Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) is a federal university located in Kaduna, Kaduna State. Founded in 1964, it is one of Nigeria's established public institutions and admits candidates through the JAMB UTME and its own post-UTME screening.
NDA's general cut-off mark for 2026/2027 is 200, with course-specific cut-offs ranging from 219 (Physics) to 247 (Electrical and Electronic Engineering). Located in Kaduna, Kaduna, Nigerian Defence Academy is a federal university with 4 faculties and was founded in 1964.
What changed in the 2026 cycle
NDA's 2026 admission window reflects a candidate pool that grew measurably stronger this cycle.
The institution's most competitive programmes are Electrical and Electronic Engineering (247), Civil Engineering (243) and Mechanical Engineering (242). Electrical and Electronic Engineering sits at the ceiling for NDA, with candidates scoring below 247 effectively shut out of that programme. On the other end, Physics (219), Mathematics (222) and Chemistry (223) offer the most accessible entry points at the institution.
Year-on-year, the institution's overall average rose by 4.9 points, consistent with the national pattern of rising cut-offs at top federal universities.
2026 cut off marks at NDA
| Course | Category | 2026 UTME | 2025 UTME | Change | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biochemistry | Sciences | 229 | 224 | +5 | 70.6 |
| Chemistry | Sciences | 223 | 217 | +6 | 69.9 |
| Civil Engineering | Engineering | 243 | 236 | +7 | 72.4 |
| Computer Science | Sciences | 234 | 230 | +4 | 71.3 |
| Economics | Social Sciences | 241 | 234 | +7 | 72.1 |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering | Engineering | 247 | 242 | +5 | 72.9 |
| International Relations | Social Sciences | 237 | 234 | +3 | 71.6 |
| Mathematics | Sciences | 222 | 217 | +5 | 69.8 |
| Mechanical Engineering | Engineering | 242 | 237 | +5 | 72.3 |
| Microbiology | Sciences | 231 | 227 | +4 | 70.9 |
| Physics | Sciences | 219 | 215 | +4 | 69.4 |
| Political Science | Social Sciences | 234 | 229 | +5 | 71.3 |
| Public Administration | Social Sciences | 228 | 224 | +4 | 70.5 |
| Statistics | Sciences | 230 | 226 | +4 | 70.8 |
Faculties and academic structure
NDA runs 4 faculties and colleges between which its undergraduate programmes are spread, offering a focused academic structure built around its strongest disciplines.
The faculty is the administrative parent, but the department is the academic home. Cut-off marks, post-UTME screening and graduation requirements all sit with the department, not the wider faculty.
The Faculty of Engineering anchors the technical side of the institution, with COREN-accredited programmes that include the Students' Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) as a graduation requirement.
How admission works at NDA
UTME requirements. Candidates must clear the JAMB national minimum of 150 and the NDA institutional cut-off of 200 to be considered for any programme. Each course then sets its own threshold above the general cut-off, with competitive programmes such as Electrical and Electronic Engineering demanding 247 or higher. Candidates must also sit the correct UTME subject combination for their chosen course; a mismatch leads to disqualification regardless of how strong the score is.
Post-UTME screening. NDA runs a post-UTME or screening exercise for candidates who meet the institutional and course-specific cut-offs. The screening combines UTME, post-UTME and O'level grades into an aggregate that determines who is admitted from the eligible pool. Registration usually opens once JAMB releases UTME results and runs for a fixed window of two to three weeks.
The CAPS process. Once aggregates are calculated, NDA uploads admission recommendations to the JAMB Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS). Candidates check their CAPS profile to find offers, accept or reject within the deadline and proceed to acceptance fee payment. Admission lists usually drop in waves rather than all at once, so the absence of an offer on the first list does not end your chances.
Acceptance and admission fees. After accepting on CAPS, the candidate has approximately four weeks to settle the acceptance fee through the NDA portal. Missing this deadline forfeits the place. Acceptance and full session fees are billed separately, and federal institutions like NDA have distinct fee structures that you should confirm on the official portal.
Matriculation and resumption. The academic year at NDA usually opens in late September or early October, depending on the cycle. Registration runs through the first weeks of resumption, followed by matriculation. Late arrivals risk losing slots in oversubscribed courses or paying late-registration fines, so candidates should treat the resumption date as fixed.
Campus facilities
Students at NDA have access to the standard set of Nigerian university facilities, plus institution-specific infrastructure tied to its strongest faculties.
