PFRDA Grade A Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2026

The PFRDA Grade A exam is a three-stage selection process, and the notification for the same is expected to be released soon. Once the notification is released, the Phase 1 exam is likely to be held within 60 days, giving candidates very little time to prepare. Aspirants interested in appearing for the exam should start their preparation early to cover the entire syllabus. In this blog, we have provided the PFRDA Grade A exam pattern along with a detailed, section-wise syllabus.

What is the PFRDA Grade A exam pattern?

The PFRDA Grade A exam follows a structured pattern to evaluate candidates thoroughly. The exam consists of three phases: Phase I, Phase II and Phase III. Phase I is an online examination comprising multiple-choice questions covering topics such as English Language, Reasoning, General Awareness, etc. Phase II includes an online examination that focuses on Professional Knowledge and carries significant weightage in the final selection. The Phase III is the Interview.

What is the PFRDA Grade A phase 1 paper 1 exam pattern?

Paper 1 is common for all streams and will test your skills in English Language, Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning, and General Awareness. This paper is meant to check aspirants basic knowledge and abilities, which are important for a career in the pension and financial sector. Each section carries equal marks, and you need to attempt all questions within 60 minutes, so make sure to manage your time well and answer carefully.

Streams / Subject	Maximum Marks	No. of Questions
English Language	25	20
Quantitative Aptitude	25	20
Test of Reasoning	25	20
General Awareness (including some questions related to Financial Sector)	25	20
Total	100	80

What is the PFRDA Grade A phase 1 paper 2 exam pattern?

Paper 2 is stream-specific and focuses on professional knowledge in your chosen stream. This paper evaluates your understanding of specialized subjects related to your career domain.

Streams / Subject	Maximum Marks	No. of Questions
General Stream: MCQs on subjects Commerce, Accountancy, Management, Finance, Costing, Companies Act, Economics, and Pension Sector	100	50
Specialized Streams: MCQs on subjects related to Information Technology, Finance & Accounts, Research (Economics), Legal, and Official Language (Rajbhasha)	100	50

What is the PFRDA Grade A phase 2 exam pattern?

In Phase II of the PFRDA Grade A exam, negative marking of 1/4th of the marks will be applied only to Paper 2 for wrong answers. Paper 1, which is a descriptive English test (including Precis, Essay, and Comprehension), will only be evaluated for candidates who secure the minimum qualifying marks in Paper 2. This ensures that only candidates with sufficient knowledge in their stream are assessed for their drafting and writing skills.

Papers	Streams/ Subject	Maximum Marks	No. of Questions	Duration
Paper 1	All Streams: English (Descriptive Test) to test the drafting skills {Precis/Essay/Comprehension}	100	3	60 minutes
Paper 2	General Stream: MCQs on subjects Commerce, Accountancy, Management, Finance, Costing, Companies Act, Economics and Pension Sector.	100	50	40 minutes
Paper 2	MCQs on Specialised subjects related to stream: Information Technology, Finance and Accounts Research (Economics), Legal and Official Language (Rajbhasha)	100	50	40 minutes

What is the PFRDA Grade A phase 3 exam pattern?

The phase III of the PFRDA Grade A exam is the Interview round. Candidates who will clear the Phase II will be shortlisted for this stage, where their communication skills, subject knowledge, and overall suitability for the role are assessed. The interview can be conducted in Hindi or English, depending on the candidate’s preference.

• Weightage: Phase II marks contribute 85% to the final selection, while the interview carries 15% weightage.
• Focus Areas: Domain knowledge, understanding of the pension and financial sector, analytical thinking, and clarity of expression.
• Objective: To evaluate the candidate’s personality, problem-solving approach, and readiness for the professional role.

The interview is the final stage of the selection process and plays an important role in determining the candidate’s overall score for final selection.

What is the selection process for PFRDA Grade A officers?

The PFRDA Grade A selection process is a structured three-stage evaluation designed to assess candidates on knowledge, aptitude, and suitability for the role. Phase I is an online screening examination with objective-type questions, Phase II is a descriptive and specialized online exam, and Phase III is a personal interview.

Marks obtained in Phase II and Phase III are combined to determine the final selection, with Phase II carrying 85% weightage and the interview 15% weightage. Phase I is only for shortlisting candidates for Phase II and does not contribute to final selection.

Phase	Purpose	Key Points
Phase I	Screening Exam	Objective-type MCQs; used only for shortlisting; negative marking 0.25 per wrong answer
Phase II	Main Exam	Combination of descriptive and MCQs; shortlisting for Phase III; carries 85% weightage for final selection
Phase III	Interview	Assesses personality, communication, and suitability; carries 15% weightage

What is the PFRDA Grade A officer syllabus ?

