SEBI Grade A 2026 Eligibility Criteria: Age Limit, Qualification & Nationality

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is an Indian regulatory institution that protects investor interests, promotes the development of the stock market, and regulates its business.

Before you start planning your study schedule or gathering resources, it’s important to take a step back and ensure that you meet the basic eligibility requirements for the exam.

The first and most essential step is to ensure that your age, educational background, nationality, and other details meet the eligibility criteria for the SEBI Grade A exam.  

This will help you avoid any surprises down the line and focus your efforts on the right direction.

Go through this page to know every essential detail about the SEBI Grade A 2026 exam eligibility.   

What is the SEBI Grade A 2026 Eligibility Criteria?

SEBI announces the official eligibility criteria 2026 through a notification, which has not been released yet. If you are preparing for the 2026 exam, you can check the SEBI Grade A eligibility PDF 2025 in the link attached. 

The SEBI Grade A Eligibility Criteria includes important requirements which are as follows:  

• Educational Qualification  – Aspirants applying for SEBI Grade A exams are required to have a master’s degree.  
• Age Limit and Relaxations – There is no minimum age limit for SEBI Grade A exams, however, the maximum age limit is 30 years to appear exam.
• Nationality – Applicants should be Indian citizens. 
• Number of Attempts – There’s no limit on the total number of attempts. 

However, candidates must be eligible based on age, education, and nationality qualifications. Now, it’s time to discuss eligibility criteria in detail. 

You can find a proper strategy plan for your better preparation by clicking on the SEBI Grade A 2026 strategy. 

What is the Educational Qualification for SEBI Grade A 2026?

Latest Update: There has been a latest change in the education qualification of SEBI Grade A 2025 that final year aspirants of bachelor’s or master’s degrees can now apply for the exam. But you must have your final year marksheet before appearing for the interview round.

SEBI Grade A need candidates to have the required educational qualification to be eligible for the exam. 

To be considered eligible for this exam, candidates should have: 

• Graduation – Bachelor’s Degree in Law or Engineering from a recognized university. 
• Post-Graduation – Master’s Degree in any discipline 
• Higher Qualification – CA / CFA / CS / Cost Accountant 

However, apart from the educational qualifications mentioned in the table above, the following points are also important to consider:

a). For General stream, A Post Graduate Diploma in any discipline is considered eligible for the same, provided that it is recognized as equivalent to a Master’s Degree in that discipline by the Govt. of India.   

b). You are permitted to apply for a maximum of 2 Streams, only the latest applications shall be considered valid.

• Separate on-line applications for each stream must be submitted and requisite fees to be paid for each application. 
• In case you apply more than once in a single Stream and/or apply for more than 2 Streams,only the latest applications shall be considered valid.  

c). Candidates who appeared for the final exams and are waiting for the results are eligible to appear for SEBI Grade A Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III of the selection process and the other applications shall be deemed invalid.

Make sure you fill out your academic information carefully while submitting your application form to maintain consistency in future. Check out the SEBI Grade A application form to know where and how to fill in all the details.  
 

What is the Age Limit & Relaxation for the SEBI Grade A 2026 exam?

The age limit is one of the most important factors when it comes to determining eligibility for any exam, and the case for SEBI Grade A being no different. 

I have provided the category-wise SEBI Grade A age limit for General Stream: 

• General: There is no minimum age limit, but the maximum age limit for the General category is up to 30 years.  
• SC/ST: For candidates belonging to a Scheduled Caste (SC) or a Scheduled Tribe (ST), will have an age limit of 35 years. 
• OBC: The maximum of 33 years is allowed for candidates who belong to Other Backward Classes (OBC). 
• Ex-servicemen: Candidates who has worked at least five years in military service will be granted age relaxations: 
• General: 5 years of relaxation for Ex-servicemen who belong to General category. 
• SC/ST: 10 years relaxation in upper age limit will be granted to SC/ST ex-servicemen. 
• OBC: Ex-servicemen coming from OBC category will have relaxation of 8 years in the upper age limit. 

However, to give you an idea, the 2025 exam required candidates to be 30 years or younger as of 30th September 2025, i.e., you must have been born on or after 01st October 1995. 

There is an age limit for candidates applying for the SEBI Grade A exam, but there is no limit on the number of attempts you can make. 

For candidates of other categories, there are several age relaxations as provided in the table below: 

You can check the detailed SEBI Grade A syllabus 2026 given as per the latest notification.  

Who can apply for SEBI Grade A 2026 based on nationality?

• Candidates should be aware before applying for the exam that there is a nationality-based eligibility criteria in SEBI Grade A exam. 

• As per the eligibility criteria, only Indian citizens are qualified to apply for the SEBI exam. 

• To be eligible, aspirants are required to have a valid identity certificate issued by the Indian Government. 

What are the maximum number of attempts allowed for SEBI Grade A?

