Solved Previous Year Questions Of SEBI Grade A

We have made these question papers available for you in PDF format. You can click on the below links and download the memory based previous year question papers of SEBI Grade A examination of phase 1 and 2 as PDF files.

Get Your Free Copy

What is the Eligibility for the SEBI Grade A Examination?

Eligibility criteria for SEBI Grade A examination is as follows:

Age Limits

(As of the notification date) – A candidate must not have exceeded the age of 30 years

Relaxation in Age Limit –

 Upto a maximum of five years for candidates belonging to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe if the posts are reserved for them

 Upto a maximum of three years in the case of candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates if the posts are reserved for them

10 years for PwBD candidates shall be applicable whether the post is reserved or not.

 13 (years for PwBD (OBC) candidates where vacancies are reserved for OBC candidates. 

15 years for PwBD (SC/ST) candidates where vacancies are reserved for SC/ST candidates

 5 years for Ex-servicemen. Ex-servicemen include Emergency Commissioned Officers/Short Service Commissioned Officers, who have rendered at least five years continuous Military Service

Minimum Education Qualification

Officers in Grade ‘A’ (General Stream)

• Master’s Degree in any discipline, Bachelors’ Degree in Law, Bachelors’ Degree in Engineering from a recognized university, CA / CFA / CS / Cost Accountant.

What is the Expected Exam Pattern of SEBI Grade A 2024 Examination?

Officers in Grade A cadre of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) are recruited through a 3 stage recruitment process –

Phase 1 Examination Details:

✅ The Phase 1 examination or the preliminary examination consists of 2 papers.

✅ Paper 1 is of 100 Marks and 60 minutes duration and contains multiple choice questions on the subjects viz. General Awareness (including some questions related to Financial Sector of easy to moderate difficulty level), English Language, Quantitative Aptitude and Test of Reasoning. 

✅ Paper 2 for the general stream is of 100 marks and 40 minutes duration and contains multiple choice questions on subjects – Commerce, Accountancy, Management, Finance, Costing, Companies Act and Economics.

✅ There is a negative marking (1/4th of marks assigned to the question) for the Paper 1 and Paper 2 in Phase I.

✅ There is also a cut-off of minimum 30% for Paper 1 (no sectional cut-off is there) and a cut-off of minimum 40% for Paper 2 in Phase I.

✅ Candidates need to secure separate cut-off in each paper as mentioned above as well as aggregate cut-off marks of 40% in Phase I exam to be shortlisted for Phase II. 

✅ Marks obtained in Phase I are used only for shortlisting the candidates for Phase II examination process and are not counted for final selection of the candidates.

4 Sections of Phase 1 Paper 1:

7 Sections of Phase 1 Paper 2:

Phase 2 Examination Details:

For the General Stream, it consists of 2 papers of 100 Marks each.

• Candidates shortlisted for Phase II are issued new Hall Tickets.

• For candidates who have applied in multiple streams, Paper II is conducted in various shifts, the timings of which is intimated in the Hall Ticket. 

• There is negative marking (1/4th of marks assigned to the question) for Paper 2 in Phase II

• There is a cut-off of minimum 30% for Paper 1 and a cut-off of minimum 40% for Paper 2 in Phase II

• Candidates need to secure separate cut-off in each paper as mentioned above as well as aggregate cut-off marks of 40% in Phase II exam (weightage of 1/3rd for Paper 1 and 2/3rd for Paper 2) to be shortlisted for Phase III

• Candidates equaling 3 times the number of vacancies are shortlisted, in order of merit, for Phase III i.e. the Interview. 

• All question papers (in both the Phases, except the test of English) are set bilingually in Hindi and English. 

Phase 3 Details:

The Phase-III of the SEBI Grade A examination consists of an Interview.

✅ Candidates are shortlisted for interview based on their Phase 2 marks only (sum of 2 papers)

✅ Weightage of marks obtained in Phase II is 85%, while marks obtained in interview is given a weightage of 15%.

✅ Candidates can opt for interview either in Hindi or English

The final selection of candidates is done by adding marks secured in Phase 2 and Interview.

What is the Syllabus of SEBI Grade A 2024 Examination?

We expect the syllabus for the 2024 recruitment to remain the same as the 2022 recruitme

Detailed syllabus for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of SEBI Grade A examination is as given below :

Paper 1 (Phase 2)

English

The paper on English shall be framed in a manner to assess the writing skills including expression and understanding of the topic including precis writing/ essay writing/ comprehension.