The PFRDA Grade A syllabus has been curated to test both the basic skills and professional knowledge. Phase I focuses on common subjects like English, Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude, and General Awareness, which are essential for any aspirant. Phase II evaluates your understanding of specialized subjects based on your chosen stream. Finally, Phase III is the interview round, assessing candidates domain knowledge, analytical skills, and communication.

Phase	Paper	Subjects / Topics	Stream
Phase I	Paper 1	English Language, Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning, General Awareness (including Finance)	All Streams
Phase I	Paper 2	Professional Knowledge	General Stream & Specialized Streams (IT, Finance & Accounts, Research, Legal, Official Language)
Phase II	Paper 1	Descriptive English: Precis, Essay, Comprehension	All Streams (evaluated only if Paper 2 is qualified)
Phase II	Paper 2	Professional Knowledge MCQs	General Stream & Specialized Streams (IT, Finance & Accounts, Research, Legal, Official Language)
Phase III	Interview	Domain knowledge, analytical skills, communication	All Streams

PFRDA Grade A Syllabus 2026

For the professional knowledge, the stream wise syllabus is common for both phases. Similarly, the syllabus for Paper 1 of Phase 1 is common for all streams. Check out the detailed syllabus below:

What is the PFRDA Grade A syllabus for the English section?

Check out the PFRDA Grade A English Syllabus below:

• Reading comprehension
• Vocabulary
• Cloze test
• Fillers
• Sentence rearrangement
• Error detection
• Phrase replacement
• Sentence improvement

What is the PFRDA Grade A syllabus for the Reasoning section?

Check out the PFRDA Grade A Reasoning Syllabus below:

• Blood Relation
• Puzzles
• Seating Arrangement
• Direction & distance
• Input output
• Coding decoding
• Syllogism
• Alphanumeric series
• Inequality

What is the PFRDA Grade A syllabus for the Quantitative Aptitude section?

Check out the PFRDA Grade A Quantitative Aptitude Syllabus below:

• Data Interpretation (Bar Graph, Line Chart, Tabular, Caselet, Radar/Web, Pie Chart)
• Inequalities (Quadratic Equations)
• Number Series
• Approximation and Simplification
• Data Sufficiency
• Miscellaneous – Arithmetic Problems (HCF and LCM, Profit and Loss, SI & CI, Problem on Ages, Work and Time, Speed Distance and Time, Probability, Mensuration, Permutation and Combination, Average, Ratio and Proportion, Partnership, Problems on Boats and Stream, Problems on Trains, Mixture and Allegation, Pipes and Cisterns.

What is the PFRDA Grade A syllabus for the General Awareness section?

Check out the PFRDA Grade A General Awareness Syllabus below:

• Current affairs
• Questions related to Finance Sector
• Awards & honours
• Summits & conferences
• Index
• Economic affairs

PFRDA Grade A Syllabus for Paper 2 – General Stream (Common for both phases)

A. Commerce & Accountancy

a) Accounting as a financial information system;
b) Accounting Standards with specific reference to Accounting for Depreciation, Inventories, Revenue Recognition, Fixed Assets, Foreign Exchange Transactions, Investments.
c) Cash Flow Statement, Fund flow statement, Financial statement analysis; Ratio analysis;
d) Accounting for Share Capital Transactions including Bonus Shares, Right Shares.
e) Employees Stock Option and Buy-Back of Securities.
f) Preparation and Presentation of Company Final Accounts.

B. Management

a) Management: its nature and scope; The Management Processes; Planning, Organization,
Staffing, Directing and Controlling;
b) The Role of a Manager in an Organization. Leadership: The Tasks of a Leader;
c) Leadership Styles; Leadership Theories; A successful Leader versus an effective Leader.
d) Human Resource Development: Concept of HRD; Goals of HRD;
e) Motivation, Morale and Incentives: Theories of Motivation; How Managers Motivate; Concept of Morale; Factors determining morale; Role of Incentives in Building up Morale.
f) Communication: Steps in the Communication Process; Communication Channels; Oral versus Written Communication; Verbal versus non-verbal Communication; upward, downward and lateral communication; Barriers to Communication, Role of Information Technology.

C. Finance

1) Financial System
a) Role and Functions of Regulatory bodies in Financial Sector.
2) Financial Markets
a) Primary and Secondary Markets (Forex, Money, Bond, Equity, etc.), functions, instruments, recent developments.
3) General Topics
a) Basics of Derivatives: Forward, Futures and Swap
b) Recent Developments in the Financial Sector
c) Financial Inclusion- use of technology
d) Alternate source of finance, private and social cost-benefit, Public-Private Partnership
e) Direct and Indirect taxes; Non-tax sources of Revenue, GST, Finance Commission, Fiscal Policy, Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM).
f) Inflation: Definition, trends, estimates, consequences, and remedies (control): WPI, CPI –
components andtrends.

