How to join Indian Army as an Officer after 12th Arts

Last Updated on July 31, 2023 by Vishnu Nambiar

This article will be of help to students studying in 12th and 11th Arts stream. Students who have just cleared 12th Arts stream may also make use of it. Here, you will be reading about how Arts stream students may join Indian Army as an Officer right after 12th. I’ve covered topics such as- Entry name, examination details, important dates, eligibility criteria- age and educational requirements, application and selection process.

How to join Indian Army as an Officer directly after 12th?

Right after 12th, if an Arts stream student wants to join Indian Army as a Commissioned Officer, he will have to make use of NDA Entry. Let us check out some important details about NDA Entry-

NDA Entry Overview-

• Nationality- only Indian candidates may apply
• Gender- Only Male candidates may make use of NDA Entry
• Marital status- Unmarried
• Age limit- between 16½ to 19½ years of age (on the first day of the month in which the course starts)
• Training details- 3 years at NDA followed by 1 year training at IMA
• Vacancy (Army)- 208
• Advertisement/Notification date- June and December
• Organization holding the examination- UPSC

Note that Arts stream students are eligible to apply for Indian Army only, using the NDA Entry!

Eligibility Criteria

1 Age limit

As mentioned above, candidate has to be between 16½ to 19½ years of age, on the first day of the month in which the course starts. Candidate must be unmarried.

2 Educational Qualifications

Candidate should have passed 10+2 Standard Schooling (Any stream) from a recognized Board for selection into Indian Army. Note that Arts stream students aren’t eligible to apply for Indian Navy or IAF, using NDA Entry.

Application process

The examination is conducted by UPSC. UPSC puts out advertisements and notifications about NDA Entry usually in the months of June and December. Candidates will have to keep an eye on UPSC websites as well as prominent newspapers and employment magazines.

After the advertisement has been put out, eligible candidates may apply online. The application process is entirely online. Payment of examination fees also has to be made online. All this can be done on UPSC website.

After applying online, candidates will get call letters for the NDA written examination.

Selection process

The first stage of the selection process is NDA written examination. Students who secure minimum qualification marks in NDA written examination are then called to appear for SSB Interview. For some very useful NDA examination tips, check out the article mentioned below-

Also read- NDA exam tips

SSB Interview starts off with a screening test. Candidates who manage to clear the screening test are then supposed to stay at the SSB Centre for 1 week and undergo a series of Physical, Intelligence and Psychological tests. For more details about SSB Interview and some very useful SSB Interview tips, check out the article mentioned below-

Also read- SSB Interview tips

How to join Indian Army as an Officer after 12th Science

Courses to do after 12th Arts

Candidates who manage to clear the SSB Interview gets ‘recommended’ by the Selection Board. They are then subjected to detailed Physical and Medical examinations. Candidates who clear the Medical examination part will get a chance to feature in the merit list.

The merit list if an all India level one. It is created keeping in account the marks scored by candidates in NDA written, SSB Interview and Medical examination! Final selection of candidates for training will be done on the basis of this merit list and vacancy for the Army wind at NDA.

Training details

Selected candidates will have to undergo three years’ training at National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, Pune. This is followed by 1 year training at Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. After finishing both training sets, successful candidates will be inducted into the Indian Army as Lieutenants (Commissioned Officer post).

This entry is for those Arts stream students, who wants to join the Indian Army right after 12th. Arts stream students may also join the Indian Army after completing 3 or 4 years long Graduation course (from a recognized University), using Graduate UPSC as well as Graduate Non UPSC Entry schemes.

Vishnu Nambiar

I am Vishnu Nambiar a career and educational blogger from India. I am also a full time educational consultant having more than 12 years of experience in the educational sector.

I share articles related to courses, colleges, careers, exam tips and more here.