SEBI Grade A Exam Pattern 2026 for Phase 01, Phase 02 & Interview

For every aspirant who plans to ace SEBI Grade A exam for Assistant Manager position, it is required to understand all the necessary aspects before attempting the exams. And the exam pattern is clearly one of those aspects.  

You must understand that knowing the exam pattern is as important as anything else in this journey since it gives you familiarity of the exam.

SEBI conducts the Grade A exams in three phases; Phase 1 (Prelims), Phase 2 (Mains), and the final round (Interview). 

To move forward, candidates must clear each phase one after another, and every phase has a different exam pattern, different mode of examination, and different nature of exam.  

Check the below information to get an understanding of paper structure, topic weightage, and many other important details of SEBI Grade A exam pattern 2026 across all the phases. 

What is the SEBI Grade A Exam Pattern 2026?

SEBI Grade A is a three stage exam, and every phase has its own nature, mode, and duration. To make it easier for you, I have mentioned a quick overview of the SEBI exam pattern of three stages.

SEBI Phase 1: 

• No. Of Questions – SEBI Grade A Phase 1 exam consists of 200 questions.
• Marks – This phase consists of a total of 200 marks.
• Duration – A total of 100 minutes is given to complete this exam. 

SEBI Phase 2: 

• No. Of Questions –SEBI Grade A Phase 2 exam includes 103 questions.
• Marks – It comprises two papers of 200 marks each. 
• Duration – This phase has a duration of 2 hours and 30 minutes. 

SEBI Interview: 

• Mode of Interview – This is a face-to-face interview round which is conducted to check your personality and communication skills.
• Weightage – The final round of SEBI Grade A carries 15% of weightage in the final merit list. 
• Language – This interview is bilingual; aspirants can choose between Hindi and English according to their preference.  

Referring to previous years question papers will give you a good idea if you want to know about the exam pattern.  

You can check and download SEBI Grade A previous year papers that I’ve compiled for you. For an elaborate understanding,

What is the SEBI Grade A Phase 01 Exam Pattern?

The SEBI Phase 1 exam consists of two papers, i.e., Paper 1 and Paper 2. I have explained the SEBI Grade A exam pattern for phase 1 in detail below: 

SEBI Paper 1:   

• No. of questions: Paper 1 comprises 80 questions. 
• Exam Type: This is a MCQ based exam. 
• Duration: This exam should be attempted within 60 minutes. 
• Total marks: This paper carries a total of 100 marks.   
• Mode of Exam: This is an online examination. 
• Marking scheme: While each correct answer is worth 1.25 marks, there is a negative marking of 1/4th marks for every incorrect answer. 
• Cutoff: To clear Paper 1, you need to score at least 30% of the total marks. 

SEBI Paper 2:   

• No. of questions: Paper 2 contains a total of 50 questions. 
• Exam Type: This is a MCQ based exam. 
• Duration: You need to attempt this paper within 40 minutes. 
• Total marks: This paper consists of a total of 100 marks.  
• Mode of Exam: This is an online examination. 
• Marking scheme: Attempting the answer correctly will give you 2 marks each, but if you give a wrong answer, then there is a negative marking of 1/4th marks.
  
• Cutoff: A minimum of 40% of total marks is required to qualify for this paper. 

Both papers in this phase would be in Hindi and English. Therefore, candidates can choose the language they want to attempt this paper it. 

In the table below, you can check the exam pattern for Phase 1 that I have provided in detail. 

The Paper 1 comprises four subjects – General Awareness, English Language, Quantitative Aptitude, and Reasoning.  

While the Paper 2 for the general stream includes subjects like – Commerce, Accountancy, Management, Finance, Costing, Companies Act, and Economics.   

To be shortlisted for Phase II, you would need to secure separate cut-off in each paper as well as aggregate cut-off marks of 40% in the Phase I exam.

What is the SEBI Grade A Phase 02 Exam Pattern?

As per the SEBI exam pattern 2026, the Phase 2 entails 2 papers, i.e., Paper 1 and Paper 2.   

