Every year millions of aspirants have applied to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) after it advertised for Grade A Assistant manager grade to join the market watchdog. Business Standard report shows that for every 1 position there are 1400 candidates, a statistic that makes Sebi roughly 10 times harder to get into (statistically) than Google.

Google, whose employee benefits include massage and concierge services, is reported to have received more than a million applications and selected a few thousand candidates each year. Foreign media reports included a figure of 130 applicants for each candidate selected.

Contents

1. SEBI Grade A Exam Pattern
2. Section-wise marks distribution
3. Section-wise strategy for paper 1
4. Strategy for Phase 1 Paper 2

SEBI Grade A Exam pattern

SEBI Grade A preliminary examination has two papers paper 1 has four sections General Awareness, Quantitative Aptitude, English language, and Reasoning. Paper 2 is completely stream related. SEBI Grade A preliminary examination has two papers paper 1 has four sections General Awareness, Quantitative Aptitude, English language, and Reasoning. Paper 2 is completely stream related. Both the papers will have Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ’s) with 100 marks each to qualify in this round you have to secure marks of 30% and 40% respectively even you have to note that you have to maintain an aggregate cut off 40% to step up to the next round.

SEBI Grade A mains examination has two papers. Paper 1 is about descriptive tests of English and you will get 60 minutes to finish it.paper 2 is discipline-related and it is a multiple-choice question(MCQ) for this section 40 minutes time is allocated. Total no of marks 200 and to qualify in this round you have to secure a cut of 30% and 40% with aggregated cut off of 40% to appear for the next round.

Section-wise marks distribution

Here we share the 2018 and 2019 SEBI Grade A exam analysis. The SEBI Grade A exam is conducted in three phases, so we are giving you the preliminary phase analysis now.

Quantitative Aptitude

This section has been very easy. This section has been very easy. These types of questions can be seen in clerical-level examinations. There were two sets of interpretation data that were fairly easy to use. Anyone who is quick to calculate and approximate can answer 30 questions within 30 minutes.

Reasoning

This section has been of moderate difficulty. The difficulty of 25 questions was very easy. Few questions have been very difficult. The candidates who left the questions saved a lot of time and will be able to score on the exam.

Five questions were asked from the roundtable, and five questions were asked about the sitting arrangement. The level of reasoning has been easy to moderate. The following questions have been raised about the puzzles and the seating arrangement:

Floor-based puzzle

Order & Ranking based jigsaw-Arrangement of 6 ropes of varying lengths and colors

Five questions were asked from the roundtable, and five questions were asked about the sitting arrangement.

General Awareness

This was the only tough section of the exam. Most of the questions were from core finance. It was an easy section for a chartered accountant, but it was a very difficult section for MBAs. Many questions have been asked about national government schemes, international organizations, financial terms, banking terms, RBI notifications, annual budget, etc.

English

The level of the paper was easy to moderate. There were two sets of reading comprehension with approximately six questions in each set. The set of questions with Reading Comprehension also includes one or two questions based on vocabulary, i.e. the identification of synonyms and antonyms. Passages of reading comprehensions were based on Small, Large, and Medium Enterprises The other RCs were related to education.

Section-wise strategy for paper 1

Before getting into the preparation strategy we should understand a few things like SEBI syllabus, detailed analysis of previous year questions, etc. These subject-wise tips will guide you to prepare in a systematic way.

General Awareness

This is the most scoring section if you want to secure your rank in SEBI Grade A. In this section, there is less chance of the wrong attempt because in this either you know or you do not know the answer. So the most important factor where you will focus on to score more in this section.

1. Read daily current affairs to stay updated.
2. Go through monthly and yearly current affairs to boost your preparation.
3. Make yourself stay updated with the latest union budget and economy budget.
4. Make sure you update yourself about news and announcements related to SEBI.
5. Keep an eye on major events, ranking on India in different surveys, development in banking industries, Government schemes, and policies.
6.  Spend an hour daily to master the general awareness section.

English

English plays a crucial role in most of the competitive examinations. Follow these steps to strengthen your English skill which will help you out in any competitive exam.

1. In the beginning, try to spend more time learning grammar rules because it will help you to solve many questions in the SEBI examination.
2. Go through the commonly asked word list and try to revise their meaning in the vocabulary section.
3. Reading the newspaper daily will help you to boost your reading skill as well as vocabulary building.
4. You will practice through the mock exams to get to know where you stand, give at least one mock practice set daily it will improve your accuracy.
5. Give special attention to cloze test,RC, and subject-verb agreement.

Quantitative Aptitude

This is the scoring section but the only requirement is you are well versed with basic and you have done enough practice which will gear up to speed and accuracy which will help you to score more in the actual examination.

1. Numbers always have more weightage so start playing with numbers solve as many questions as possible then you surely able to score 10 marks and it is the easiest portion to score more.
2. In arithmetic you should well versed with concepts and formula majorly percentage,Ratio because these two section plays an important role in an examination. 
3. Before going to the exam you should give enough mocks and try to analyze where which section you are doing mistakes then only you understand your strongest part to score more.

Reasoning

Reasoning is the section that has various types of questions, it does not have any formula so solve as many questions as possible to cover each category of question. The practice is key here to score more in this section. Give as much mock possible then only it is possible to attempt as much as a question in this section. Practice more seating arrangement,puzzle, blood relation, syllogism.

Strategy for Phase 1 Paper 2

1. Just a simple understanding of the topics listed in the syllabus will do some wonders and help you score.
2. As time is limited, a major portion of your time could be wasted by going through large books.
3. Concept Clarity + Basic Sticking is the key to preparing well here.
4. The maximum mark for paper 2 is 100 and the time duration is 40 minutes. We could make it clear that there would be much less chance of asking numerical questions here. Even if asked, they would be very basic and doable in a matter of seconds.