Indian Army NCC Special Entry 125th Course 2027 – 70 Posts

The Indian Army, through the Directorate General of Recruiting, has released the official notification for the NCC Special Entry Scheme 125th Course (April 2027), for grant of Short Service Commission (Non-Tech) to unmarried male graduates, including wards of Battle Casualties of Indian Army personnel. Online applications open on 20 July 2026 at 1500 hrs and close on 20 August 2026 at 1500 hrs on the official website, www.joinindianarmy.nic.in. Candidates who already hold an NCC ‘C’ Certificate and want a direct route into the Army as a commissioned officer, without a written exam can apply for this course.

A total of 70 posts are on offer. A full discipline and category-wise breakdown of these posts follows below. Training is conducted at the Officers Training Academy, Chennai, and the final Arms/Service is allotted before passing out. Candidates should check all details in the article below.

Information verified from the official Indian Army notification for NCC Special Entry Scheme 125th Course (Apr 2027). No separate notification number is printed on the notice. Last verified: 21 July 2026.

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The Indian Army is recruiting 70 posts under the NCC Special Entry Scheme 125th Course (April 2027) for Short Service Commission (NT) Men, of which 63 posts are in the general category and 7 posts are reserved for wards of Battle Casualties of Army personnel. The last date to apply online is 20 August 2026 at 1500 hrs at www.joinindianarmy.nic.in. Selection is through shortlisting on NCC ‘C’ Certificate and graduation marks, followed by an SSB interview, medical examination and a final merit list.

Quick Summary

About the Indian Army

The Indian Army is India’s land-based armed force, functioning under the Ministry of Defence. Officer entries such as this one are managed by the Directorate General of Recruiting at Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of Defence (Army). For a candidate who already has an NCC ‘C’ Certificate, this is one of the direct routes to a commissioned rank, alongside options such as NDA and CDS entries.

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How This Entry Compares

This is added context, not part of the official notification. Confirm current openings on the official website before deciding between entries.

NCC Special Entry is one of several Short Service Commission routes into the Indian Army for men, alongside the CDS SSC(NT) entry and the Technical Entry Scheme. The main difference is that this entry skips the written exam altogether — shortlisting is done purely on NCC ‘C’ Certificate grading and graduation marks. Candidates should note that the notification itself does not allow a candidate to sit for both the CDS SSC(NT) and NCC Special Entry SSB in the same course cycle; only one of the two can be attempted.

Important Dates

One timing note from the notification: candidates must take a printout of two copies of the submitted application, with roll number, 30 minutes after the online application window closes on the last day.

Vacancy Details and Salary

Category-wise vacancies

Pay on commissioning (Pay Matrix, rank-wise)

Military Service Pay (MSP) of ₹15,500 per month, fixed, is admissible from the rank of Lieutenant to Brigadier. Stipend during the 49-week training at OTA, Chennai is ₹56,100 per month. On successful commissioning, this training period is not counted as commissioned service, but arrears of applicable allowances for the training period are paid to cadets.

Promotion criteria

Other allowances (as applicable)

Field Area Allowance (rank and posting dependent)

All allowance rates rise automatically by 25% each time Dearness Allowance goes up by 50%. These allowances apply strictly per laid-down eligibility conditions; not every officer is entitled to every allowance.

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Eligibility

1. NCC ‘C’ Certificate Holders (63 posts, General Category)

• Nationality: Citizen of India, or a subject of Nepal, or a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, or specified East African countries with the intent to permanently settle in India (eligibility certificate required for the last two categories, except Gorkha subjects of Nepal).
• Age: 19 to 25 years as on 1 January 2027 (born not earlier than 2 January 2002 and not later than 1 January 2008, both dates inclusive).
• Educational qualification: Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent from a recognised university. Final-year students may apply, provided the degree is completed before the course begins. For such candidates, aggregate marks scored in the first two/three years of the degree course are used for shortlisting.
• NCC service: Minimum two/three years (as applicable) of service in the Senior Division/Wing of NCC.
• NCC grading: Minimum ‘B’ Grade in the ‘C’ Certificate exam of NCC. A provisional NCC ‘C’ Certificate is not accepted at the SSB stage; a confirmed certificate must be obtained before appearing.
• Marital status: Unmarried.

2. Wards of Battle Casualties of Indian Army Personnel (7 posts)

• Eligibility basis: Unmarried sons and unmarried daughters (including legally adopted) of Army personnel classified as killed in action, died of wounds/injuries (other than self-inflicted), wounded or injured (other than self-inflicted), or missing presumed dead.
• Educational qualification: Same as above — Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent, with final-year candidates allowed to apply under the same conditions.
• NCC ‘C’ Certificate: Not required for this category.
• Additional documents required: Battle Casualty certificate number issued by Manpower (Policy & Planning) Directorate (MP Dte); a copy of the Regimental Records Part II Order classifying the injury as a “Battle Casualty”; and a Relationship Certificate from MP Dte 5 & 6 / respective Regimental Records.
• Age and marital status: Same as the general category above.

