NABARD SO Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility

Phase I: Preliminary, 120 minutes composite

Only the Merit section counts for the Mains shortlist. The five qualifying tests must be passed but add nothing. Bilingual except English Language.

Phase II: Mains, for a specialist discipline

Descriptive answers are typed, in English or Hindi, with Remington and Inscript keyboards for Hindi. Paper II objective questions are paragraph, numerical or application based, at 1 or 2 marks each. The Legal Mains has the same structure.

• A quarter of the question's marks off per wrong answer, in both phases.
• Scores are equated across sessions and reported to two decimal places.
• Calling ratios: up to 1:25 for the Mains and 1:3 for the interview, and NABARD can reduce them.
• Cut-offs apply to each test and to the total, discipline by discipline.

NABARD calls the syllabus indicative, not exhaustive, and expects you to know current developments and Acts in each subject.

Paper I, General English (all disciplines): essay, précis, comprehension and business or office correspondence. 100 marks, typed.

Paper II is your discipline's paper; each discipline's syllabus is in the advertisement. For General it's ESI and ARD.

Economic and Social Issues

The Indian economy's structure and underdevelopment; liberalisation, globalisation, reforms and privatisation; inflation; poverty and employment, its measurement and government programmes; population; agriculture, food security and rural credit; industrial and labour policy, regional imbalance and PSUs; rural banking and financial sector reforms; the IMF, World Bank, WTO and regional cooperation.

Agriculture and Rural Development

Agricultural production, finance and marketing, globalisation's impact, food security and farm management. Rural economy and backwardness; rural population and workforce, including farmers, labourers, artisans, traders, forest dwellers and handlooms; Panchayati Raj Institutions; and MGNREGA, NRLM Aajeevika, rural drinking water, Swachh Bharat, rural housing and PURA.

The thirteen specialist disciplines

Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary, Finance, Computer and Information Technology, Agriculture Engineering, Plantation and Horticulture, Fisheries, Food Processing, Land Development and Soil Science, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Media Specialist (content, social media, branding, editing, post-production, design, film making) and Economics.

Phase I is the same for every discipline, and ESI and ARD are 80 of its 100 merit marks.

One discipline only. RDBS General and another RDBS discipline can't both be chosen, and Legal or Protocol and Security applicants can't also apply for RDBS.

Qualification

Your final result must be declared on or before the reference date. PwBD candidates applying against unreserved posts don't get the lower percentage, but do get age and fee relaxation.

Age

21 to 30 on the reference date (1 November 2025 for 2025-26).

No cumulative relaxation, and none at all for Protocol and Security.

Reservation

PwBD reservation is horizontal within RDBS only. PwBD candidates can apply for Legal or Protocol and Security, but with no concession except age (and none for Protocol and Security). Reserved candidates where no post is reserved for them apply as UR. Creamy layer OBC apply as General.

Scribes: you arrange and pay for one. For any discipline other than General, the scribe must be from a different academic stream from the post's. You get 20 minutes extra per hour, but only if you asked for it in the application.

Eligibility is checked at interview or joining. False information cancels your candidature.

1. Phase I, shortlisted on the 100-mark Merit section, up to 1:25.
2. Phase II Mains, 200 marks.
3. Phase III Psychometric Test, 90 minutes, MCQ, mandatory. Skip it and you lose the interview.
4. Interview, 50 marks, up to 1:3.

Final rank is Mains plus Interview; Phase I doesn't count. Merit lists are discipline by discipline, so a Fisheries candidate only competes for the Fisheries posts.

Ties: higher Mains marks, then higher qualification (or higher graduation marks), then the older candidate.

You can take the exam and the interview in Hindi or English. Travel to Phases I to III is at your own cost. Calculators, phones and any other devices are banned. A re-exam is at NABARD's discretion, and refusing a centre change or delayed sitting costs you your candidature. Legal disputes go to Mumbai only.

Starting basic pay is ₹44,500 a month on the Grade 'A' scale:

44500 − 2500(4) − 54500 − 2850(7) − 74450 − EB − 2850(4) − 85850 − 3300(1) − 89150, over 17 years.

With DA, Local Compensatory Allowance, HRA and Grade Allowance, starting gross pay is about ₹1,00,000 a month.

Perks include bank accommodation (subject to availability) and a furnishing allowance, vehicle maintenance, newspaper, internet and phone reimbursement, a book grant, a free dispensary and medical reimbursement, interest-free festival advance, LTC, and cheap loans for housing, car, education, consumer goods and a computer.

Specialist officers can be given other work as the Bank needs.

Apply online only at nabard.org. In 2025-26 the window was 8 to 30 November 2025.

Plus GST, non-refundable. NABARD staff pay and are reimbursed on producing the receipt.

• One application, one discipline. Extra applications forfeit their fees.
• Your final result, and for CA and CS your ICAI or ICSI membership, must be in place by the reference date.
• Pay by card, net banking, IMPS, cash card or wallet. Don't press back or refresh. No e-Receipt means the payment failed; log in and pay again.
• PwBD certificates must be dated on or before the closing date. Category certificates must come from the authorities listed in the advertisement.
• If employed, bring a discharge certificate from your employer before appointment.

Corrigenda appear only on the NABARD website, and a notice there or to your registered e-mail counts as served. Problems with the form, fee or call letter go to cgrs.ibps.in, with "NABARD Officer Grade 'A' (RDBS/Legal/Protocol and Security) DR" in the subject.

