Exam
IRDAI stands for Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India. IRDA is an autonomous regulatory body under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, and it protects the interests of the policyholders. It aims at bringing speedy and orderly growth to the insurance industry in India by regulating and promoting the insurance and reinsurance industries. IRDA heads over both Life Insurances and General Insurances companies. IRDA conducts exams to recruit insurance agents for various companies. This exam is also called the IC-38 exam or insurance agent exam.
Roles and responsibilities of IRDA
The core responsibility of the IRDA is to regulate fair practices in the insurance market to safeguard the customers. It plays an important role to control the insurance sector. The significant responsibilities of the IRDA are as follows:
- To safeguard the interests of the policyholders
- Urge and ensure the systematic growth of the insurance industries to benefit the customers.
- Setting standards and conduct vigilance to keep a check on scams and frauds
- Foster righteousness and fair dealings in the market
- Expedite the claim settlement and overcome the dispute
IRDA exam
IRDA offers great career opportunities to those who want to work in the insurance sector. These are one of the most sought-after government jobs in India. You will get a License of Insurance, which will be valid for 3 years if you qualify for the IRDA exam. IRDA exam is an all-India level exam to recruit candidates at dignified positions under the government of India. There is no fixed time of recruitment. The IRDA releases notifications for recruitment based on the vacancies and requirements. The posts for which the IRDA exam is conducted are as follows:
- Assistant Manager
- Manager (Grade B)
- Assistant General Manager (Grade C)
- Deputy General Manager (Grade D)
- General Manager (Grade E)
IRDA exam eligibility
There are certain eligibility criteria that the applicants must satisfy to apply for the upcoming government exams. The detailed information on the eligibility criteria is present in the notification released by the IRDA. The important eligibility criteria are listed below in brief:
- Educational Qualification: The candidates appearing for the IRDA exam must satisfy the minimum educational criteria which is a bachelor’s degree. The candidate must secure a minimum aggregate of 60 percent in a bachelor’s degree. The candidate must have passed the 12th class in the case of urban areas and for the rural areas, the candidate must have passed 10th.
- Age limit: The age limit varies for different posts. The candidate must be above 18 years of age. The candidates applying for the post of General Manager must be above 21 years of age. The upper age limit for this position is 30 years. The relaxation on the age limit for certain categories is as per the government of India.
The candidates must be aware of the basic eligibility criteria before applying for the position. It is recommended to go through the notifications thoroughly and ensure that you fulfill these criteria. The next step is to understand the exam syllabus and pattern.
Exam pattern
Different exams have different patterns with different processes of recruitment. The candidate must understand the types of questions, marking scheme, exam duration, negative marking, and other patterns before attempting the exam. The IRDA exam comprises of three stages of assessment:
- Phase I: Prelims exam
The IRDA prelims exam is an objective type online assessment. It has a total of 4 sections and each section has 40 questions. It has an English Language section. The rest of the paper can be attempted in either Hindi or English. Every correct answer is marked with +1 marks and there is a negative marking of ¼ for every wrong answer. The four sections in the prelims exam are reasoning, English language, quantitative aptitude, and general awareness. The exam duration is 90 minutes and the total number of marks is 160.
- Phase II: Mains exam
The Mains exam paper is descriptive and consists of three sections of 100 marks each. The three sections are English, economic and social issues impacting insurance, and insurance & management. The total duration of the Phase II exam is 3 hours.
- Phase III: Interview
Candidates are shortlisted based on the result of prelims exams. The selection is done based on performance in phase II and phase III. Phase III is an interview round for the personality test.
Exam materials
After you have gone through the syllabus, you need to assemble all the necessary resources for your exams. There are a lot of books on reasoning and general awareness in the market. It might get confusing for the candidates to select a few. You can check the resources on our website for free. Also, practice many previous years’ question papers and get used to the pattern and type of questions asked.
It is best practice to solve the recent question papers at least twice. Reading newspapers is also a good practice. The mains paper is a subjective type paper and you must have a thorough and clear idea about the important topics. This paper consists of a professional knowledge section that has questions based on the following topics:
- Insurance and management
- Regulations, and general applications
- Economic and social issues impacting the insurance
You need not study for 14-16 hours to crack this exam. Planned and dedicated studying for even 6-8 hours is sufficient to score well. There are various reliable resources for the candidates to follow. Some also have an active Telegram group where you can get questions based on the latest pattern. You can also access video lectures, notes, and textual lessons with detailed solutions.
Practice
There is no substitute for practice. The theory is important for developing concepts but only solving questions can help you assess yourself and will get you to prepare for the exams. There are a lot of practice papers that are designed based on the latest exam pattern. There are several online mock tests that are attempted by a lot of aspirants. Mock tests are very helpful. It gives you an understanding of the types of questions you will face and prepares you to attempt the questions within the prescribed time limit and improve your speed and accuracy. It is recommended to attempt the mock tests regularly. You can also check out the resources and tips from various successful aspirants.