The engineering workshops support practicals across the civil, mechanical and electrical programmes, with COREN-accreditation requirements tied to lab equipment and supervision capacity.
Student accommodation
Accommodation is one of the most-asked questions about NDA, and the honest answer is that it sits across three layers: on-campus hostels, off-campus lodges and short-stay options for visiting families.
On-campus housing
NDA provides on-campus hostels but the capacity is limited compared to the annual intake. Allocation usually runs as a annual lottery, with fresh-year students given some priority for the first session.
On-campus hostel fees at federal and state universities like NDA run in the ₦15,000 to ₦40,000 range per session, billed separately from tuition. Hostel quality varies across blocks, and students sometimes share rooms with two to six others depending on the building.
Because hostel demand exceeds supply at most federal universities, many students treat the application as a backup plan rather than the default option, with off-campus arrangements organised in parallel.
Off-campus housing
Students who cannot secure on-campus accommodation typically rent off-campus around Nearby residential neighbourhoods around the campus. The Nigerian student term for this is a "lodge", which can mean anything from a shared self-contained room to a small apartment.
Off-campus session prices at NDA typically range from ₦80,000 - ₦250,000, with self-contained rooms at the upper end and shared rooms in older lodges at the lower. Power supply, water reliability and security vary widely from one street to the next, so visiting in person before paying a deposit is the standard precaution.
Fresh-year students often share rooms or apartments with course-mates as a first-year strategy, with many moving to smaller-group or single accommodation in later years as friend groups settle and budgets allow.
For visiting parents
Visiting parents typically book hotels near the main campus gate. Federal university towns generally have a mix of basic and mid-range hotels at ₦15,000 to ₦40,000 per night, with higher options in the major cities such as Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
Travel apps such as Booking.com and Hotels.ng list current options and rates, which we deliberately do not republish here because they change frequently.
School fees and cost of attendance
Tuition and session fees at NDA, a federal university, sit broadly in the ₦40,000 - ₦200,000 per session band as of the 2026 cycle. The exact figure depends on the programme, with medical and engineering courses at the upper end and arts and education programmes at the lower.
Additional one-off costs
Beyond the headline session fee, fresh-intake students typically pay an acceptance fee in the ₦15,000 - ₦50,000 one-off range, an ID card and matriculation fee, faculty and departmental dues, and (for science and engineering programmes) laboratory or studio fees billed by the department.
Add a budget for course materials, transport, lodging deposit if going off-campus, and miscellaneous administrative payments through the first semester. Year-one costs are almost always the highest in a four-year cycle because so much of the spend is one-off.
Funding options
Eligible Nigerian undergraduates can apply to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which provides interest-free loans repayable after graduation and a grace period. NDA also publishes its own scholarship schemes from time to time for high-performing intakes, and several state governments offer indigene-specific scholarships through the state scholarship board.
Federal and corporate scholarships open during the admission cycle each year; candidates should monitor the institution's scholarship page and the relevant state ministry of education portal once admission is secured.
About the campus
Nigerian Defence Academy sits in Kaduna, Kaduna State. Kaduna sits at a major rail and road junction in northern Nigeria. Founded in 1964, the institution has matured into a recognised federal university serving its catchment region and drawing candidates from across the country.
Like most Nigerian universities, NDA groups its programmes into faculties or colleges, each with its own dean and academic structure. Candidates apply to a specific programme within a faculty rather than to the university at large, which is why the course-specific cut-off matters more than any single institutional figure.
Cost of living in Kaduna for students depends heavily on accommodation choices. On-campus hostels, where available, offer the most predictable monthly cost, while off-campus rentals in student neighbourhoods near NDA run higher but with more flexibility. Transport, food and study materials should be factored into any honest student budget for Kaduna.
Location and getting there
- 8-12 hours from Lagos and 4-8 hours from Abuja by road
- Inter-state coach services such as ABC Transport, GUO and the Young Shall Grow Motors operate routes to most state capitals. Flights are available to Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and a handful of state airports.
NDA's main campus is in Kaduna, Kaduna State, in North-West Nigeria.
For inter-state travel, most students rely on a mix of buses and shared taxis, with occasional flights for the bigger inter-zone moves.
Application calendar
The 2026 admission window roughly follows the pattern below at NDA. Treat these as planning ranges; the institution's official portal publishes the exact dates as the cycle progresses.
- JAMB UTMEApril to May 2026National examination window for the 2026 admission cycle.
