What happens in the NDA SSB?

After giving the NDA written exam, aspirants will have to wait for the result. The result or list of selected candidates is released after 1 month or so. Those having their names in the list will receive call letter for SSB.

Depending on the batch, the time duration for receiving the call letter may vary from 11 days to 2 months. i.e one may get his call letter withing 11 days of the written exam result, or it may take even 2 months (max.). To be on the safe side aspirants should keep in touch with the official UPSC website for regular updates on SSB dates.

After clearing the written exam, the selected candidates are called for SSB (Services Selection Board) interview. One need to undergo Intelligence Test & Personality Test before he is selected for the training in NDA. Before jumping into details, let’s first look at the important documents that a candidate needs to take with him for this test.

Documents required

Though the documents required will be mentioned in the call letter of SSB, but, following is the list of documents to give you an idea.

Original high school and 12th mark sheet and passing certificate.
note:- If the mark sheet or passing certificates are submitted in colleges or institute for higher education, or if the aspirant is 12th appearing, then one need to bring a bonafied certificate issued by the school stating that the candidate has appeared / is appearing in the qualifying examination.

Risk certificate (the format will be mentioned in the call letter).
Call Letter of SSB, copy of application form.
Twenty passport size photograph in white Shirt.
Original and II photocopies of Any ID proof such as voter ID/Passport/DL/Pan card.
Reaching the SSB center

Aspirants who are attending the SSB first time are given travel allowances (TA) up to AC – 3 tire for both side. But, your travel expenses should not be more than AC – 3 tire.

Following are the list of centres where you may have to go for interview :

For Army : Selection centre East (SCE) Allahabad (UP), Selection Center Central (SCC) Bhopal: (Madhya Pradesh), Selection centre central (SCS) Bangalore (Karnataka).

For Airforce : AFSB Dehradun (Uttarakhand), AFSB Mysore (Karnataka), AFSB Gandhi Nagar (Gujrat), AFSB Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh).

For Navy : NSB Coimbatore: (Tamilnadu), 12 SSB at SCS Bangalore: (Karnataka), 33 SSB at SCC Bhopal: (Madhya Pradesh).

These are the centres for SSB interviews for the different defence wings. One must do all the important tasks like ticket reservation as soon as he gets call letter.

SSB Day Zero

Candidates are received from train station on the day of reporting, and taken to the SSB center.

On the reporting day, formalities like verification of documents are done. Candidates are given chest numbers. Then a GTO officer gives a briefing about instructions to be followed.

SSB Day 1 (screening test) – Stage I

Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) test : Officer Intelligence Rating Test is a written exam consisting of 54-55 questions related to simple linguistic, logical, analytical, and mathematical questions to test the common sense of the candidates.
Picture Perception Description Test (PP&DT) : A blur picture is shown, and candidates have to write a story on it, narrate it and then discuss it with the group members to make a common story.
Result for these test are announced, those candidates who fail to clear this round are sent back home. The qualifying candidates then have to fill a bio data called personal information questionnaire or PIQ. They will stay in the center for rest of the 4 days.

SSB Day 2 (Psychology Tests) – Stage 2

Following tests are conducted on day 2 :

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) : this test is very similar to PP&DT, except for the fact that in this test instead of blur picture, clear pictures are shown.
Word Association Test (WAT) : in this test candidates are show a word for 15 seconds, within this time they need to write the first thought that pops up in their mind related to that word. 60 such words will be shown.
Day 3 and 4 GTO (group testing officers)

task On day 3 and 4, the GTO tasks are carried out. Tests like GD (group discussion), group planing, progressive group tasks, individual obstacles, group obstacles race etc. are conducted.

In these kinds of tests, candidates are divided in different groups, and are given some specific task which they have to accomplish with support of each other.

Day 5 (conference)

On the final day, there is just one conference in which all the board examiners, psychologists, GTO’s and technical officer are present, and each candidate has to appear in front of them.

Candidates are asked common questions in this conference. ½ hour after the conference is complete, the result is declared. Those who make it through all the tests stays for the medical examination, and the rest are sent back home. With the completion of 5th day, the acid test of SSB is completed. Personal interview can be taken on any day at afternoon or evening time. So, candidates should always be prepared for it.

Medical Examination

Clearing SSB is like climbing a mountain, but wait, there is yet another mountain (medical test) to climb before you get selected. The worst part about medical test is that you do not have control over it, which is obviously very frustrating.

Various medical tests will be done to kick those out who are unfit as per rules. All the medical eligibility criteria are given above in this article.

The medical test will take 4 to 5 working days. Once the medical test is completed, then the candidates can go home and wait for the final merit list.

Final merit list

If it were for some other job, then getting through so many tests would have guaranteed the selection, but this is NDA. After written exam, 5 days SSB and medical test comes the final merit list. Not all who are recommended gets their name in the merit list.

Total 3 merit list are released for army, air force and navy. The merit list is made after adding the marks of written exam + SSB. So, one must try to score maximum marks in each and every test. The final cutoff list of NDA is released approximately 2 months before the training starts.

IN SIMPLE DIAGRAM, THIS IS IT==>