the cost of the static blocks.

Practice NDA General Ability Test past papers by chapter here and lock down Physics, Geography and Chemistry before you touch anything else.

General Ability Test, Part A: English

Part A is 50 questions and 200 marks, and it is the most learnable portion of the whole exam, because it tests a closed set of question types that barely change.

Notice what dominates. Vocabulary types, meaning synonyms, antonyms, vocabulary usage and idioms, are close to half of Part A. That is not a skill you study, it is a list you build. Twenty new words a day for three months covers more of this paper than any amount of grammar theory.

The other half is grammar and sentence arrangement, which reward pattern recognition, exactly the instinct built by solving past papers back to back rather than reading rule books.

The English section shares its page with the GK half in the bank, so you can work through the full NDA GAT here and filter to the English chapters as you practice.

What the Papers Tell Us

Pulling the two papers together, a few conclusions hold up across every recent session.

1. The GAT is the bigger prize. At 600 marks against 300, it decides more of your score than Mathematics does, and it is the easier paper to improve quickly.
2. The GAT is really a science paper. Physics, Chemistry and Biology are about half of Part B. Prepare it from NCERT, not from a general knowledge digest.
3. Probability and Statistics carry Mathematics. One block, roughly a fifth of the paper, driven by formulas and endlessly repeated.
4. Static beats current. In both papers, the repeatable static topics carry far more marks than the fast changing ones. Build there first.
5. Accuracy compounds. With negative marking at one third on every question in both papers, the habit among high scorers is disciplined attempts, not maximum attempts.

How to Use These Trends

Knowing the trends is only half the work. The other half is training on the actual questions that produced them. The most reliable NDA strategy is to let past papers drive your plan.

• Start with a full past paper of each, untimed, to see where you stand against the weightage above.
• Attack the heavy blocks first: Probability, Statistics and Calculus in Mathematics, and Physics, Geography and Chemistry in the GAT.
• Build vocabulary daily as a background habit. It is close to half of Part A and costs you fifteen minutes a day.
• Practice chapter by chapter, not randomly. Master Probability, then Sequences, then Trigonometry, one chapter to fluency before the next.
• Respect negative marking. Skip any question where you cannot eliminate at least two options.
• In the final month, simulate the real thing. Both papers, timed, no breaks.

You can practice all NDA past year questions on Padhify, covering Mathematics and the General Ability Test across recent years, organized by chapter, with a clear explanation for every answer. Working through them is the fastest way to turn the trends above into marks.

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