The LIC AAO exam pattern explained

On paper, LIC AAO looks like a bank PO exam with an insurance section attached. The details are different, and they decide who gets through. Some marks count for merit and some only have to be cleared. Each section has its own minimum mark, and the final list is built from the mains plus a short interview. Know these rules before you plan a single study week.

The selection process at a glance

1. Preliminary examination. An online objective test that screens candidates for the mains.
2. Main examination. An online objective test for 300 marks, followed immediately by a typed English descriptive test for 25 marks. The descriptive test is only qualifying.
3. Interview. 60 marks.
4. Pre-recruitment medical examination. Only candidates on the final merit list take it, and an appointment is offered only if they are found medically fit.

The final merit list adds your mains objective score (300) to your interview score (60), giving a total out of 360. Prelims marks are not carried forward.

Prelims: 100 questions in one hour

Four rules sit behind this table:

• Each section has its own timer. You cannot carry spare minutes from Reasoning into Quant.
• English is qualifying. You must reach its minimum, but its marks are not counted for ranking. Shortlisting uses Reasoning plus Quant, a total of 70 marks.
• There was no negative marking in the Generalist prelims in 2025.
• About 20 times the number of vacancies in each category are shortlisted for the mains, subject to availability.

The sectional minimum is only a floor. The cut-off that decides shortlisting is applied to the 70-mark total, and it sits far higher, as the 2025 figures below show.

Mains: 300 objective marks plus a descriptive test

The objective part is 120 questions in two hours, and the whole mains runs two and a half hours. Reasoning and Data Analysis carry 3 marks a question. The two awareness sections carry 2 marks a question. There was no negative marking in the 2025 Generalist mains either.

The descriptive test has two questions, typed on the computer, in English only. The 2025 notification describes it as communication skills: emails, reports, situation analysis and précis writing. The 2023 notification asked for a letter and an essay instead. The descriptive answers are evaluated only if you clear the objective part, and the marks never enter the merit list.

All objective sections except English are offered in English and Hindi.

Interview and medical

About three times the number of vacancies in each category are called for interview, ranked on mains marks alone. The interview carries 60 marks, with a minimum of 30 (27 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates). Fail the minimum and you drop out, whatever your mains score.

If two or more candidates end on the same total, the one with the higher educational qualification (for example, a postgraduate degree) is placed higher. If that is also equal, the older candidate is placed higher. The 2025 notification states there is no waiting list.

How your score is calculated

Your score in each objective test is based on the number of questions you answer correctly. When a test runs in more than one session, LIC equates scores across sessions using the equi-percentile method, so a slightly harder session does not penalise you. Scores are reported to two decimal places. Each question has five options with one correct answer.

What the 2025 cut-offs tell you

LIC published category-wise cut-offs for the 32nd batch (Generalist):

Read these figures for what they reveal about the exam, not as targets for your cycle. Cut-offs move with vacancies, applicants and difficulty.

• The prelims bar is about accuracy. A UR cut-off of 58 out of 70 is nearly 83 per cent. The sectional minimum of 18 out of 35 is barely half. Clearing sectional minimums got nobody through.
• The mains bar was also high. 232 out of 300 is about 77 per cent, averaged across four sections.
• The interview cannot rescue a weak mains. Mains marks are 300 of the 360 in the final total, about 83 per cent of the weight.

Worked example: how the final merit adds up

Take two hypothetical UR candidates.

Candidate A scores 238 in the mains and 40 in the interview: 238 + 40 = 278.
Candidate B scores 230 in the mains and 52 in the interview: 230 + 52 = 282.

B finishes ahead despite eight fewer mains marks, so the interview can swing close contests. Now compare both with the 2025 UR final cut-off of 294. A would have needed 294 − 238 = 56 in the interview, which is almost the maximum. The margin that gets you selected is built in the mains.

What the pattern means for preparation

Quick self-test

1. How many prelims marks are used for shortlisting? 70. English is qualifying.
2. What is the maximum total on the final merit list? 360. That is the mains objective (300) plus the interview (60).
3. A UR candidate scores Reasoning 30, Quant 17 and English 25 in the prelims. Do they qualify? No. Quant is below the sectional minimum of 18, and the strong total cannot make up for it.
4. How many marks is one Data Analysis question worth in the mains? 3.
5. Is the descriptive score added to the final merit? No. It is qualifying only.

What to do next

• Download the latest notification and the information handout from licindia.in/careers and check this table against them.
• Read the section-wise topics in the LIC AAO syllabus, analysed.
• Take one timed prelims mock this week to see where you stand against the sectional minimums and the last cut-off.
• Plan your mains preparation from the start. Read the LIC AAO mains strategy.