• Other than all the other eligibility criteria we have covered above, qualification is also required for the number of attempts, which needs to be considered by candidates. 
• There is no official limit on the number of attempts for the SEBI Grade A exam. 
• Candidates can appear for the exam multiple times as long as they meet the other eligibility criteria, such as age limit and educational qualifications. 

However, stay updated with the latest SEBI notifications on this page for any change in the future. 

Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) Eligibility

Any candidate who belongs to PwBD will be eligible for age relaxations according to the official SEBI Grade A PwBD eligibility criteria.  

Here is the PwBD age eligibility across all categories: 

• General: PwBD candidates coming from the general category will have an age limit of a maximum 40 years. 
• OBC: Aspirants who belong to PwBD and OBC will have an age limit of 43 years. 
• SC/ST: SEBI Grade A exam age limit for PwBD aspirants from SC/ST is 45 years. 

Only a person with a Permanent Benchmark Disability of at least 40% in any of the below mentioned categories will be considered in PwBD. Here are a few PwBD categories: 

• Blindness and Low Vision. 
• Deaf and Hard of Hearing. 
• Locomotor Disability, including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims, and muscular dystrophy. 
• Autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability, and mental illness. 
• Other disabilities (as per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016) 

Any candidate falling under the above-mentioned category will be eligible for PwBD relaxations irrespective of their classifications (i.e., GEN/SC/ST/OBC). Reservation for PwBD is horizontal and within the overall vacancies for the posts. 

Guidelines for Using a Scribe in the SEBI Grade A Exam

Aspirants who are visually impaired and aspirants whose writing speed is permanently affected are allowed to use their own scribe during the SEBI Grade A online examination. 

Here are the main rules of using a scribe in the examination: 

• Aspirants will have to arrange a scribe on their own. 
• The arranged scribe should be from an academic stream different from the examination. 
• A scribe must not be a candidate for the same examination. 
• A scribe for one candidate cannot be a scribe for another candidate. 
• Candidates who are using a scribe are eligible for compensatory 20 minutes every hour of the exam. 
• In case it is found that the scribe is answering the questions independently or violating the above-mentioned guidelines, the exam session will be terminated, and the service of using a scribe with candidature of the candidate will also be cancelled. 
• A candidate who has affected writing abilities is required to bring a certificate from the competent medical authority of a government healthcare institution as per the proforma at Appendix I. 
• A scribe of a candidate who has difficulty in writing should be one step below the qualification of the candidate. 

Read the above given guidelines mindfully if you are a person with a disability and planning to use a scribe in the SEBI Grade A exam to avoid any interruption during your exam. 

To avoid any further interruption or unfamiliarity in exam, check this sebi grade a exam pattern.

SEBI Grade A Ex-Servicemen Eligibility and Relaxation

Ex-serviceman include Emergency Commissioned Officers/Short Service Commissioned Officers –

• Who have provided their five years of service and have been released: 
• On completion of assignment including those whose assignment is to be completed within one year, otherwise than by way of dismissal / discharge / misconduct / inefficiency   
• On account of physical disability attributable to Military Service    
• On invalidment 

• Who have completed their initial period of assignment of five years of Military Service. 
• Whose assignment has been extended beyond five years. 
• In whose case the Ministry of Defense issues certificates that they would be released on selection within three months from the date of receipt of offer of appointment. 

What are the guidelines for EWS, OBC, and SC/ST candidates in SEBI Grade A?

Once you understand the whole eligibility criteria of the SEBI Grade A exam, it is necessary to be aware of small but important rules of SEBI regarding eligibility. 

Here are other important details to be considered as an EWS, OBC, & SC/ST candidate: 

For OBC (Other Backward Classes) –

• Only those of you belonging to ‘Non-Creamy Layer’ are eligible to apply under the OBC Category.  
• Candidates belonging to the OBC category but under the ‘Creamy Layer’ are not entitled to OBC reservation. In such a case, you should indicate your category as ‘Unreserved or General.’
• OBC (NCL) Certificate: If you’re applying under the OBC (NCL) category, your certificate should be issued between April 01, 2026, and the closing date of the application.  

For SC/ST –

• SC/ST candidates don’t have to pay the application fee but will need to pay a small amount of intimation charges for processing.  

For EWSs (Economically Weaker Sections) –

• EWS reservation in SEBI Grade A recruitment is governed by government guidelines, not decided separately by SEBI. 
• EWSs vacancies are tentative and can change later due to policy updates. 
• The benefit of EWSs category can only be claimed after providing an ‘Income and Asset Certificate’ valid for Financial Year 2025-26 issued by a Competent Authority.
• Aspirants are not allowed to request a time extension for providing the EWS certificate. 
• If any candidate applies for the EWS category and fails to submit the EWS certificate at the time of the interview, they will be disqualified. After this they will not be allowed to apply in the General category also. 

Candidates can still apply if there is no vacancy reserved for OBC/SC/ST/EWS category candidates. However, they will not be eligible for any relaxation. 

To check further about vacancies in all the categories, click on the SEBI Grade A vacancy.