D. Costing

1) Overview of Cost and Management Accounting – Introduction to Cost and Management
Accounting, Objectives and Scope of Cost and Management Accounting.
2) Methods of Costing – Single Output/ Unit Costing, Job Costing, Batch Costing, Contract Costing Process/Operation Costing, Costing of Service Sectors.
3) Basics of Cost Control and Analysis – (i) Standard Costing, (ii) Marginal Costing, (iii) Budget and Budgetary Control.
4) Lean System and Innovation:-
a) Introduction to Lean System
b) Just-in-Time (JIT)
c) Kaizen Costing
d) 5 Ss
e) Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
f) Cellular Manufacturing/ One-Piece Flow Production Systems
g) Six Sigma (SS)
h) Introduction to Process Innovation and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)

E. Companies Act

The Companies Act, 2013 – Specific reference to Chapter III, Chapter IV, Chapter VIII, Chapter X, Chapter XI, Chapter XII and Chapter XXVII.

F. Economics

a) Demand and Supply, Market Structures, National Income: Concepts and Measurement, Classical & Keynesian Approach Determination of output and employment, Consumption Function, Investment Function, Multiplier and Accelerator, Demand and Supply for Money, IS–LM, Inflation and Phillips Curve, Business Cycles
b) Balance of Payments, Foreign Exchange Markets, Inflation, Monetary and Fiscal Policy, Nonbanking Financial Institutions.

G. Pension Sector

a) Status of pension sector in India
b) Types of retirement schemes in India and their features
c) National Pension System
d) Atal Pension Yojana
e) Annuity Plans
f) Basics of investment

PFRDA Grade A Syllabus for Paper 2 – Information Technology (Common for both Phases)

Check out the syllabus below:

Topic	Details
Database Concepts	ER‐model. Relational model: relational algebra, tuple calculus, Integrity constraints, normal forms. File organization, indexing (e.g., B and B+ trees), Transactions and concurrency control.
SQL Queries	Select, view, truncate, delete, update, alter, Inner join, different types of outer joins, use of aggregate functions, Union, intersection, except, in and exist clauses, nested queries
Programming Concepts (Java /C C++)	Program control (iteration, recursion, Functions), Scope of variables, Binding of variables & functions, Parameter passing, Functional and Logic Programming, OOPS Concepts, Inheritance, Class and object, Constructors, Functions, Exception Handling
Data Analytics Languages (Python / R)	Regex, Slicing, Data reshaping, Dataframes, Dictionaries and Sets, File Management, Classes and Functions, Data Mining, Lists, Importing and exporting data, charts and graphs
Algorithms for problem solving	Tree and graph traversals, connected components,Spanning trees, Shortest paths; hashing, Sorting, Searching; Design techniques (Greedy, DynamicProgramming, Divide- and-conquer)
NetworkingConcepts	ISO/OSI stack, LAN Technologies (Ethernet, Tokenring), TCP/UDP, IP, Basic concepts of switches, gateways, and routers, Application layer protocols (DNS, SMTP, POP, FTP, HTTP), Firewalls
Information & Cyber SecurityConcepts	Cyber Attacks, Software Development Security, Network security, Authentication, CIA – Confidentiality,Integrity and Availability, Network Audit, Systems Audit
Data warehousing	Data Extraction, Data Cleaning, Data Transformation,Data Loading, Metadata, Data Cube, Data Mart, Data Models,
Shell Programming	Shell Scripting Basics, Shell Variables, Shell Script Arguments, If Statement, Loop, Return, Basic UNIX commands

PFRDA Grade A Syllabus for Paper 2 – Research (Economics) (Common for both phases)

1. Economics: Demand and Supply, Market Structures, National Income, Determination of output and employment, Investment Function, Multiplier and Accelerator, Demand and Supply for Money, IS – LM, Inflation and Phillips Curve, Business Cycles, Inflation, Monetary and Fiscal Policy, Banking Functions, Public Goods, Tax & Non-Tax Revenue, Direct & Indirect Taxes, Fiscal Balance, Public Debt, Public Budget and Foreign Trade and Balance of Payments.
2. Statistics and Econometrics: Measures of Central tendency & dispersions, Correlation, Sampling methods, Sampling Distribution, Statistical Inferences, Hypothesis testing, Regression Analysis, Panel Data Analysis, Time Series Properties and Analysis.
3. Financial Institutions and Markets: Asymmetric Information, Market Model, Market Efficiency, Money, Credit and Capital Markets, Primary Market, Secondary Market, Commodity Markets, Mutual Funds, Stock Exchanges, Credit Rating Agencies, Pension And Insurance Markets, Foreign Exchange Markets, Role of International Financial Institutions, IS, IMF & World Bank.

