IRDAI Assistant Manager Exam Pattern 2026
The full IRDAI Assistant Manager exam pattern for 2026 — 5 stages, with the sections, question count, marks, duration and negative marking for each, as set by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). Then take a free IRDAI Assistant Manager mock in the real pattern below.
Phase I — Preliminary Examination (Objective, Qualifying)
- Mode
- Online, computer-based test
- Sections
- Test of Reasoning · Test of English Language · Test of General Awareness · Test of Quantitative Aptitude — common across ALL streams (Generalist, Actuarial, Finance, Law, IT, Research)
- Questions
- 160 multiple-choice questions (40 per section)
- Marks
- 160 marks total (1 mark per question)
- Duration
- 1 hour 30 minutes (90 minutes), composite timing — NO sectional timing
- Negative marking
- 1/4 mark deducted per wrong answer (0.25 marks per wrong question)
Phase I is purely qualifying — marks are NOT carried forward to the final merit. Candidates must clear separate sectional cutoffs in each of the four sections AND an overall cutoff. Roughly 20 times the number of vacancies (across all streams combined) are shortlisted for Phase II. Pattern and difficulty are closer to RBI Grade B / SEBI Grade A Phase I than to bank PO Prelims — the General Awareness section has heavy focus on insurance, banking, financial markets and the Indian economy.
Phase II Paper I — English (Descriptive)
- Mode
- Online, typed descriptive paper
- Sections
- Essay · Precis Writing · Comprehension · Business / Office Correspondence (formal letter / memo)
- Questions
- Typically 3-4 questions covering each of the components above
- Marks
- 100 marks
- Duration
- 1 hour 30 minutes (90 minutes)
- Negative marking
- Not applicable (descriptive)
Tests advanced English usage — formal vocabulary, precis density, comprehension depth and business-correspondence formatting. Marks are carried forward to the final merit (this is NOT a qualifying-only paper). Essay topics typically draw from insurance policy, financial inclusion, Indian economy, regulatory reform or recent macro events.
Phase II Paper II — Economic and Social Issues impacting Insurance (Descriptive)
- Mode
- Online, typed descriptive paper
- Sections
- Indian economy structure, growth and development · Social issues impacting insurance — poverty, financial inclusion, unemployment, ageing population, urbanisation, healthcare access · Government policies relevant to insurance — PMJJBY, PMSBY, Ayushman Bharat PMJAY, APY, PMFBY, EWS schemes · Globalisation and Indian insurance · Sustainable development and ESG in financial services
- Questions
- Descriptive questions requiring written answers (essay / short-note style)
- Marks
- 100 marks
- Duration
- 1 hour 30 minutes (90 minutes)
- Negative marking
- Not applicable (descriptive)
Common across ALL streams and fully descriptive — there is NO objective portion and NO negative marking. Tests the candidate's macro understanding of how Indian socio-economic context shapes insurance penetration, density and design. Insurance penetration (premium as percent of GDP) and density (premium per capita) numbers from the IRDAI Annual Report are routinely tested.
Phase II Paper III — Insurance and Management (Descriptive)
- Mode
- Online, typed descriptive paper
- Sections
- A SINGLE COMMON paper written by ALL candidates regardless of stream. Insurance & Management — Insurance Act 1938 sections, IRDA Act 1999, IRDAI Master Regulations, history and evolution of insurance in India, types of insurance products (life, general, health, reinsurance), principles of insurance (utmost good faith, insurable interest, indemnity, subrogation, contribution, proximate cause), and management fundamentals (organisational behaviour, HRM, marketing, financial management at a conceptual level).
- Questions
- Descriptive questions requiring written answers (essay / short-note style)
- Marks
- 100 marks
- Duration
- 1 hour 30 minutes (90 minutes)
- Negative marking
- Not applicable (descriptive)
There is NO stream-specific paper. All candidates — Generalist, Actuarial, Finance, Law, IT and Research — write this same common Insurance & Management paper, and it is fully descriptive with NO objective portion and NO negative marking. Stream choice affects eligibility qualifications only, not the Phase II paper set.
Interview
- Mode
- Offline, in-person at IRDAI Head Office, Hyderabad
- Sections
- Personality assessment, regulatory awareness, knowledge of insurance sector and the candidate's chosen specialist stream, motivation for joining the regulator, situational judgement on policy / supervision scenarios
- Questions
- Unstructured interview by a panel of IRDAI senior officers
- Marks
- 100 marks
- Duration
- 20 to 30 minutes typical
- Negative marking
- Not applicable
Final merit is weighted Phase II : Interview = 85 : 15 (Phase I is purely qualifying and excluded). Interview probes regulatory thinking — candidates are tested on how they would supervise a non-compliant insurer, draft a circular for a specific market failure, or balance consumer protection with industry growth. Document verification, caste/PwBD certification, age proof and stream-eligibility certification happen here. Pre-employment medical follows final selection.
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