The employer is the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, an all-India apex body wholly owned by the Government of India.

• RDBS: the main officer cadre, with General and thirteen specialist disciplines.
• Legal: interpreting statutes such as the NABARD Act 1981, RBI Act 1934, Banking Regulation Act 1949 and Companies Act 2013, and drafting pleadings and briefs to counsel.
• Protocol and Security: no Mains and no age relaxation.

NABARD also hires specialists on contract department by department through the year, by shortlisting and interview rather than the Grade 'A' exam. Recent roles include Data, Application and Technology Architects, Carbon Consultant, Climate Change Specialist, Risk Managers, a Senior Statistical Analyst, a Data Scientist and BI Developer, and Producer Organisation, Geographical Indications and Incubation Centre Managers.

NABARD warns about fake job offers: it never asks candidates to report to a named individual, and it posts the roll numbers of all selected candidates on its website.

All three phases are online, with date, time and venue on the call letter. Phase I is for all three services; the Mains is for RDBS and Legal only; the 90-minute Psychometric Test is for anyone seeking an interview. You travel at your own cost.

The Mains descriptive answers are typed, with Remington and Inscript keyboards for Hindi. No calculators, phones or other devices. NABARD may shift you to another centre or rerun the exam if something goes wrong, and refusing loses your candidature.

Advertisement No. 05/Grade A/2025-26

In 2025-26 the advertisement came in early November, with about three weeks to apply, the Preliminary in mid-December and the Mains about five weeks later. Watch Career Notices. Contract specialist posts are advertised there through the year.

Call letters for each phase are downloaded from Career Notices on nabard.org, with an Information Handout (a separate one for Grade A RDBS Specialist in 2025) describing the test interface. The Psychometric Test date is announced separately.

Being called doesn't confirm eligibility. Scribe or compensatory time must have been requested in the application. Download problems go to cgrs.ibps.in.

Final rank is out of 250: the Mains (200) plus the Interview (50). The Preliminary only shortlists, and the Psychometric Test is unscored but compulsory.

For 2025 NABARD published Preliminary cut-offs for RDBS, Legal and Protocol and Security, Mains cut-offs for RDBS and Legal, select and wait list cut-offs, and individual score cards, all on Career Notices. It can change vacancy numbers, leave posts unfilled, or cancel the recruitment.

NABARD publishes Preliminary, Mains and select and wait list cut-offs for each discipline, plus individual score cards, on Career Notices. Look up the figures for your own discipline.

Cut-offs apply to each test and to the total, so you can clear the total and still fail one test. The Preliminary cut-off that matters is out of the 100 Merit marks, not 200. With 91 posts across 16 disciplines in 2025, some disciplines had one or two posts.

Score in ESI and ARD. Only the Merit section (General Awareness 20, ESI 40, ARD 40) decides the Mains shortlist. Prepare the five qualifying tests just to pass them. Specialists are shortlisted on ESI and ARD too, not on their discipline, and this is where they usually fall short.

Pick your discipline carefully. You get one. In 2025 Computer and IT had 10 posts; Agriculture Engineering and Media Specialist had 1 each.

Practise typing. 150 of the 200 Mains marks are typed descriptive answers. For Hindi, practise on Remington or Inscript.

Drill the formats. Paper I is essay, précis, comprehension and office correspondence, three questions in 90 minutes. Paper II is four of six questions (two of 15 marks, two of 10) in 90 minutes. Write them by hand first, then type them.

Mind the penalty. A quarter off per wrong answer in both phases. Phase I gives you about 36 seconds a question.

Follow current policy for ESI and ARD, since NABARD expects current developments and Acts.

Don't skip the Psychometric Test. No marks, but no interview without it.

Experienced specialists should also watch for contract posts, which are filled by interview.

No previous year papers are available for NABARD Grade 'A'. NABARD says it doesn't share question papers with anyone, even after the exam.

The closest official guides are the advertisement, with the full syllabus, and the Information Handout and discipline-wise cut-offs on Career Notices. The last advertisement came out on 8 November 2025.

• NABARD
• Career Notices: advertisements, call letters, handouts, cut-offs, score cards and contract specialist posts
• Advertisement No. 05/Grade A/2025-26
• Fake recruitment notices caution
• Candidate Grievance Redressal, cgrs.ibps.in

Helpdesk: recruitment@nabard.org, 022-68120083 and 022-26539813.

Is there a separate NABARD Specialist Officer exam?

No. Specialist disciplines are part of the Grade 'A' recruitment. Contract specialist posts are separate and filled by interview.

Can I apply for more than one discipline?

No. Only your last application counts, and the other fees are forfeited.

Does all of Phase I count?

No. Only the 100-mark Merit section decides the Mains shortlist.

Is there negative marking?

Yes, a quarter of the question's marks, in both phases.

Is the Psychometric Test compulsory?

Yes. You aren't called for interview without it.

What decides the final rank?

Mains plus Interview.

What is the pay?

₹44,500 basic, about ₹1,00,000 gross a month to start.

How many posts are there?

91 in 2025-26: 85 RDBS (48 General, 37 specialist), 2 Legal and 4 Protocol and Security.

Are cut-offs published?

Yes, for each discipline and stage, with individual score cards.