PFRDA Grade A Syllabus for Paper 2 – Legal Stream (Common for both phases)

1. PFRDA Act, 2013,
2. IRDAI Act, 1999,
3. SEBI Act, 1992
4. Constitution of India –Preamble, Part I, Part III, Part IV, Part IVA, Part V, Part VI, Part VIII, Part IXA, Part IXB, Part XI, Part XII, Part XIII, Part XIV, Part XIVA, Part XX,
5. Law of Contracts –Indian Contract Act, 1872 (Chapters I to VI and VIII to X), Indian Partnership Act, 1932, Specific Relief Act, 1963,
6. Criminal Law –Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Chapters I, II, III, IV, V, VA, VI, IX, XVII, XXI, XXII,
   XXIII); Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973,
7. Law of Evidence –Indian Evidence Act, 1872,
8. Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 –Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VII, Schedule-I,
9. Administrative Law and Principles of Natural Justice,
10. Jurisprudence and Interpretation of Statutes,
11. Important Latin terms and maxims,
12. Law of Torts and Consumer Protection Act, 2019,
13. Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 –Part I, Part III, Part IV,
14. Transfer of Property Act, 1882 –Chapter III, Chapter IV, Chapter V,
15. Law of Trusts –Parties to a Trust Deed and Duties of Trustees,
16. Corporate Law –Companies Act, 2013 (Chapter I, Chapter II, Chapter III, Chapter IV, Chapter V, Chapter VII, Chapter VIII, Chapter IX, Chapter X, Chapter XI, Chapter XII, Chapter XIII, Chapter XV, Chapter XVI, Chapter XXVII, Chapter XXVIII, Chapter XXIX); Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008; Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Part I, Part II),
17. Taxation –General principles

PFRDA Grade A Syllabus for Paper 2 – Finance and Accounts (Common for both Phases)

1. The Basic Financial Statement
   Trial Balance
   o Balance Sheet
   o Cash flow statement
   o Income Statement
2. Analysis of Financial Statement Ratio
3. Break Even Analysis
4. IND AS
5. Standard on Auditing
6. Cost accounting concepts (basics)
   o Marginal costing
   o Cost volume profit analysis
   o Cost sheet
   o Forecasting
7. Management accounting
   o Cost of capital
   o Capital structure
   o Capital budgeting
   o Sources of finance
8. Corporate accounting
9. Business law
   o Negotiable instruments
   o Contract act
   o Partnership act
   o Company law (Go through all these laws with amendments)
10. Income Tax Act
11. GST
12. Knowledge of IT and Digital Transaction
13. Compliance of KYC Norms
14. Financial System : Role and Functions of Regulatory bodies in Financial Sector.
15. Financial Markets: Primary and Secondary Markets (Forex, Money, Bond, Equity, etc.), functions, instruments, recent developments.
16. General Topics
    a) Basics of Derivatives: Forward, Futures and Swap
    b) Recent Developments in the Financial Sector
    c) Financial Inclusion- use of technology
    d) Alternate source of finance, private and social cost-benefit, Public-Private Partnership
    e) Direct and Indirect taxes; Non-tax sources of Revenue, Finance Commission, Fiscal Policy, Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM),
    f) Inflation: Definition, trends, estimates, consequences, and remedies (control): WPI, CPI – components and trends.
    g) Economics: Capital market, Money market, Micro and macro economics concepts and Updates related to money market and RBI policies

PFRDA Grade A Syllabus for Paper 2 – Official Language (Rajbhasha) (Common for both Phases)

1. भारत सरकार की राजभाषा नीतत (Official Language Policy of the Govt. of India) सेसंबंधित प्रश्न
2. हिन्दी सेअंग्रेजी अनुवाद [शब्द / वाक्ांश / वाक् / Terms / Phrases / Sentences]
3. अंग्रेजी सेहिन्दी अनुवाद [शब्द / वाक्ांश / वाक् / Terms / Phrases / Sentences]
4. हिन्दी सेअंग्रेजी – ववधिक शब्दावली (Legal Terminology)
5. अंग्रेजी सेहिन्दी – ववधिक शब्दावली (Legal Terminology)
6. हिन्दी सेअंग्रेजी – पेंशन / प्रशासतनक / बकैंकंग / प ंजी बाजार / अर्थशास्त्र / सामाजजक सुरक्षा शब्दावली (Pension / Administrative / Banking / Capital Market / Economics / Social Security Terminology)
7. अंग्रेजी सेहिन्दी – पेंशन / प्रशासतनक / बकैंकंग / प ंजी बाजार / अर्थशास्त्र / सामाजजक सुरक्षा शब्दावली (Pension / Administrative / Banking / Capital Market / Economics / Social Security Terminology)

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