Important note from the notification: A candidate can appear for only one of the two SSB interviews — either SSC(NT)(Men)-125 Course as a CDSE candidate, or NCC (Special) Entry-125 Course (Men). An undertaking to this effect is required in the online application.

Minimum physical standards before joining OTA, Chennai

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Selection Process

Selection has five stages, from application shortlisting to the joining letter for training.

1. Shortlisting of applications — based on bonus marks out of a maximum of 100: up to 50 marks for NCC ‘C’ Certificate grading (A Grade = 50, B Grade = 25) and up to 50 marks for graduation performance (percentage-based, ranging from nil up to 60% to 50 marks for 85% and above).
2. SSB Centre and date selection — on a first-come-first-served basis, once shortlisted.
3. SSB Interview — a two-stage process at Selection Centres in Prayagraj (UP), Bhopal (MP), Bengaluru (Karnataka), and Jalandhar (Punjab). Candidates who clear Stage I move to Stage II; those who fail Stage I are sent back the same day. The full SSB runs up to five days.
4. Medical Examination — conducted for candidates recommended after Stage II. Medical validity is 270 days from the medical board to the OTA joining date.
5. Merit List and Joining Letter — prepared from SSB marks; joining letters for OTA, Chennai are issued in merit order, subject to vacancies and eligibility.

One practical point from the notification: candidates appearing for their first SSB interview for this type of commission are entitled to AC 3-Tier (to and from) railway fare or bus fare, including reservation-cum-sleeper charges, within Indian geographical limits. This is not repeated for later attempts of the same commission type.

Application Fee

Application fee details are not mentioned in the official notification. Check the official website for updates.

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How to Apply

1. Visit www.joinindianarmy.nic.in and click on ‘Officer Entry Application/Login’.
2. Click ‘Registration’ and complete the registration form (skip this step if already registered on the portal).
3. After registering, click ‘Apply Online’ under the Dashboard.
4. On the ‘Officers Selection – Eligibility’ page, click ‘Apply’ against Short Service Commission NCC Special Entry Course.
5. Fill in personal information, communication details, education details, and details of any previous SSB, clicking ‘Save & Continue’ after each section.
6. Review all entries on the ‘Summary of your information’ page.
7. Click ‘Submit’ only after confirming every detail is correct.
8. Take two printed copies of the final application (with roll number) 30 minutes after the portal closes on the last day.

Documents to keep ready

• Signed printout of the application with a self-attested photograph
• Matriculation/Secondary School Examination Certificate (or equivalent) and mark sheet
• 12th Class Certificate and mark sheet
• Graduation Degree/Provisional Degree certificate from a recognised university (provisional degree not older than six months as on 1 April 2027)
• Mark sheets of all years/semesters
• NCC ‘C’ Certificate (dated on or before the online application date) — not required for wards of Battle Casualties
• CGPA-to-percentage conversion certificate from the university, where applicable
• For final-year candidates: certificate from the Principal/Head of Institution confirming the result will be declared by 1 April 2027, plus a signed declaration
• For wards of Battle Casualties: the additional battle casualty and relationship documents listed in the eligibility section above

DigiLocker certificates are not accepted in place of originals; originals must be carried to the SSB interview for verification.

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Important Links

Should You Apply?

This entry suits candidates who already hold an NCC ‘C’ Certificate and a Bachelor’s degree, and who want a direct commission without a written exam. It particularly fits final-year NCC cadets who can complete their degree before the course starts in April 2027.

The following is added context, not part of the official notification.

The trade-off is that this route depends entirely on prior NCC service — a candidate without NCC ‘C’ Certificate service (outside the Battle Casualty category) cannot apply at all, unlike NDA or CDS entries. It is a Short Service Commission, so a decision on Permanent Commission comes up only after 10 years; candidates who want a guaranteed long-term Army career from day one may want to weigh that against Permanent Commission entries. Competition depends on how many candidates in a given year hold an NCC ‘C’ Certificate with strong grading and graduation marks, since shortlisting for the SSB is based directly on those two scores.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sandeep Khati is the founder of India Job Alerts and a B.Tech in Computer Science from JGEC (2010). He started his career as a Systems Engineer at TCS and has been active in digital publishing since 2011, beginning with SearchDarjeeling.com(2011) and working as a web developer and designer at Darjeeling Informatics. Launched in April 2025, India Job Alerts is his most focused project — dedicated to publishing verified government and PSU job notifications for West Bengal, Sikkim, and All-India candidates. Every post is cross-checked against official notifications before publishing.. Know more

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