NABARD Grade A Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2026 Overview
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Conducting Body | National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) |
| Post Name | Assistant Manager in Grade 'A' (Rural Development Banking Service) |
| Selection Stages | Phase 1 (Prelims), Phase 2 (Mains), Interview |
| Phase 1 Pattern | Online objective test, 200 questions, 200 marks, 120 minutes |
| Phase 2 Pattern | Two papers: Paper I (General English, descriptive) and Paper II (objective and descriptive) |
| Phase 1 Language | English and Hindi |
| Negative Marking | Phase 1: one-fourth of the marks for each wrong answer. Phase 2: Not confirmed, check the official notification |
| Interview | 50 marks (previous cycle pattern) |
| Official Website | www.nabard.org |
NABARD Grade A Phase 1 Exam Pattern
| Test | Questions | Marks | Nature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Test of Reasoning | 20 | 20 | Qualifying |
| English Language | 30 | 30 | Qualifying |
| Computer Knowledge | 20 | 20 | Qualifying |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 20 | 20 | Qualifying |
| Decision Making | 10 | 10 | Qualifying |
| General Awareness | 20 | 20 | Merit |
| Economic and Social Issues (with focus on Rural India) | 40 | 40 | Merit |
| Agriculture and Rural Development (with emphasis on Rural India) | 40 | 40 | Merit |
| Total | 200 | 200 | 120 minutes |
NABARD Grade A Phase 2 Exam Pattern
| Paper | Subject | Type | Questions | Marks | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper I | General English | Online descriptive | 3 | 100 | 90 minutes |
| Paper II | Economic and Social Issues, and Agriculture and Rural Development | Objective | 30 | 50 | 30 minutes |
| Paper II | Economic and Social Issues, and Agriculture and Rural Development | Descriptive (attempt 4 of 6: two of 15 marks and two of 10 marks) | 6 | 50 | 90 minutes |
| Paper | Subject | Type | Questions | Marks | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper I | General English | Online descriptive | 3 | 100 | 90 minutes |
| Paper II | Stream-specific paper | Objective | 30 | 50 | 30 minutes |
| Paper II | Stream-specific paper | Descriptive (attempt 4 of 6: two of 15 marks and two of 10 marks) | 6 | 50 | 90 minutes |
1. Reasoning Ability
- Puzzles and Seating Arrangement
- Syllogism
- Data Sufficiency
- Statement-based Questions (Verbal Reasoning)
- Inequality
- Input-Output (Machine Input and Output)
- Blood Relations
- Coding-Decoding
- Alphanumeric Series
- Order and Ranking
- Direction and Distance
- Miscellaneous Questions
2. Quantitative Aptitude
- Percentage
- Ratio and Proportion
- Profit, Loss and Discount
- Simple and Compound Interest
- Average and Age
- Mixture and Alligation
- Time and Work
- Time, Speed and Distance
- Data Interpretation
- Number Series
- Quadratic Equations
- Simplification and Approximation
- Quantity Comparison and Data Sufficiency
- Mathematical Inequalities
- Mensuration
3. English Language (Phase 1)
- Reading Comprehension
- Cloze Test
- Gap Fillers and Double Fillers (Fill in the Blanks)
- Error Spotting
- Sentence Rearrangement and Para Jumbles
- Idioms and Phrases
- Word Swapping
- Misspelled Words and Inappropriate Word Usage
- Sentence Improvement
- One Word Substitution
- Subject-Verb Agreement
- Parts of Speech
- Tenses
- Articles
- Conditional Sentences
- Modals
- Active and Passive Voice
4. Computer Knowledge
- Input-Output Devices
- Networking
- DBMS
- MS Office
- Internet
- History of Computers and Generations
- Shortcuts
- Computer Security
- Hardware and Memory
5. Decision Making
- Basics and Types of Decision Making
- Types of Problems in Decision Making
- Factors Affecting Decision Making
- Interpreting Information and Recognising Assumptions
- Situation-based Questions and Case Studies
7. Economic and Social Issues (ESI)
| Topic Area | Topics |
|---|---|
| Nature of Indian Economy | Structural and institutional features, economic underdevelopment, opening up of the Indian economy, globalisation, economic reforms in India, privatisation |
| Inflation | Trends in inflation and their impact on the national economy and individual income |
| Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation | Rural and urban poverty, measurement of poverty, government poverty alleviation programmes |
| Population Trends | Population growth and economic development, population policy in India |
| Agriculture | Characteristics and status, technical and institutional changes, agricultural performance, food security issues, institutional and non-institutional agencies in rural credit |
| Industry | Industrial and labour policy, industrial performance, regional imbalance in industrial development, public sector enterprises |
| Rural Banking and Financial Institutions | Reforms in the banking and financial sector |
| Globalisation of the Economy | Role of international funding institutions, IMF and World Bank, WTO, regional economic cooperation |
| Social Structure in India | Multiculturalism, demographic trends, urbanisation and migration, gender issues, joint family system, social infrastructure, education, health and environment |
| Education | Status and system of education, socio-economic problems of illiteracy, educational relevance and wastage, educational policy for India |
| Social Justice | Problems of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, socio-economic programmes for SCs, STs and other backward classes |
| Positive Discrimination in Favour of the Underprivileged | Social movements, Indian political system, human development |
8. Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD)
| Topic Area | Topics |
|---|---|
| Agriculture | Definition, meaning and branches; agronomy; classification of field crops; factors affecting crop production; agro-climatic zones; cropping systems; dryland problems; seed production, processing and seed village; meteorology (weather parameters, crop-weather advisory); precision farming; System of Crop Intensification; organic farming |
| Soil and Water Conservation | Major soil types, soil fertility, fertilizers, soil erosion, soil conservation, watershed management |