In this guide
The biggest mistake with an LIC AAO plan is starting it on the day the notification comes out. In 2025, LIC released the Generalist notification on 16 August and held the prelims in early October and the mains on 8 November. That is about seven weeks to the prelims and about five more to the mains. The insurance section and current affairs build too slowly for that timeline. A four-month plan should therefore begin roughly two months before you expect the notification.
The plan below assumes about five to six hours a day of study. If you work full time, see the adjustments near the end.
The shape of the four months
| Month | Goal | Mock routine |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foundations: calculation base, basic reasoning, insurance principles, daily news habit | Sectional tests only |
| 2 | Coverage and speed: all prelims topics, charts and table DI, life insurance products | Two prelims mocks a week |
| 3 | Mains depth: mains puzzles, caselets, insurance regulation and markets, first descriptive tasks | Prelims mock every two days; one mains mock a week |
| 4 | Prelims peak, then mains: daily prelims mocks until the exam, then full mains mocks | Daily prelims mocks; then two or three mains mocks a week |
Month 1: foundations
| Section | Focus |
|---|---|
| Quant | Tables to 30, squares to 30, cubes to 20, fraction–percentage equivalents; simplification; number series; percentage, ratio, averages |
| Reasoning | Inequality, syllogism, coding–decoding, direction, blood relations, order and ranking; simple linear and circular seating |
| English | 20 minutes of reading daily; grammar rules for error spotting |
| Insurance | Weeks 1 to 4 of the insurance sequence below |
| GK | A daily current-affairs routine of 30 to 45 minutes, with notes |
By the end of month 1, you should be able to explain the principles of insurance in your own words, with an example for each.
Month 2: coverage and speed
| Section | Focus |
|---|---|
| Quant | Remaining arithmetic (profit and loss, interest, time and work, speed, mixtures, probability); quadratic equations; table and bar-graph DI |
| Reasoning | Puzzles and seating every day (floor, box, month-based); alphanumeric series; input–output basics |
| English | Cloze, fillers, error spotting and RC; one English sectional test a week |
| Insurance | Weeks 5 to 8 of the sequence |
| Mocks | Two prelims mocks a week, each followed by an hour of analysis |
Month 3: mains depth
| Section | Focus |
|---|---|
| Data Analysis | Caselets, missing-value DI, pie and line charts, data sufficiency |
| Reasoning | Mains-level puzzles with eight or more variables; critical reasoning |
| Insurance and finance | Weeks 9 to 12 of the sequence |
| Descriptive | One typed task a week, rotating email, report, situation analysis and précis |
| Mocks | A prelims mock every two days; one full mains mock a week |
Month 4: prelims peak, then mains
Until the prelims, take a full prelims mock every day and analyse it the same day. Keep insurance and GK going for at least an hour daily, because the mains follows only weeks later. After the prelims, switch to full mains mocks two or three times a week, with typed descriptive practice twice a week. The LIC AAO mains strategy has a week-by-week version of this stretch.
A 16-week insurance and finance sequence
Insurance and Financial Market Awareness is 60 marks in the mains and is new to most candidates. One topic block per week, studied daily, covers it without cramming.
| Week | Topic block |
|---|---|
| 1 | Risk and the idea of insurance; how insurance works; the history of insurance in India and of LIC |
| 2 | Principles: utmost good faith, insurable interest, indemnity, subrogation, contribution, proximate cause |
| 3 | Life insurance products: term, endowment, whole life, money-back |
| 4 | ULIPs, annuities and pension plans, riders |
| 5 | Policy terms: premium, grace period, lapse and revival, surrender value, policy loans |
| 6 | Nomination and assignment; maturity and death claims; Section 45 of the Insurance Act |
| 7 | General insurance: fire, marine, motor, property |
| 8 | Health insurance and group insurance |
| 9 | Regulation: IRDAI, the Insurance Act, 1938, the LIC Act, 1956, the Insurance Ombudsman |
| 10 | The industry: public and private insurers, distribution channels, reinsurance |
| 11 | Government schemes: PMJJBY, PMSBY, Atal Pension Yojana, crop insurance |
| 12 | Financial markets: money and capital markets, SEBI, stock exchanges, mutual funds |
| 13 | RBI, monetary policy and banking basics |
| 14 | Economy basics, the Union Budget and key indicators |
| 15 | LIC and industry current affairs from the past year |
| 16 | Full revision with quizzes; list and fix every confusion |
A daily timetable
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 1 h 30 min | Quant or DI: 30 minutes of concept or revision, then an hour of timed questions |
| 1 h 30 min | Reasoning: one timed puzzle block plus short-question practice |
| 1 h | Insurance and finance: the week's topic block, notes and ten questions |
| 45 min | Current affairs |
| 30 min | English (prelims) or typed descriptive practice (from month 3) |
| 15 min | Review the day's errors and add them to your error log |
On mock days, the mock and its analysis replace the first two blocks. The insurance and current-affairs blocks stay.
The weekly rhythm
- Six study days, one lighter day. Use the lighter day for a short revision session, rest and a look at the next week's plan.
- One weekly test in the weakest section, even in months 1 and 2.
- One weekly insurance quiz covering everything studied so far, not just that week's topic.
- A Sunday review. Check each section's mock accuracy against the previous week.
Checkpoints
| When | You should be able to |
|---|---|
| End of month 1 | Explain each principle of insurance with an example; solve 20 simplification questions in 8 minutes |
| End of month 2 | Clear every sectional minimum in most prelims mocks; solve a medium puzzle in about five minutes |
| End of month 3 | Score at or near the latest prelims cut-off in most mocks; finish one mains puzzle set in under eight minutes |
| End of month 4 | Clear every mains section minimum in full mocks; type a clean email or report in 15 minutes |
If you miss a checkpoint, do not simply push ahead. Take the next two weeks and move an extra hour a day to the lagging section, taking the time from your strongest one.
If you are working
With about three hours on weekdays and six to eight at weekends, stretch the plan to five or six months and keep the same order. On weekdays, protect three things:
- current affairs
- the insurance block
- one timed practice block, alternating Quant and Reasoning
Use weekends for mocks and analysis. Preparing for LIC AAO with a job goes into detail.
Common mistakes
- Waiting for the notification before starting. The gap between notification and prelims was only about seven weeks in 2025.
- Skipping analysis on mock days. A mock without analysis is just a score.
- Leaving the descriptive to the last week. It is qualifying, but typing under time pressure takes practice.
- Dropping insurance in prelims month. The mains arrives within weeks of the prelims.
What to do next
- Fix your start date: about four months before the expected prelims.
- Copy the 16-week insurance sequence into your planner and start week 1 today.
- Book your first prelims mock for the end of month 1. Use the method in mock tests and analysis for LIC AAO to analyse it.
A note on dates and numbers. Exam patterns, vacancies and schedules change from year to year. Always confirm the current details in the latest notification on the Life Insurance Corporation of India website .
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