The NDA or the National Defence Academy is already a very well-known institution in India, which helps to provide education related to world-class military subjects. The candidates that are admitted into the institution are selected by a two-step process.
The first one is a written test while the other being SSB Interview. The NDA exam is held every year, around two times per year.
Every year, lakhs of candidates appear for the test, as working in the defence sector is a very prestigious job for any Indian out there.
Since the competition is high, the candidates must make up their minds and start focusing on their studies.
NDA Syllabus and Exam overview
Before appearing for the NDA exam, candidates should have a clear idea and view of the overall exam syllabus. The syllabus pattern of NDA consists of Mathematics and General Ability Test (GAT).
The candidate has to judge his or her weaknesses and strengths when
starting the preparation. Only after that, the candidate can decide on which books he or she needs to purchase.
Make sure to not pay heed to the free study materials on the internet. Always rely on good books from good authors, even if it means that paying more.
There are thousands of books available from various authors available in today’s market. Thus, it is impossible to study all those books and therefore one needs a list of the best books available for each subject.
That’s why this article guide has listed some of the best NDA books you can buy.
In the subject mathematics, the student has to read on the 10 + 1 and 10 + 2 syllabus from high school. On the other hand, in the GAT section, the candidate has to study various subjects like General Knowledge and English.
The questions in General Knowledge mainly comes from subjects like Physics, Chemistry, History, Geography, Current Affairs, etc.
Therefore, the candidate not only has to study the subjects English and Mathematics specifically, he or she also has to study on various science and arts subjects as well. The exam will carry maximum marks of 900 with several questions being 270.
The total time duration will be around five hours, with 2.5 hours for each section. There will also be negative marking, which will account for almost 1/3rd of the marks allotted to each question.
Best Books for NDA Mathematics
For the NDA exam preparation, the candidate has to read on topics like Algebra, Arithmetic, Trigonometry, Mensuration, Calculus, etcetera, for the mathematics section. The following books can be referred for NDA Mathematics:
1.Class 11 and Class 12 NCERT Mathematics Textbooks (Buy Online)
As the questions in the NDA Mathematics section will come from the syllabus of Class 11 and 12 of high-school, it is very essential that candidates first get the required idea about the topics through these books.
Most NCERT mathematics books have been very concise and precise in terms of the topic being taught to the student with lots of examples, before
moving on to the exercises.
Therefore, if a candidate can read thoroughly through these books, then the fundamental concepts will easily be ingrained in his or her mind. Only after
reading these books, a candidate should move onto the latest preparation books for the exam.
2.Arihant Publications’ Pathfinder NDA & NA (Buy online)
This book is perfect for those who want to practice lots of MCQs or Multiple Type Questions. The book comes with almost 8000 MCQs, including that of previous year papers as well. This makes the book very comprehensive in terms of overall content and data.
Practicing MCQs will help the candidate be exam ready and therefore test the concept that he or she has studied so far. The book covers the complete syllabus of the NDA exam, so the candidate doesn’t have to buy any other books, if he or she doesn’t want to.
The price of the book is also on the affordable side as well.
3.Arihant Publications’ Chapterwise-Sectionwise Solved Papers NDA & NA (Buy online)
If a candidate wants a low-cost book containing all the details and questions about every chapter in the NDA syllabus, then there’s no better book than this one.
The book comes with all the exam-oriented MCQs, besides providing chapter-wise theory and solutions. Candidates can easily use the solutions for their explanations. In this book, all the topics have been covered thoroughly.
One will not find previous year questions in this book since it only contains model test papers. If the candidate wants previous year questions as well,
then he or she has to get the Pathfinder book from the same publisher listed above.
4.Arihant Publications’ 10 Practice Sets for NDA & NA (Buy online)
This book is great for solving questions just before the actual exams. The book contains all the necessary model test papers. There are ten model test papers for candidates to try and solve fully.
For any budding candidate who wants to crack the NDA exam, practicing test papers before exams is a must. Also, the price of the book is on the lower side as well, which makes it even more compelling to purchase and practice.
The sample papers also come with their respective solutions, so the candidate doesn’t have to worry about the answers and explanations. One will get the whole idea of the NDA exam by solving these practice
sets.
5.RS Aggarwal’s Mathematics for NDA and NA(Buy online)
The book can be used as a complementary volume for any candidate’s basic, fundamental preparation, besides the NCERT preparation books. The book will serve as a question bank for the NDA mathematics section.
It contains many worked-out examples which can be very useful if the candidate wants to hone his or her skills and understanding.
RS Aggarwal has been well-known in the world of mathematics for years and following his book will be very beneficial for the candidates as well.
