The National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development or NABARD uses Grade A recruitments for selecting the best candidates. If you are selected for this position, you will be responsible for developing and financing the country’s agricultural sector. You will help the agrarian communities organize themselves into cooperatives and enhance the quality of their life. Since a NABARD Grade A officer is entrusted with such huge responsibilities, it is understandable that the exam to acquire this position is difficult. In this article, you will learn about the NABARD Grade A exam pattern and how you can prepare for it.

One of the most important instruments that will help you prepare for the exam is learning the syllabus. Once you have a clear idea of the exam pattern and the syllabus, you will be able to strategize your preparation. Apart from this, you should also be familiar with the exam’s marking scheme so that you don’t have any doubts. The NABARD Grade A prelims exam is an online test with multiple-choice questions. The mains exam includes two papers and the exam lasts for one hour and 30 minutes. This means that you will have to go through three stages to get selected for the NABARD Grade A officer position:

1. Prelims Exam 
2. Mains Exam
3. Interview

If you manage to qualify for all three stages, you will be recruited by the NABARD. 

Prelims exam pattern

The online preliminary exam is a sort of screening test for shortlisting candidates. If you qualify for the exam and get a sufficiently high rank that is above the cutoff, you will be called to appear for the Main exam. It is important to note that the marks you secure in the prelims exam won’t be considered for the final selection. There will be 200 questions in the exam, each correct question will award you 1 mark. You will have to finish the exam in 2 hours (120 minutes).

Check out the exam pattern for the NABARD Grade A prelims exam:

Mains exam pattern

The NABARD Grade A Mains exam is an objective as well as a descriptive online test. There will be two papers in the mains exam:

• Paper I - This paper is common for all the candidates and is 90 minutes long. It will include 100 questions of general English. This is a descriptive test that will test your drafting and analytical capabilities through essay writing, report writing, letter writing, paragraph writing, and comprehension.
• Paper II - This paper will vary according to the post you have applied for and will be 90 minutes long as well. You can expect questions based on social and economic issues (focusing on rural India), rural development, and agriculture. 

Please note that there is a 0.25 mark of negative marking for every wrong answer you mark in the mains exam. If you are able to score more than the minimum cut-off marks in the main examination, you will be called in for an interview. 

Preparing for the NABARD Grade A exam

Here are a few tips that will help you prepare better for the exam:

1. Understand the exam pattern - Before you start preparing for the exam, you need to go through the exam pattern so that you know about the total questions, marking scheme, number of sections, and allotted time. It will help you manage your preparations well and ace the exam.
2. Go through the syllabus - Once you have an idea of the exam pattern, you can start creating a list of the important topics from all the sections. Make sure that you don’t leave out any topic from the list. After you have written the topics, you have to prioritize. 
3. Check paper from previous years - There is usually a set pattern in the banking exam that is followed by the organizing authority. Before you actually start preparing, you must know the type of questions asked during the exam and the expected level of difficulty. Going through the previous year’s papers will ensure that you don’t select the wrong topics for the exam.
4. Create a plan - You have to create a plan right from the first day you start preparing to the day before the exam. This plan should include all the topics that you have to cover. Make sure that you don’t leave any topic as it might cost you the job. The ARD and ESI sections are the ones with the most weightage so you have to plan accordingly.
5. Divide your time equally - There are a total of 7 sections in the prelims class which means that you have to cover a lot of syllabus. You need proper time management to ensure that you prepare all the sections. If you are strong or weak at a section, you have to divide your time accordingly. Even if you are good at a section, don’t neglect it.
6. Study material - You have to get the right study material for the exam that contains quality questions according to the level of the banking exam. You also have to take mock tests to get an idea of what the actual exam will look like. It will help you analyze your performance, strengths, and weaknesses. You will be able to learn the exact mistakes you are making during the exam. It is important that you make note of your silly mistakes in the mock tests or previous examinations and improvise on them.
7. Avoid distractions - It is normal to feel distracted while studying for the exam. What’s important is that you try to avoid these distractions as much as possible. Stay away from social activities and try to remain focused. 

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