- Post-UTME / screeningLate July to mid-August 2026NDA announces its exact dates after JAMB UTME results are released.
- First CAPS admission listAugust to September 2026Initial admission recommendations appear on CAPS after screening.
- Acceptance fee deadline4 weeks from offerConfirmed window for the 2026 cycle. Missing it forfeits the place.
- Resumption for fresh intakeLate September to mid-October 2026Matriculation follows resumption by a few weeks.
How NDA compares to similar universities
Among federal universities of similar size and region, NDA's 2026 average cut-off of 232.9 sits between UNILORIN (average 232.9) and FUTO (average 233.3). This places NDA in the mid-tier of universities for the 2026 cycle.
Across the 14 programmes covered, NDA maps to 14/146 of the courses tracked in this guide. Candidates choosing between NDA and a peer institution should compare the specific course cut-off, not just the institutional average, because course-level differences often outweigh institution-level ones.
Frequently asked questions
What is NDA's cut-off mark for 2026?
NDA's general institutional cut-off for 2026 is 200, with course-specific cut-offs ranging from 219 for Physics to 247 for Electrical and Electronic Engineering. The figure that decides admission is always the course-specific cut-off, not the institutional general cut-off.
What JAMB UTME score do I need for NDA?
To be considered for any programme at NDA you need at least the institutional cut-off of 200, but a realistic target is higher: competitive courses such as Electrical and Electronic Engineering require 247 or above for 2026. Aim well clear of the general cut-off, because admission is ranked on the post-UTME aggregate, not the UTME score alone.
When does NDA admission for 2026/2027 close?
NDA does not publish a single fixed closing date far in advance; the admission window follows the national JAMB cycle, running from the release of UTME results through to the final admission list months later. Post-UTME registration closes much earlier, often within two to three weeks of opening. Treat the post-UTME deadline as the real cut-off and monitor the official NDA portal for exact dates.
What courses does NDA offer?
NDA runs 14 of the 146 undergraduate programmes tracked in this guide, including Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Civil Engineering and Physics. The institution's full programme list also includes diploma, postgraduate and certificate programmes not covered here.
Does NDA admit candidates from outside its state or region?
Yes. NDA admits candidates nationwide; as a federal university it draws students from every state, with admission balanced across merit, catchment area and educationally-less-developed-state quotas. Your state of origin does not bar you from applying.
When do I pay the NDA acceptance fee?
Once you accept an admission offer on CAPS, you have a limited window — about four weeks for the 2026 cycle — to pay the NDA acceptance fee through the official portal. If the deadline lapses, the place can revert to the next candidate on the list. Pay promptly after accepting and keep the receipt for registration.
Does NDA offer scholarships or financial support?
Scholarship availability at NDA changes from year to year and should not be assumed. Federal universities like NDA participate in national schemes such as Federal Government scholarships and NELFUND student loans, alongside occasional merit and faculty awards. Check the official NDA site for current scholarship calls.
What aggregate score does NDA use to decide admission?
NDA ranks candidates on an aggregate that combines the UTME score with the post-UTME or screening result, and at many institutions O'level grades as well. The common approach is to scale the UTME to 50% and the post-UTME to 50%, but the exact weighting is set by NDA each cycle. Admission goes to the highest aggregates within the available places, so a strong UTME score alone does not guarantee a place.
Where is NDA located and how do I get there?
NDA's main campus is in Kaduna, Kaduna State. Travel by road from major cities runs 8-12 hours from lagos and 4-8 hours from abuja by road. Inter-state buses and shared taxis operate to most state capitals; flights serve Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and several state airports.
What is NDA most competitive course?
Electrical and Electronic Engineering carries the highest 2026 cut-off at NDA at 247. It sits at the competitive ceiling for the institution; candidates scoring below that mark are effectively shut out of the programme and should plan a realistic second choice.
What documents do I need for NDA screening?
For post-UTME or screening at NDA, candidates typically present the JAMB UTME result slip, the JAMB admission letter once issued, O'level result(s), a birth certificate or age declaration, recent passport photographs and a means of identification. Some faculties also ask for a state-of-origin or local-government certificate. Confirm the exact checklist on the official NDA portal before screening day.
Does NDA have hostels for students?
NDA has on-campus hostels but the capacity is limited relative to the annual intake. Allocation runs as a lottery with priority for fresh-year students; unallocated candidates rent off-campus.