6.The Pearson Guide for Mathematics for NDA Entrance Examination
This book can be a little bit hard to find due to less popularity, but still is a great book for any NDA exam candidate out there. The book comes with more than 3000 questions, containing all the required shortcuts, explanations and solutions.
The book also contains chapter-wise practice sets along with a smart table that will analyze the overall question variability between different topics from past year question papers.
All the required 20 chapters of the mathematics section have been included in this book.
7.Arihant’s NDA & NA Entrance Examination for Mathematics Study Package (Buy Online)
In case a candidate wants to purchase a book that only contains question papers of previous year NDA exams, then there’s no better book than this one.
The book has numerous questions for the candidate to test himself or herself out with the pattern of the exam.
The book is brilliant, especially for newcomers, for cracking the mathematics section. There are also chapter-wise exercises with solutions that candidates can practice too.
8.R.S Aggarwal’s Quantitative aptitude for competitive examinations (Buy online)
While this book is not specific for the NDA exams, it can be used for any kind of competitive exams and even can be used to clear tests while interviewing for various companies.
The quality is fantastic, as has always been expected from RS Aggarwal. The questions contain detailed solutions and there is a wide variety of questions that candidates can attempt from.
On buying this book, the candidate will also get one month access to the textbook, for giving online mode exams. Candidates are required to first grasp the concept fully of the topics required and then start to attempt the questions.
Understanding the topic is a must before solving the questions in this book.
Books for NDA General Ability Test
1.Class 9 and 10 NCERT Textbooks of all Subjects
Just like mathematics, one has to gain the overall idea of the syllabus before attempting to solve questions from the GAT section.
The questions in this section come from subjects like English, Geography, History, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, etcetera. Therefore, knowing the
fundamental concepts is indeed essential in cracking the NDA exam.
These books will provide the candidate with all the required knowledge needed to help him or her, get good marks in GAT section.
2.Manorama Yearbook
The Manorama Yearbook has always been a very popular book when it comes to general knowledge and awareness.
Each year, a new Manorama book is released containing all the important events that have happened throughout the year and around the world.
Reading this book will improve the candidate’s general awareness and therefore also aid in the later stages of the interview process for the NDA post.
The book also comes at a very low, affordable price and is available almost anywhere, either offline or online.
3.Sachchida Nand Jha’s Success Series General Knowledge (Buy online)
While it is not suggested that the candidate should use this book exclusively for general knowledge, it can still be used as a complementary book for NDA exam preparation.
The book is extremely affordable and also highly versatile, as it can be used for other
competitive exams too. The book can be used by candidates mainly as a reference book for quick general knowledge reading and preparation.
The book contains all the important dates, international and national years, famous newspapers in the world, capitals of countries, famous intelligence
agencies in the world, famous monuments around the world, the history of the Olympic games, etcetera. It also contains MCQs for the candidate to
practice on his or her own.
Apart from the above books for the GAT section, candidates also need to study the following :-
English
●Comprehension Reading – Comprehensions should be studied excessively from the Pearson complete guide to NDA & NA Examination book.
●Error Spotting – A candidate must study all about the short-cut rules to succeed in these types of questions. One can read Ashok Kumar Singh’s A Mirror Of Common Errors for better understanding.
●Improvement Of Sentences – For this subsection or topic, the student can read the Objective General English book, written by RS Aggarwal.
●Fill In The Blanks – For this topic, the candidate can reference from the Objective General English book written by SP Bakshi.
●Vocabulary – There is no doubt that vocabulary is an important part of any competition, including knowing about antonyms and synonyms. Candidates are also required to study from Norman Lewis’ Word Power Made Easy New book as well. There is a new expanded and revised version that has been released.
General Knowledge
●Physics – NCERT books like Concepts Of Physics by HC Verma and Arihant Physics written by DC Pandey will be more than enough to help the candidate to know about all the fundamental concepts.
●Chemistry – When it comes to chemistry, one has to read about general chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and organic chemistry. Therefore, besides NCERT books, the candidate can study Numerical Chemistry written by RC Mukherjee or by writer P Bahadur.
●Biology – For the subject of biology, NCERT books will be sufficient.
●History – Apart from reading Class 9 and 10 NCERT history books, one can also expand the knowledge by reading NCERT history books of Class 11 and 12.
●Politics – Coming to the political topic, the candidate can read the Indian Polity book written by Laxminath.
●Geography – The NCERT Geography book is already very comprehensive and therefore one doesn’t need any other separate book to study.
●Current Affairs – The Manorama Yearbook along with reading newspapers every day will be sufficient in this case. Reading newspapers like The Telegraph and The Economic Times will aid the candidate to stay updated on the international and national affairs happening every day.
