IRDA Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility, Important Dates

Phase 1: online, 160 marks, 90 minutes

One composite 90 minutes. You must clear each test and the aggregate. A quarter mark is deducted for a wrong answer. None of these marks reach the final result.

Phase 2: three descriptive papers, 300 marks

The same papers for every stream. Questions appear on screen and you write answers by hand on answer sheets. No negative marking. Papers are in English and Hindi, except English.

Interview

Shortlisting is on the Phase 2 aggregate. Final merit weights Phase 2 and the interview 85:15.

Phase 1

Reasoning: puzzles and seating arrangement, syllogism, inequality, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction sense, data sufficiency, input-output. English Language: reading comprehension, cloze test, error spotting, sentence improvement, vocabulary. Quantitative Aptitude: data interpretation, number series, simplification, quadratic equations and standard arithmetic. General Awareness: current affairs leaning towards insurance, finance and the economy, government schemes, regulatory developments and static awareness.

Phase 2 Paper I: English

Essay, precis writing, comprehension and business or office correspondence.

Phase 2 Paper II: Economic and Social Issues impacting Insurance

Growth and development, measurement of growth, poverty alleviation and employment, inflation, economic reforms in India, globalisation, international economic institutions, social structure in India, demographic trends, urbanisation and migration, gender issues, social justice, human development, education and health, with their bearing on insurance.

Phase 2 Paper III: Insurance and Management

Insurance: history and development of insurance in India, principles of insurance, life and general insurance products, the insurance contract, reinsurance, underwriting and claims, actuarial basics, intermediaries and distribution, penetration and density, micro-insurance and government schemes, and the regulatory framework: the Insurance Act, the IRDAI Act, and IRDAI's regulations and circulars.

Management: planning, organising, staffing, leading and controlling, leadership theories, human resource development, motivation, communication, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and workplace ethics.

Educational qualification (2024 notification)

Each stream is a separate application and fee. You can apply to the Generalist stream and up to two specialisations.

Age

21 to 30 years on the closing date. Relaxations: 3 years for OBC, 5 for SC and ST, 10 for PwBD (more for PwBD in reserved categories). They can't be combined.

1. Phase 1: online, 160 marks, 90 minutes. Qualifying, with a cut-off in each test and in aggregate. About 20 times the vacancies go through.
2. Phase 2: three descriptive papers, 300 marks. The interview shortlist is on this alone.
3. Interview.

Final merit = Phase 2 and interview, weighted 85:15.

Pay comes from IRDAI's own staff regulations, not a central pay commission. Dearness, house, qualification, city compensatory and grade allowances come on top.

Postings are to the head office in Hyderabad or a regional office. A regulator has few offices, so there's little risk of a far-off transfer and little choice of city.

Apply online through the link on IRDAI's Notifications/Vacancies page. IRDAI recruits infrequently, so often nothing is open.

The fee is non-refundable and is paid once for both phases. Each stream needs its own application and fee.

Have ready: your degree and, for a specialist stream, the professional qualification; category and PwBD certificates in the prescribed formats; and proof of any experience you claim.

One employer: the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, the statutory regulator set up under the IRDAI Act 1999, with its head office in Hyderabad.

IRDAI isn't an insurer or a bank. An Assistant Manager works on regulation and supervision: licensing and monitoring insurers and intermediaries, product and rate approval, policyholder protection and drafting regulations.

Phase 1 is held online at centres across India, chosen when you apply. Phase 2 runs at fewer centres, since far fewer candidates reach it. IRDAI notifies the interview venue separately.

Centre change requests aren't accepted, and IRDAI may allot a different centre or cancel one.

IRDAI has no fixed calendar. It announced plans to recruit around 40 Assistant Managers a year over 2025 to 2027, but only the year's advertisement fixes the dates. The 2024 cycle was notified on 21 August 2024 and closed on 20 September 2024.

Advertisements appear on the Notifications/Vacancies page on irdai.gov.in.

Call letters for Phase 1, Phase 2 and the interview are downloaded separately through the recruitment link on irdai.gov.in. Nothing comes by post.

• The printed call letter.
• A photo ID in original of the type the call letter names, plus a photocopy.
• The photograph used in the application.

For the interview, bring the documents the call letter lists; without them you may not be allowed to sit it.

Phase 1 decides who sits Phase 2 and then counts for nothing. The interview shortlist is on the Phase 2 aggregate, and final merit combines Phase 2 and the interview at 85:15.

Results, the selection list and marks go up on IRDAI's results page. The 2024 selection list named 49 candidates.

IRDAI publishes a cut-off notice after each cycle, giving the Phase 2 marks of the last candidate shortlisted and the combined score of the last candidate selected, by category. See the 2024 notice and the 2023 notice.

No Phase 1 cut-offs are published, and none are announced in advance for any phase.

1. Treat Phase 1 as a gate. Clear every section and move on; its marks vanish afterwards.
2. Practise writing to time. Phase 2 is three hours of handwritten answers carrying 85% of the result.
3. Read IRDAI's own material for the insurance papers: the Act, the regulations, the annual report and recent circulars, not someone's summary of them.
4. Don't neglect Management. It shares Paper III with Insurance, and candidates from insurance or economics backgrounds tend to under-prepare it.
5. Answer everything in Phase 2. There's no penalty there, unlike the quarter mark in Phase 1.
6. Check your stream's qualification exactly, including the 60%.

No previous year papers or answer keys are available. IRDAI has never released them.

The pattern and syllabus are in the notification, posted on the Notifications/Vacancies page during a cycle.

IRDAI official website: irdai.gov.in

Vacancies and notifications: irdai.gov.in vacancies

Careers: career at IRDAI

2024 Assistant Manager notification (PDF): Recruitment 2024

Results: irdai.gov.in results

Annual reports (reading for the insurance papers): annual reports

What post does this exam recruit for?

Assistant Manager (Grade A) at IRDAI, in a Generalist stream and specialist streams.

Do Phase 1 marks count towards the final result?

No. Final merit is Phase 2 and the interview, 85:15.

Is Phase 2 descriptive?

Yes. Three 100-mark papers, no negative marking, the same for every stream.

How many posts are there?

About 40 a year; 49 in 2024.

Do I need an insurance background?

Not for the Generalist stream, but Paper III examines insurance in depth, so you'll need to learn it properly either way.