Now that the National Defence Academy and Naval Academy Examination (NDA/NA) are finished, all those candidates who appeared for it have been surfing the internet to estimate their marks. However, having an official NDA 2 2026 answer key is really important here so that you can get the real picture of where you stand. Hence, we share the details with you.
What is NDA (2) 2026?
The NDA/NA examination is conducted is conducted twice each year for 10+2 candidates who aspire to become officers in the Indian Armed Forces. These candidates fall within the age bracket of 16.5 to 19.5 years and on qualifying the examination, they appear for the SSB interview. NDA (2) 2026 is the second cycle of the same exam which is conducted in September every year alongside CDS.
The NDA examination questions candidates on a variety of topics, which are divided into two papers:
- Mathematics
- General Ability Test or GAT
Candidates can give a service preference while filling the application form online, however, irrespective of the preference, they have to mandatorily appear for both the papers. Hence, the NDA 2 2026 answer key remains the same for all candidates as well.
NDA 2 2026 Marking Scheme
Before we delve into the NDA 2 2026 answer key, you must know the marking scheme of the examination to be able to calculate your raw score. We share the paper-wise marking scheme for this exam with you now.
Mathematics
We begin with the Mathematics paper which is conducted first for NDA/NA aspirants. Candidates get 2.5 hours to solve 120 questions asked in the paper, which carries a total of 300 marks. Hence, the marking scheme comes down to:
- 2.5 marks awarded for each correct answer
- 0.83 marks deducted for each incorrect answer
- 0 marks deducted or awarded for an unattempted answer
General Ability Test (GAT)
Next is the GAT paper which is also called Paper II. Again, candidates get 2.5 hours to answer 150 questions, that is 50 from English and 100 from General Studies. The paper carries a total of 600 marks. The marking scheme followed is:
- 4 marks awarded for each correct answer
- 1.33 marks deducted for each incorrect answer
- 0 marks deducted or awarded for each unattempted answer
This makes the maximum marks for the NDA examination 900.
NDA 2 2026 Question Paper
Right before we share the official NDA 2 2026 answer key with you, let us quickly go through the question paper, which we have sourced from the official website of UPSC. This is for those students who aim at appearing for the examination in 2027.
As you can see, the following table comprises both the question papers that were administered to candidates on 13th of September 2026. Hence, the upcoming NDA 2 2026 answer key will also be based on the same.
| Paper | Question Paper |
| Mathematics | Download PDF |
| General Ability Test | Download PDF |
NDA 2 2026 Answer Key
Now it is time to know about the NDA 2 2026 answer key. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released the official NDA 2 2026 answer key. Candidates can now check the official answer key using the links provided below. We recommend referring to the UPSC-released answer key rather than relying on unofficial or random sources to avoid any confusion.
| Paper | Answer Key (All Sets) |
| Mathematics | Download PDF |
| General Ability Test | Download PDF |
You can calculate your marks for the examination based on the marking scheme that we have provided. At the same time, you can also raise objections if you feel a question’s answer has been reported wrong in the NDA 2 2026 answer key.
Based on your calculation, if you have a solid score (generally ~400) you must start preparing immediately for the SSB interview as your chances of clearing the examination are higher. Hence, we suggest that you do not delay things for yourself. All the best!