5 Things to Keep in Mind while Choosing NDA Books
While choosing NDA books for preparation, the following things should be kept in mind:
1.The candidate should always buy books from reputed and well-known authors. Buying a good book is very necessary because it will help the candidate in understanding the overall concepts faster and better. Also, good quality books explain the topics chapter-wise in a much more precise manner, so that candidates can grasp the subject with a clear intention.
2.Candidates should never purchase or buy older editions of NDA preparation books. The major reason behind this is that – a lot of the NDA preparation depends on general knowledge, current affairs and also MCQ patterns. Therefore, buying an older edition book will not provide the candidates with the above benefits and thus not at all recommended. Also, there could be changes in the syllabus and older edition books will not be able to integrate the change – which is needed for better preparation for the exams.
3.It should be ensured by candidates before buying any NDA examination book that it contains the entire syllabus of the exam, either chapter-wise and section-wise. This will help the candidate to not skip any important part of the syllabus and therefore memorize and understand all the essential topics in a step-by-step manner.
4.Candidates should purchase not only purchase concept-oriented NDA books but also question printed books as well. Concept oriented books are meant by those books which are used to gain an understanding of the required syllabus. These books are essential to obtain the fundamental ideas first, before moving into solving questions. Question printed books are required for practicing and solving more and more MCQs.
5.Model papers and sample papers should also be similarly solved too. Solving questions will help the candidate to know about a certain topic from various angles. It will also aid the candidate to time
management during the actual exams.
6.Availability of books is a major concern since not all books are available freely in online and offline modes. Before choosing a certain NDA exam preparation book, one should know whether the selected book is available either online or offline readily.
This is important because the candidates don’t need to wait two to three weeks for a book to be delivered. This will hamper his or her study schedule and also the preparation routine as well. Candidates should ensure that the book he or she selected can be obtained easily within a maximum span of seven days, either online or offline.
Quick Tips for NDA Exam Preparation
1.Always solve previous year questions before exams
In case the candidate is really serious about passing the NDA exams then he or she should consider solving as many previous year question papers as one can.
The blueprint of the examination has not been changed over the years and the pattern has remained almost the same.
The style of the questions should appear as common even though the question
figures might be different.
2.Try to purchase exam guides
Solving questions only will not do the trick. One should also know the solutions and explanation of the problems, in case he or she could not solve the given question. Arihant Publications make fantastic guide books that cover each topic, that is associated with the NDA exams. These books will also contain previous year question papers as well.
3.Learn the mathematics shortcuts
Any kind of mathematics MCQ exam will be tricky because the questions that are asked in it are analytical and therefore needs to be worked upon, for finding the solution.
If the candidate doesn’t know the shortcut method, it will take more time for him or her to solve
the problems. But, knowing the shortcut method will help him or her, save precious time
and also marks as well. The shortcut methods can be learned in the guide books.
4.It’s all about time management
Managing time is very important in an exam like this. Candidates should always try to master the shortcuts so that he or she doesn’t have to waste too much time on a single question.
Time will be a major factor in this exam and therefore, a candidate should not ponder much time on a single question and move on to the next one.
5.Stay clear of negative marking
In almost all MCQ examinations, there is a negative marking system. The candidate should make sure that he or she only attempt the questions that he or she is sure of answering. One should never go for a wild guess and attract more negative marking in the paper.
For each wrong answer, 0.83 or 1.33 marks are deducted for the mathematics and the GAT section, respectively.
Therefore, wrongly answering four questions can deduct more than two marks. It is always suggested to the candidates that if he or she is unsure about any question, then that specific question should be left unanswered.
6.Do rough work as much less as possible
When solving math’s questions, one needs to do rough work. But, this rough work can be very tedious and time-consuming.
This is when a candidate should do the calculation in his or her mind and save time doing rough work.
Furthermore, the black spaces provided with the answer-sheet are also limited. To prevent the situation of running out of space, one
should do less rough work. Mental arithmetic is more recommended.
7.Regular news and television will be of big help
Current affairs form a very significant part of the NDA exam. Therefore, to score well, one has to attend the section diligently too.
The best way to do this would be to read newspapers every day and also watch television news channels. This will help the candidates to be well acquainted with national and international affairs easily.
8.For the English section, do extensive reading
If a candidate is naturally strong in English from the school days, then he or she will need less effort to improve his or her English skills. Otherwise, one has to polish and hone English comprehension skills.
Candidates can read storybooks, newspapers, novels, etcetera, which will help in improving vocabulary, grammar and writing skills.
9.Don’t ignore the history of India
Preparing for the history section can be boring for any candidate out there. But, one should not skip the history of India.
A lot of questions are asked from Indian history. Therefore, skipping this section will be a huge mistake.
Reading NCERT history books will be enough to help the candidate prepare for the history section in the NDA exams.
Apart from that, the candidate will also be enriching himself or herself with the rich culture and past of the Indian dynasty.