NDA 1 & NDA 2 GAT Previous Year Question Papers with Answer Key; Download PDF (2020 to 2026)
NDA General Ability Test is Paper 2 of the National Defence Academy exam held twice a year by UPSC. It carries 600 marks with 150 questions to be solved in two and a half hours, split into an English part of 200 marks and a General Knowledge part of 400 marks, and is compulsory for all NDA 1 and NDA 2 candidates. Question papers for NDA are listed below with answer key.
NDA GAT Question Paper and Answer Key PDF
NDA General Ability Test Exam Pattern 2026
NDA 2026 General Ability Test paper follows a two part structure that UPSC has kept same for years. A look at the exam pattern before opening a past paper matters, because a wrong answer costs 1.33 marks, nearly as much as a correct one earns in the CDS exam.
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Mode of Exam | Offline, pen and paper with an OMR sheet |
| Paper Name | Paper II – General Ability Test (GAT) |
| Total Duration | 2 hours 30 minutes (150 minutes) |
| Total Questions | 150 |
| Total Marks | 600 |
| Marks per Correct Answer | 4 marks |
| Negative Marking | 1.33 marks (one third of 4) for every wrong answer |
| Language of Paper | English only for Part A; English and Hindi (bilingual) for Part B |
| Part A – English | 50 questions, 200 marks |
| Part B – General Knowledge | 100 questions, 400 marks |
NDA General Ability Test Topic-wise Analysis
NDA 2026 aspirants who work through five to six past papers see clear patterns in what UPSC asks per topic. The syllabus for GAT is wide, but the question style is repetitive, and knowing the flavour of each section saves a lot of guesswork in the exam hall.
| Section | Key Details |
|---|---|
| Part A – English | Tests basic grammar and reading skill, not literature. Questions come from Antonyms, Synonyms, Spotting Errors, Sentence Improvement, Cloze Test, Ordering of Sentences, and Reading Comprehension. Two short passages of 300 to 400 words usually appear with five questions each. The level is close to Class 10, and the language stays simple. |
| Part B – Physics | Carries the largest single share of the GK paper with 25 questions. Topics stick to school level Physics, and questions are mostly conceptual with numerical work kept short. Motion, Force, Work, Energy, Light, Heat, Electricity, Magnetism, and simple Optics form the bulk. Formula memorisation is enough for most sums. |
| Part B – Chemistry | 15 questions that lean on basic definitions, properties of elements, common compounds, acids, bases and salts, metals and non-metals, and daily use chemistry like fuels, fertilizers, and soaps. A few questions ask about atomic structure and the periodic table. |
| Part B – General Science | Covers 10 questions on the human body, plants, food and nutrition, diseases, and basic biology. Most questions come from Class 8 to Class 10 NCERT. This section is easy to score if candidates revise NCERT once. |
| Part B – History and Freedom Movement | 20 questions weighted heavily on Modern India and the Freedom Struggle. Ancient and Medieval India together get 4 to 6 questions. Personalities, sessions of Congress, major acts, and important battles are the recurring themes. |
| Part B – Geography | Splits between Indian and World Geography. Physical Geography, monsoon, soils, rivers, mountain ranges, and important passes dominate. World Geography questions test continents, oceans, major countries, and their capitals. |
| Part B – Current Events | Covers events from around six to eight months before the exam. UPSC picks defence exercises, awards, appointments, sports events, and reports. This section rewards a candidate who reads a newspaper or a monthly current affairs magazine regularly. |
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NDA General Ability Test Question Distribution
NDA 2026 General Ability Test paper spreads 150 questions across seven clear sub-sections, and knowing the exact split helps candidates set section wise attempt targets. The table below shows the breakdown of questions and marks under Part A and Part B.
| Section | Sub-Section | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part A – English | Grammar and Usage | ~15 | ~60 |
| Part A – English | Vocabulary (Antonyms and Synonyms) | ~10 | ~40 |
| Part A – English | Reading Comprehension | ~15 | ~60 |
| Part A – English | Cloze Test and Sentence Ordering | ~10 | ~40 |
| Part B – GK | Physics | 25 | 100 |
| Part B – GK | Chemistry | 15 | 60 |
| Part B – GK | General Science | 10 | 40 |
| Part B – GK | History and Freedom Movement | 20 | 80 |
| Part B – GK | Geography | 20 | 80 |
| Part B – GK | Current Events | 10 | 40 |
| Total | Part A + Part B | 150 | 600 |
NDA General Ability Test Key Takeaways from Past Papers
A close reading of the last five NDA 1 and NDA 2 General Ability Test papers points to a few habits UPSC keeps returning to. These takeaways help a candidate spend more time on what actually earns marks and less on rare topics.
