ICAR Exam Pattern

Exam Pattern

The Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB) has invited applications from eligible and interested candidates for the posts of Administrative Officer (AO), Finance & Accounts Officer (F&AO) to be appointed in the ICAR Research Institutes. The ASRB will be responsible for the selection process to be held for both the posts. The selection process for ICAR AO, F&AO posts will consist of three phases as follows:

• Tier 1 - Online objective test
• Tier 2 - Online descriptive test
• Tier 3 - Interview / Personality Test

Check out complete details of the ICAR AO and F&AO exam pattern 2024.

Administrative Officer: Tier 1 Exam Pattern

Phase 1 or Tier 1 of the ICAR AO exam will consist of an online objective test. The test will contain 200 questions from the following four sections: General Knowledge, General Intelligence & Reasoning Ability, Arithmetical & Numerical Ability and Language Comprehension (Hindi/Eng). Candidates will be provided a composite time duration of 3 hours. This phase will be qualifying in nature. The minimum qualifying marks will be declared by ASRB.

• All the questions will carry 1 mark each and there will be a negative marking of 1/3rd marks. 

Administrative Officer: Tier 2 Exam Pattern

The candidates who are able to clear the first phase will have to appear in the next phase. Tier 2 of the ICAR AO exam will be a ‘descriptive test’. It will consist of four papers: Paper I, Paper II, Paper III & Paper IV. All these papers will contain questions from different topics. The test will carry a total of 600 marks where 150 marks will be allotted to each section. For each section, a time duration of 3 hours will be allotted. 

• Paper III will have two parts: Essay Writing - I & Essay Writing - II. Each of these will carry 75 marks. 

Check out complete details of the AO Tier 2 exam pattern below:

Administrative Officer: Tier 3 - Structured Interview / Personality Test

After the second phase or Tier 2 is done, candidates will have to appear in the final phase of the selection process. Tier 3 of the ICAR AO exam will require the candidates to appear for a ‘Structured Interview’ and/or a Personality Test. This stage will carry 100 marks. The candidates will be assessed based on a few parameters elaborated in the ICAR notification. 5 candidates for each vacancy will be called category-wise, depending on their merit.

Finance & Accounts Officer: Tier 1 Exam Pattern

The Tier 1 of Finance & Accounts Officer (F&AO) exam will also be an online objective test which will be similar to that of Administrative Officer (AO). The test will contain 200 questions from the following four sections: General Knowledge, General Intelligence & Reasoning Ability, Arithmetical & Numerical Ability and Language Comprehension (Hindi/Eng). Candidates will be provided a composite time duration of 3 hours. 

• All the questions will carry 1 mark each and there will be a negative marking of 1/3rd marks. This phase will be qualifying in nature. 

Finance & Accounts Officer: Tier 2 Exam Pattern

Tier 2 of the ICAR F&AO exam will be a ‘Descriptive exam’. The exam will consist of four papers: Paper I, II, III & IV. Total marks for Tier 2 ‘Written exam’ will be 600 but the distribution of marks will be different as compared to the Tier 2 of AO exam. To attempt each paper, candidates will be provided with 3 hours. 

• Paper III of Finance & Accounts Officer Tier 2 will contain ‘Essay Writing’ but only in one part unlike in AO Tier 2. The marks allotted to this paper will be 100 and Paper IV will carry 200 marks.
• Paper IV will be different for this post and will be allotted 200 marks.

Finance & Accounts Officer: Tier 3 - Structured Interview / Personality Test

The candidates who clear Tier 2 will qualify for the next stage, i.e. Tier 3. Tier 3 of the ICAR F & AO exam will require the candidates to appear for a ‘Structured Interview’ and/or a Personality Test. This stage will carry 100 marks. The candidates will be assessed based on a few parameters elaborated in the ICAR notification. The ratio of calling the candidates for an Interview against each vacancy will be 5:1. The candidates will be called based on their performance in both Tier 1 & Tier 2. 

Note: 

The final merit for both posts will be prepared on the basis of marks obtained by the candidates in Tier 2 and Tier 3. 

Marking Scheme

The ICAR AO and F & AO exams will be conducted in three tiers. The Tier one will consist of an online objective test which will consist of a total of 200 questions for both the posts. There will be four papers and each paper will contain 50 questions each. 

• All the questions will carry 1 mark each.
• Negative marking will also be there in Tier 1.
• For every incorrect answer, 1/3rd of the marks allotted to each question will be deducted.

Free Mock Test 

To ace any exam, it is essential to practice as much as possible. Attempting online practice tests are very important as this helps in analyzing your preparation level. It also provides a real exam environment that shoves out any fear you may have of online examination. ixamBee provides free ICAR exam mock test series for Administrative Officer and Finance posts. After attempting the ICAR exam free online practice test, you will be more confident as you know your strengths and can craft the perfect strategy.