Paper 2 (Phase 1+2)

Commerce and Accountancy:

• Accounting as a financial information system
• Accounting Standards with specific reference to Accounting for Depreciation, Inventories, Revenue Recognition, Fixed Assets, Foreign Exchange Transactions, Investments
• Cash Flow Statement, Fund flow statement, Financial statement analysis; Ratio analysis
• Accounting for Share Capital Transactions including Bonus Shares, Right Shares
• Employees Stock Option and Buy-Back of Securities
• Preparation and Presentation of Company Final Accounts.

Management:

• Management: its nature and scope; The Management Processes; Planning, Organization, Staffing, Directing and Controlling
• The Role of a Manager in an Organization. Leadership: The Tasks of a Leader
• Leadership Styles; Leadership Theories; A successful Leader versus an effective Leader
• Human Resource Development: Concept of HRD; Goals of HRD
• Motivation, Morale and Incentives: Theories of Motivation; How Managers Motivate; Concept of Morale; Factors determining morale; Role of Incentives in Building up Morale
• Communication: Steps in the Communication Process; Communication Channels; Oral versus Written Communication; Verbal versus non-verbal Communication; upward, downward and lateral communication; Barriers to Communication, Role of Information Technology.

Finance

Financial System

(a) Role and Functions of Regulatory bodies in the Financial Sector

Financial Markets

 (b) Primary and Secondary Markets (Forex, Money, Bond, Equity, etc.), functions, instruments, recent developments

General Topics

• Basics of Derivatives: Forward, Futures and Swap
• Recent Developments in the Financial Sector
• Financial Inclusion- use of technology
• Alternate source of finance, private and social cost-benefit, Public-Private Partnership
• Direct and Indirect taxes; Non-tax sources of Revenue, GST, Finance Commission, Fiscal Policy, Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM)
• Inflation: Definition, trends, estimates, consequences, and remedies (control): WPI, CPI – components and trends

Costing:

• Overview of Cost and Management Accounting – Introduction to Cost and Management Accounting, Objectives and Scope of Cost and Management Accounting.
• Methods of Costing – Single Output/ Unit Costing, Job Costing, Batch Costing, Contract Costing, Process/ Operation Costing, Costing of Service Sectors.
• Basics of Cost Control and Analysis – (i) Standard Costing, (ii) Marginal Costing, (iii) Budget and Budgetary Control
• Lean System and Innovation:- a) Introduction to Lean System b) Just-in-Time (JIT) c) Kaizen Costing d) 5 Ss e) Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) f) Cellular Manufacturing/ One-Piece Flow Production Systems g) Six Sigma (SS) h) Introduction to Process Innovation and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)

Companies Act:

The Companies Act, 2013 – Specific reference to Chapter III, Chapter IV, Chapter VIII, Chapter X, Chapter XI, Chapter XII and Chapter XXVII.

 Economics:

• Demand and Supply, Market Structures, National Income: Concepts and Measurement, Classical & Keynesian Approach Determination of output and employment, Consumption Function, Investment Function, Multiplier and Accelerator, Demand and Supply for Money , IS – LM, Inflation and Phillips Curve, Business Cycles.
• Balance of Payments, Foreign Exchange Markets, Inflation, Monetary and Fiscal Policy, Non-banking Financial Institutions.

Resources for SEBI Grade A 2024 Preparation

We have listed all the important resources for you to prepare effectively for the SEBI Grade A examination

These resources can be divided into 4 parts:

• Books
• Websites
• Newspapers
• Magazines

Phase 1 Paper 1 Preparation Resources:

Phase 2 Paper 1 Preparation Resources:

Phase 1 and Phase 2 Paper 2 Preparation Resources:

A note of caution here – all the above resources are not to be read cover to cover. You must refer the syllabus as well as the previous year questions and then do selective reading.

Do watch the below video where Anchit sir has explained the booklist in detail:

SEBI Grade A 2024 Courses Comparison Chart

We have 2 variants for the SEBI Grade A 2024 examination – Gold Pack and Silver Pack.
Both these packs come with 3 validity options – 1 year, 1.5 year and 2 years. See the table below for comparison between the 2 variants.

Toppers Testimonials

SEBI Grade A Dream Team

Let’s prepare together to help you accomplish your dreams!

FAQ’s

Frequently Asked Questions