- Physics alone gives 100 marks, so it deserves the largest single share of the GK study plan.
- English follows the same question pattern as CDS English, just with fewer questions and higher marks per question.
- Modern History is more important than Ancient or Medieval History in almost every paper.
- Indian Geography carries more questions than World Geography by a ratio of roughly 2 to 1.
- Current Events questions rarely go beyond eight months old. Anything older is very unlikely to appear.
- Daily life science questions (nutrition, common diseases, everyday chemistry) show up in every cycle.
NDA General Ability Test Time Management for Exam Day
NDA 2026 GAT paper gives 150 minutes for 150 questions, which averages one minute per question. Since English passages and Physics numericals take longer, a section wise time budget works better than a flat 60 seconds per question. The plan below is a proven allocation.
| Section | Recommended Time |
|---|---|
| Part A – English (50 questions) | 40 to 45 minutes |
| Part B – Physics (25 questions) | 25 to 30 minutes |
| Part B – Chemistry (15 questions) | 15 minutes |
| Part B – General Science (10 questions) | 10 minutes |
| Part B – History and Freedom Movement (20 questions) | 15 to 20 minutes |
| Part B – Geography (20 questions) | 15 to 20 minutes |
| Part B – Current Events (10 questions) | 10 minutes |
| Review and OMR check | 10 to 15 minutes |
A candidate who sticks to this budget usually finishes the paper with 5 to 10 minutes left for review, which is exactly when 3 to 4 careless mistakes can be fixed on the OMR sheet. Losing that review window is the single biggest reason candidates score below their real ability.
NDA General Ability Test is the paper that decides most final ranks, since 600 marks is a lot to gain or lose. English can be built in a few weeks, Physics and Chemistry lift the score fastest, and History, Geography and Current Events fill the remaining gap. Regular practice with NDA GAT previous year papers paired with full length mock tests trains the mind to move across seven sub-sections without losing focus. Candidates who follow this loop for three months usually see their GAT score climb from around 250 to well past 400, which is enough to lift the overall aggregate into a safe SSB call zone.
| Relevant Links | ||
|---|---|---|
| NDA Eligibility | NDA Admit Card | NDA Result |
| NDA Application Process | NDA Answer Key | NDA Salary |
NDA General Ability Test Previous Year Question Papers FAQs
Ques: Is the English section of NDA GAT easier than the Mathematics paper?
Ans: For most candidates yes, since English is direct and needs no calculation. But English also carries fewer questions, so weak grammar can pull the total down fast. Both papers need equal attention.
Ques: Which GK subject in NDA GAT is scoring for a non-science background student?
Ans: History, Geography, and Current Events together give around 50 questions worth 200 marks. A commerce or arts student who prepares these three well can clear the GAT cutoff comfortably even with average Physics and Chemistry scores.
Ques: Are NDA GAT questions based on any specific NCERT class?
Ans: Class 8 to Class 10 NCERT covers most of the Science and Social Science questions. Class 11 and 12 NCERT covers a smaller share, mainly for Physics numericals and modern History. Sticking to NCERT is enough for 70 percent of the paper.
Ques: How many good attempts in NDA GAT usually clear the cutoff?
Ans: Around 90 to 100 attempts with 80 percent accuracy give a safe score of 280 to 320. Higher rank candidates usually cross 120 attempts with above 85 percent accuracy.
Ques: Is the current events window for NDA GAT the same as CDS General Knowledge?
Ans: Roughly yes. Both exams pick current events from six to eight months before the exam date, and often the same events show up in both papers since UPSC uses the same source pool for defence, awards, and international events.
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