The NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) Grade A exam is a highly competitive examination for recruitment to the position of Assistant Manager. All the details regarding the exam pattern will be released in NABARD Grade A Notification. We have tried to cover the NABARD Grade A Exam Pattern for both phases in the below subsections in a crisp and short form.
NABARD Grade A Exam Pattern 2025
The first stage of the selection process is the Preliminary Exam, which is an objective-type test. The Prelims exam is only for shortlisting and does not contribute to the final merit list. Candidates must focus on Agriculture & Rural Development (ARD) and Economic & Social Issues (ESI) as they form a major part of the syllabus.
NABARD Grade A Exam Pattern for Prelims
Reasoning, English, Computer, Quantitative Aptitude, and Decision Making sections are qualifying in nature and the other 3 sections i.e. GA, ESI & ARD sections are merit sections. Check out some more important information on NABARD Grade A Exam Pattern below for Prelims:
- Duration: Composite Time of 120 Minutes
- Nature of Exam: Bilingual (Except English Language)
- Marking Scheme: 1/4th mark of that question will be deducted for every wrong answer.
| Name of the Test | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks |
|---|
| Test of Reasoning | 20 | 20 |
| English Language | 30 | 30 |
| Computer Knowledge | 20 | 20 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 20 | 20 |
| Decision Making | 10 | 10 |
| General Awareness | 20 | 20 |
| ESI | 40 | 40 |
| ARD | 40 | 40 |
| Total | 200 | 200 |
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NABARD Grade A Mains Exam Pattern 2025
The candidates who will clear the NABARD Grade A Prelims Exam will be able to sit for the Mains Exam. Phase 2 is considered tough and the subjects are common so it is advisable that candidates must start covering the NABARD Grade A Syllabus for Phase 2 along with Phase 1. Also check out some of the common points in NABARD Phase 2 Pattern for both the posts:
- Descriptive Answers are to be typed using a keyboard either in English or Hindi (Remington and Inscript keyboards).
- In Paper 2 Descriptive portion, the candidates have to attempt 4 questions out of 6 questions. In these 4 questions, 2 questions attempted must be of 15 marks and 2 questions of 10 marks.
- On the completion of the mains exam, a psychometric test will be conducted. This test is mandatory.
NABARD Grade A Exam Pattern (Generalist Officers)
This is the post for which maximum applications are sent to NABARD which is why the competition level becomes fierce. For the post of Generalist Officer, check out the NABARD Grade A Exam Pattern 2025 below:
- The maximum marks for paper 1 (English) are 100 marks. Marks for paper 2 (ESI &ARD Objective & Descriptive) are 50 marks each.
- In paper 1, only 3 questions are asked.
- In paper 2, 30 questions are asked for objective part and 6 questions are asked for descriptive part.
| Paper | Subject | Time |
|---|
| Paper I | General English
(Descriptive) | 90 Min |
| Paper II | ESI & ARD
(Objective) | 30 Min |
| Paper II | ESI & ARD (Descriptive) | 90 Min |
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NABARD Grade A Exam Pattern (Specialist Officers & Rajbhasha)
In Paper 2 Objective paper, some questions may carry 2 marks each and some questions may carry 1 mark each. Also, the number of questions for General English are 3, and for stream specific, it is 30 for objective part and 6 for descriptive part.
| Paper | Subject | Marks | Time |
|---|
| Paper I | General English
(Descriptive) | 100 | 90 Min |
| Paper II | Stream Specific
(Objective) | 50 | 30 Min |
| Paper II | Stream Specific (Descriptive) | 50 | 90 Min |
Note: After the conduction of the mains exam, a psychometric test will be conducted. The psychometric test will be MCQ based for 90 minutes duration.
NABARD Grade A Interview Pattern
Candidates who get the minimum qualifying sectional cut offs, and the overall cut offs can progress to NABARD Grade A and NABARD Grade B Interview. The interview will be conducted for 50 marks. Candidate may opt for an interview either in Hindi or English. The calling ratio to qualify for the interview would be a maximum of 1:3. NABARD Grade B interviews is worth 75 marks. You can give it in your chosen language, English or Hindi. You will be asked questions related to your background, conceptual understanding, logical problem-solving ability, and leadership skills.
Negative Marking in NABARD Grade A
Some aspirants remain confused about the NABARD Grade A Negative Marking. The aspirants must note that there is 1/4th negative marking in NABARD Grade A. This means that in both Phase 1 & Phase 2, for every wrong answer, 1/4th of the marks assigned to that question will be the negative marking.
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