In this guide
In the 2025 cycle, the LIC AAO prelims was held on 3 and 7 October and the mains on 8 November. For most candidates, "the last month" is simply the gap between the two papers. That is too short to learn anything large, and long enough to add twenty or thirty marks if you spend it well. The plan below is about converting what you already know into marks: full mocks, recall-based revision, and removing any risk of failing a section minimum.
What the month is for
| Section | Questions | Marks | Time | Seconds per question | Minimum (UR, OBC, EWS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reasoning Ability | 30 | 90 | 40 min | 80 | 45 |
| GK and current affairs | 30 | 60 | 20 min | 40 | 30 |
| Data Analysis & Interpretation | 30 | 90 | 40 min | 80 | 45 |
| Insurance and Financial Market Awareness | 30 | 60 | 20 min | 40 | 30 |
| Descriptive (typed, qualifying) | 2 | 25 | 30 min | — | 10 |
For SC, ST and PwBD candidates the minimums are 40, 27, 40, 27 and 9. The 2025 UR cut-off on the 300-mark total was 232.
Two sections are won at the desk this month and two are won by memory. Reasoning and DI improve with timed sets and mock analysis. GK and Insurance improve only with revision, because 40 seconds a question leaves no time to work anything out.
Priorities, in order
- Remove the risk of failing a minimum. Any section where your mock scores sit near the floor gets first claim on your time.
- Revise the awareness sections daily. GK and Insurance give 120 marks for 40 minutes of exam time. Each extra correct answer is 2 marks.
- Keep Reasoning and DI sharp. One mains-level puzzle set and one DI set every day, timed.
- Make the descriptive safe. Two typed tasks a week. The minimum is only 10 of 25, but it is a hard stop.
Worked example: reading one mock properly
Suppose a hypothetical candidate's mains mock reads: Reasoning 18 correct, GK 17, DI 15 and Insurance 20.
| Section | Correct | Marks | Minimum | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reasoning | 18 | 54 | 45 | +9 |
| GK | 17 | 34 | 30 | +4 |
| DI | 15 | 45 | 45 | 0 |
| Insurance | 20 | 40 | 30 | +10 |
| Total | 173 |
The total looks like the problem, but DI is the real risk: 45 is exactly the minimum, so one bad set could end the attempt. DI gets daily timed sets first. Then the question is where the remaining marks can come from. A realistic month's target might be Reasoning 23 correct (69), GK 24 (48), DI 21 (63) and Insurance 27 (54). That adds up to 69 + 48 + 63 + 54 = 234, a gain of 61 marks. Notice that the awareness sections supply 28 of those 61 marks from revision alone.
Week by week
| Week | Mocks | Reasoning and DI | Awareness | Descriptive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Two full mains mocks, fully analysed | Daily mains-level puzzle set and DI set | Insurance principles and life products; last six months of current affairs | One email, typed |
| 2 | Two or three mocks | Caselets and missing-data DI; tangled puzzles | IRDAI, the industry, government schemes; banking and economy news | One report, one précis |
| 3 | Three mocks | Error-log review; weak question types only | Financial markets, claims, pensions; the rest of current affairs | One situation analysis, one email |
| 4 | Two mocks early in the week | Short timed sets only | Summary sheets and quizzes | One short task a day in the last three days |
If your gap is shorter than four weeks, compress weeks 2 and 3. Do not drop the mocks.
Insurance and GK: recall, not rereading
In the final month, rereading feels productive and does little. Recall works better. Each morning, take one topic, such as the principles of insurance, and write its key points from memory before opening your notes. The gaps you find are exactly what to revise that evening.
A daily awareness routine:
- 10 minutes: write one insurance topic from memory, then check it.
- 15 minutes: revise one week of current affairs from your notes.
- 5 minutes: a 10-question timed quiz, alternating GK and insurance.
Every second day, take a full 30-question awareness sectional in 20 minutes, so that the pace feels normal by exam day.
The descriptive test
The 2025 notification described the test as communication skills: emails, reports, situation analysis and précis writing. You get 30 minutes for two answers, typed, in English, and the answers are evaluated only if you clear the objective part.
| Task | Plan | Type | Check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Each answer, about 15 minutes | 2 minutes: purpose, audience, three points | 11 minutes | 2 minutes: spelling, tone, missing parts |
Practise on a computer with autocorrect switched off. The descriptive test guide covers each format.
Mock analysis log
| Mock | Reasoning | GK | DI | Insurance | Total | Nearest minimum | One fix for tomorrow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||||||
| 2 | |||||||
| 3 |
Fill in "nearest minimum" every time. It is the column that keeps you from being surprised on exam day.
The last three days
- No new topics.
- Revise insurance and GK summary sheets twice a day.
- Type one short descriptive answer each day.
- Check the admit card, ID documents, reporting time and route to the centre.
- Sleep at your normal time, especially the night before.
Exam day
- Reach early with every document the admit card asks for.
- Reasoning: spend a minute surveying the section. Take standalone questions first, then puzzles in order of clarity, with about eight minutes a set.
- DI: scan every set and start with the cleanest numbers. Approximate when the options are far apart.
- GK and Insurance: one pass for everything you know, a second for questions where you can eliminate options.
- The final minute of each section: if there is no negative marking, as in 2025, mark every remaining question.
- Descriptive: read both tasks, plan briefly, type clearly and keep two minutes to check.
After the mains
Start interview preparation the week after the mains. The interview carries 60 marks, with a minimum of 30. Your insurance notes already cover much of what you will be asked. See the LIC AAO interview overview.
What to do next
- Take one full mains mock this week and fill in the analysis log.
- Find your section nearest its minimum and give it first claim on your time.
- Write your week-by-week plan for the days you actually have.
- Recheck the section rules in the LIC AAO mains strategy.
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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