Paper 1:

• No. of Questions: This paper consists of 3 descriptive questions. 
• Duration: This paper should be attempted within 60 minutes. 
• Paper Type: Paper 1 for all streams would be an English Descriptive Paper. 
• Mode of exam: This paper is conducted in an online mode. 
• Total Marks: Total marks allotted for this paper is 100 marks. 
• Negative Marking: There is no negative marking for this paper since it is a descriptive based paper. 
• Cutoff: Minimum 30% marks are required to clear this paper. 

Paper 2:  

• No. of Questions: There will be a total of 100 questions in Paper 2. 
• Duration: This paper should be attempted within 90 minutes. 
• Type of Paper: This is an objective-based paper. 
• Mode of Exam: This is an online examination (CBT). 
• Total Marks: This paper carries a total of 100 marks.  
• Marking scheme: In this paper, 1 mark will be awarded for every correct answer, while each incorrect answer will deduct a negative marking of 1/4th marks.
• Cutoff: There must be 40% of the total marks in order to clear paper 2.  

Paper 1 contains questions from sections like Essay, Precis, and Reading Comprehension. Whereas Paper 2 General stream subjects are Commerce, Accountancy, Management, Finance, Costing, Companies Act and Economics. 

For your better understanding, I have provided the details in tabular form below: 

You would need to secure separate cut-off in each paper as well as aggregate cut-off marks of 50% in the SEBI Grade A Phase II exam (weightage of 1/3rd for Paper 1 and 2/3rd for Paper 2) to be shortlisted for Phase III. 

A list of all those shortlisted for Interviews will be made available on the SEBI website. 

SEBI Grade A Negative Marking 

SEBI deducts marks for every incorrect answer, which is called negative marking, and every aspirant must understand how negative markings work in SEBI Grade A exams for better score accuracy.  

Check below for detailed information on negative markings across both phases. 

• Phase 1: SEBI Grade A Phase 1 applies negative marking of 1/4th on every incorrect answer in both papers. Negative marks of 1/4th signify 0.25 marks deduction if question is worth 1 mark.  
• Phase 2: SEBI only applies negative marking on the MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions); hence, only paper 1 of this phase has negative markings of 1/4th marks. Paper 2 of Phase 2 is descriptive, which is why there is no negative marking.  

It is clear that there will be a negative marking if a MCQ question is answered incorrectly, but SEBI does not apply negative marking on unanswered questions.  

Pre-Examination Training (PET) for SC/ST/OBC (NCL)/PwBD 

SEBI offers free online Pre-Examination Training (PET) to aspirants who belong to SC, ST, PwBD, and OBC (non-creamy layer) to help them properly. 

Find important information regarding PET: 

• Eligible Candidates: Aspirant who belongs to any one category from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC-NCL), and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD). 

• Application Process: To enroll in the PET program, eligible aspirants are required to fill in details in the relevant column while filling out the online application. 

• Fees for PET: SEBI does not take any fees for pre-examination training.

• Schedule or conducting date: There is no fixed date for this training since SEBI conducts it any time before the examination after informing the respective candidates through e-mail. 

• Objective of PET: SEBI arranges PET to help candidates understand exam patterns, syllabus, and preparation strategies for Grade A examinations. 

SEBI Grade A Interview Pattern

The third and final stage of the SEBI Grade A examination is the Interview or Personality Test. 

• Eligibility: SEBI shortlist candidates for the interview according to their Phase 2 (Mains) performance.  
• Vacancy: There is no fixed number of vacancies for this round; however, SEBI usually shortlists a number of candidates that is three times the number of total vacancies. 
• Duration: There is no definitive time duration for the interview; it generally falls between 20 to 45 minutes.  
• Weightage: The interview carries 15% weightage in the final merit list score. 
• Panelist: This round typically consists of 3 to 5 panel members who are SEBI officials or subject experts.  
• Call Letter: Candidates who qualify Phase 2 will receive the call letter via email to appear for the interview. 
• Language Option: Candidates can choose to appear for the interview in either English or Hindi, depending on their comfort. 
• Objective: Questions in the interview focus on candidates’ subject knowledge, current affairs awareness, and most important, communication skills.  

In the final round, candidates are interviewed by a panel, where they are asked questions related to their background and conceptual knowledge, and are assessed on factors such as reasoning ability, aptitude, and leadership skills.