UPSC NDA 1 exam in two days; expert tips and tricks

NEW DELHI: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will conduct the National Defence Academy (NDA) exam on April 16. UPSC conducts NDA exam for admission into the Indian army, navy and air force.

Considering the highly competitive nature of the NDA 1 exam, Kamal Gupta, Senior Faculty at BYJU’S Exam Prep has shared some tips and tricks to ace the admission test. These are:

Attempt Mock Tests: This is the peak time and the best way to prepare for the exam and to attempt as many mocks as one can. The NDA mock test, Gupta said, will not only help the candidate align the performance with time but will also increase the question paper solving speed. The more candidates attempt mocks, the more they become efficient.

“Make a habit of attempting at least one mock test every day. Your task doesn't end here. After attempting mock tests, go through the detailed solution of the questions you solved wrong. Try to find out if the question can be solved by any shortcut method or not. If you are continuously finding problems in solving a particular topic, give that topic some time and reattempt those questions,” he added.

Writing down all important formulae including dates, names and equations in the form of bullet points will also aid in last-minute revision.

Time is the Key in Exam Hall: In the Maths section, the candidate will have to solve 200 questions in 150 minutes. In other words, the candidate will have less than a minute for each question. Hence, the candidate should use mental arithmetic and speed calculations as far as possible. This will reduce the amount of written solving that needs to be done and in turn save time. Learn Shortcut Tricks to deal with the difficulty level of Mathematics Exams that will help you score high marks in the NDA exam.

Schedule Last Days Smartly: The last two days before the exam can be game-changing for an aspirant, Try to make the most of it. For better NDA exam preparation and to crack the NDA written exam successfully, you should create a smart study plan. Your study schedule must be well-planned to achieve high scores on the exam. Divide your schedule to attempt mocks, mock test analysis, revision and let-off topics.

In these last days, the experts has asked the candidates to focus on high-scoring topics, you must revise the following topics once again

• Current Affairs have a good weightage and many questions can be asked from this part, so the importance of the section can’t be ignored.
• Students must go through the last six months' current affairs, along with that important awards, important books and authors, places in the news, persons in the news, important sports tournaments, and information related to important world organizations like G7, G20 Summits, ASEAN, UN Security Council etc should be studied for last year as well.
• For general science, aspirants must go through the advanced questions of Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
• For history, focus on modern history (Indian freedom struggle, Gandhian era, social reforms, revolt of 1857, newspapers, social reforms), medieval history (mughal, delhi sultanate, art and culture, administration), ancient history (Indus Valley Civilization, Buddhism, Jainism, Gupta Era, Harsha Dynasty, Maurya, Magadha)
• For geography, focus on physical geography (composition of earth, latitude and longitude, physiography, mountains and passes, grasslands, landforms, clouds), and Indian geography (rivers, glaciers, mountain peaks, dams).
• For political science, focus on sources of the constitution, fundamental rights, fundamental duties, and articles of the Constitution.

Learn Time management skills and increase your speed

A smart strategy, the expert added, can help the candidate a long way to finish the NDA exam on time. Don’t try to attempt lengthy questions first as it will reduce your confidence, he added. In the case of the mathematics exam, try to complete each question in one minute 25 seconds at the minimum and three minute at maximum for short to long questions individually.

In the case of the GK exam, try to spend one to two minutes maximum. In the case of the English exam, proficiency in English must require clearing the NDA examination. Your good grammatical skills and English proficiency will help you quickly solve the exam in a matter of minutes, the expert added.

With effective time management skills, candidates will be able to complete the paper on time. Along with better time management, candidates must also increase the speed of solving the questions in the NDA exam.