SEBI Grade A Exam Pattern 2023: Phase 1 & Phase 2
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) keeps an eye on the securities market and creates rules and guidelines to protect investors’ interests. The SEBI Grade A exam is an all-India exam designed to recruit Assistant Manager candidates. Around 78085 applications were received in 2022 for the SEBI grade A exam. A SEBI grade A exam analysis is all you need before appearing for the exam.
SEBI Grade A Exam Pattern: Overview
Compared to other examinations, the SEBI Grade A exam has a higher overall difficulty level. And candidates must analyze the pattern during preparation or revision. The good attempts of each section have been mentioned in the table below.
| Section | Good Attempts | Difficulty Level |
| English Language | 12-15 | Easy |
| Reasoning | 11-14 | Moderate |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 08-11 | Moderate |
| General Awareness | 12-14 | Moderate to Difficult |
| Total | 43-54 | Moderate |
SEBI Grade A Exam Pattern: Phase 1
The marks obtained in Phase 1 are only considered to select candidates for the Phase 2 examination process. They are not considered for final selection through the Phase 1 exam.
Phase 1 contains a good mix of questions from different sections. For a better understanding, the SEBI grade A exam analysis Phase 1 is given below:
- Quantitative Aptitude: Quadratic equations, missing number series, and other topics are covered in this section. Even though the level of difficulty is typically moderate, preparation is required.
- Reasoning: The section contains questions from Inference-based Critical Reasoning, Coding-decoding, and other topics. The level of difficulty is usually moderate. Students can practice for the section with the help of mock tests and previous year’s questions.
- English: Compared to other subjects, English has easier questions. To attempt them, one must be clear with grammatical rules. They typically have questions about Reading Comprehension, Jumbled sentences, and Error Detection, among other topics.
- General Awareness: Questions in this section are a mix of recent news or current affairs. They also include questions from topics like the Union Budget and the Economic Survey.
Analyzing the latest exams better to understand their format, pattern, and structure is also important.
SEBI Grade A Exam Pattern: Logical Reasoning
This segment mostly contains questions connected with series, coding-decoding, blood relations, arrangement, and puzzles. The difficulty level of this section is usually moderate to difficult.
| Topic | No. of Questions | Difficulty level |
| Puzzles (Linear/Circle/Seating Arrangement) | 15 or less | moderate to difficult |
| Coding-Decoding | 2 | moderate |
| Critical Reasoning | 2 | moderate to difficult |
| Forward-Backward Series | 1-2 | moderate |
SEBI Grade A Exam Pattern: English Language
Some candidates may need help with the SEBI Grade A exam’s English section. However, it is easier than other sections, according to the patterns of previous SEBI Grade A examinations. It would help if you had a good vocabulary to do well on the English portion of the test.
| Topic | No. of Questions | Difficulty level |
| Reading Comprehension | 8 or less | moderate to difficult |
| Jumbled Paragraphs | 5 | moderate to difficult |
| Error Detection | 4 | moderate |
| Word Replacement | 3 | moderate |
| Fill in the Blanks | 3 | moderate |
SEBI Grade A Exam Pattern: Quantitative Aptitude
This section usually contains questions related to arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data interpretation. The difficulty level of the Quantitative Aptitude section in the SEBI Grade A exam is usually moderate to difficult.
| Topic | No. of Questions | Difficulty level |
| Data Interpretation | 5 | moderate to difficult |
| Caselet DI | 3 | moderate to difficult |
| Missing Series | 3 | moderate |
| Quadratic Equation | 2 | moderate |
| Arithmetic Word Problems | 9-10 | moderate to difficult |
SEBI Grade A Exam Pattern: General Awareness
According to the SEBI grade A exam analysis phase 1, the section contains questions from different topics each time. This also includes current affairs. Other topics include – the budget and economic survey, the banking and financial sector, the stock market, and the most recent developments in the financial sector. Overall, the difficulty level of general awareness was moderate to difficult.
SEBI Grade A Exam Pattern: Phase 2
Questions from the general stream include commerce, economics, accounting, etc. It is marked out of a total of 100 marks. The section lasts for forty minutes. There are a total of six to eight questions based on formulas. This section has a moderate difficulty level.
- The Phase 2 Examination of SEBI Grade A consists of two papers.
- Paper 2 lasts for forty minutes. However, 180 minutes are allotted for the IT stream.
- The first paper is descriptive, while the second is objective.
- There will be bilingual question papers.
- On each incorrect response, there is a negative marking of 1/4 marks.
The SEBI grade A phase 2 exam analysis for each section is given below:
| Subject | No. of Questions | Difficulty Level |
| Finance | 6-7 | Moderate |
| Management | 5-7 | Easy to Moderate |
| Costing | 5-6 | Moderate to Difficult |
| Commerce | 6-7 | Moderate |
| Economics | 8-10 | Moderate |
| Companies Act | 6-7 | Moderate |
| Accounting | 5-6 | Moderate to Difficult |
SEBI Grade A Exam Pattern: Problem Sample
Based on the SEBI grade A exam analysis, these are some of the previously asked questions that can help understand the difficulty level of the exam.
- In a certain code language, PIZZA is written as 11181126. What is the code for ABORT?
- Which folk dance of Uttarakhand is included in UNESCO’s intangible heritage list?
- What is the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit permitted by the government in the Banking-public Sector?
- A bag contains Rs. 1, Rs. 2, and Rs. 5 coins in a ratio of 19 ∶ 5 ∶ 3. When the total amount was calculated, it turned out to be Rs. 880. Find the number of coins of each type.
SEBI Grade A Exam Pattern: FAQs
It levels from moderate to difficult. There are some difficult and some moderately difficult questions in the exam.
Candidates can anticipate earning an average salary of Rs. 73,000, with housing.
Candidates must check SEBI news and plans. They should attempt mock tests and papers. And reread the highlights of the news about the financial and economic sectors.
After joining, a SEBI Grade A Officer is placed on probation for two years. The selected candidate becomes a permanent SEBI officer upon completing the probation period.
A SEBI Grade A Officer typically works from 9:00 in the morning to 5:00 in the evening. These timings may change depending on the workload, the department, or the circumstances.