Trends
NDA Mathematics 2026 is not the NDA Mathematics from 2017
The bank's principle distribution drifts year over year. A 10-year window shows the real inflections; the most recent papers are the more accurate forecast of the next one.
- years analysed
- 10
- papers
- 18
- questions tagged
- 2,160
- principles tracked
- 15
The 4 biggest shifts
Four principles have visibly moved across the 2017–2026 window — two on the rise, two in decline. If you only practiced one cohort of papers, you have a blind spot.
- Modulus tripled in 2023 and stayed elevated
The single biggest principle drift in the 10-year window. 2018–22 averaged ~8 q/paper-set; 2023–25 averaged ~17. The 2023 paper-set alone had 20 modulus-tagged questions, up from 7 the year before. If you only practiced 2017–22 papers, you are undertrained on |x| and ⌊x⌋ questions.
- Vieta plunged to 2 q/paper-set in 2025–26
Vieta peaked at 9 q in 2017 and held a 5–8 q baseline through 2024. The last two paper-sets dropped to 2 q each — NDA is moving away from "roots of equation" framings. Still tested, but no longer the dominant trick it was a decade ago.
- Cube roots of unity spiked 2023–24
ω held a 2–3 q baseline through 2017–22 (it was always present — earlier guide claims of "appeared post-2022" were wrong on the longer window). Then 2023+2024 broke out to 5+7 q, and 2025–26 settled at 3–4. The ω-Vieta compound is now paper-setters' favourite.
- Determinants peaked in 2021 — and recovered in 2026
Determinant Properties hit 11 q in the 2021 paper-set (the highest single-year count for any principle on this page). Settled to 3–4 q in 2024–25. The 2026 NDA-1 alone has 7 — early signal that determinant evaluation is making a comeback. M&D as a whole is still ~9 q/paper, but the principle mix inside it is shifting.
Year-by-year drift
Counts per paper-set (240 q each for 2017–2019 and 2021–2025; 120 q for 2020 because NDA-2 was COVID-cancelled and for 2026 because NDA-2 hasn’t been written yet). Cells are tinted by row magnitude — your eye picks up the slope without a chart.
| Principle | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modulus / absolute value | 14 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 15 | 17 | 5 |
| Vieta / sum-product of roots | 9 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Binomial-coefficient identities | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Inclusion-exclusion | 4 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
| Compound angle | 3 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| Sine / cosine rules | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| Double / half-angle | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| AP three-term (2b = a + c) | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| AM-GM family | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Cube roots of unity (ω) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| Differentiability conditions | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Conditional probability / Bayes | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Determinants | 7 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Limits / L'Hôpital | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Extrema (max/min) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
Every paper, side by side
The year view averages each year’s two papers together. This one doesn’t — every column is a single 120-question sitting. Under each year, 1 is NDA-1 (April) and 2 is NDA-2 (September); 2020 and 2026 show only NDA-1 (NDA-2 2020 was COVID-cancelled, NDA-2 2026 isn’t written yet). Cells are tinted by each chapter’s row, and the bottom row confirms every paper sums to 120.
The two sittings have different personalities. April papers front-load Statistics and Trigonometric Identities — together ~5 questions heavier than September. September papers lean Probability and differential calculus (Differentiation, Limits): NDA-2 is reliably a 10-question Probability paper, NDA-1 only ~7–8. Matrices & Determinants (~9–10) and 3D Geometry / Vectors (~5) hold steady in both — the metronome regardless of sitting.
| Chapter | '17 | '18 | '19 | '20 | '21 | '22 | '23 | '24 | '25 | '26 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| Matrices & Determinants | 12 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 10 |
| Probability | 8 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 13 |
| Statistics | 11 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 6 |
| Trigonometric Identities | 10 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 9 | 16 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 8 |
| Functions | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 1 |
| Vectors | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 |
| Lines | 7 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| Sequence & Series | 7 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 3D Geometry | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Differentiation | 4 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
| Limits & Continuity | 4 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| Permutation & Combination | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| Application of Derivatives | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Complex Numbers | 6 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Sets & Relations | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Definite Integration | 3 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| Quadratic Equations | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| Differential Equations | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Binomial Theorem | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Properties of Triangle | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| Indefinite Integration | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Conics | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Inverse Trigonometry | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Trigonometric Equations | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Binomial Distribution | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Logarithms | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Circles | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Applications of Integration | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Height & Distance | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Binary Numbers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Linear Inequalities | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Paper total | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 |
Recommendation: practice 2025 and 2026 papers first
The 2017–2020 papers reveal the longer trend but pre-date the modulus and ω spikes that defined the 2023–24 era. 2025 was softer; 2026 NDA-1 is trending back up with determinants. Calibrate against the recent two years before working backwards.