In this guide
A working candidate's problem is rarely the number of hours. It is energy at 9 p.m., a weekend eaten by a deadline, and the slow drift that follows two missed days. LIC AAO suits working candidates better than most exams, for one reason. Much of the mains is awareness: 120 of the 300 marks come from GK and Insurance and Financial Market Awareness. That material can be learnt in small daily doses, on a commute or a lunch break. Reasoning and Data Analysis need longer, sharper sessions, and those are what your timetable must protect.
What the exam asks of you
| Stage | What counts | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Prelims | Reasoning 35 + Quant 35 (English 30 is qualifying) | 1 hour, 20 minutes a section |
| Mains objective | Reasoning 90, GK 60, Data Analysis 90, Insurance 60 | 2 hours |
| Mains descriptive | Two typed answers, 25 marks, qualifying | 30 minutes |
| Interview | 60 marks | — |
The 2025 timeline shows why you cannot wait for the notification. It came out on 16 August, the prelims was held on 3 and 7 October, and the mains on 8 November. That is about seven weeks to the prelims and five more to the mains. Insurance awareness cannot be learnt from scratch in five weeks alongside a job. Start it now.
A weekly budget of about 24 hours
| Day | Hours | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Monday to Friday | 2.5 a day | 12.5 |
| Saturday and Sunday | 5.5 a day | 11 |
| Week | 23.5, call it 24 |
Here is one way to spend those hours:
| Area | Hours a week | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Full mock and its analysis | 3 | Builds section timing; shows where marks leak |
| Reasoning | 5.5 | 90 mains marks; puzzles need long, fresh sessions |
| Quant and Data Analysis | 5.5 | Prelims shortlisting plus 90 mains marks |
| Insurance and financial awareness | 4 | 60 mains marks; unique to LIC |
| GK and current affairs | 3.5 | 60 mains marks; best done daily |
| English and descriptive | 2.5 | Two qualifying hurdles; keep them safe |
| Total | 24 |
If your job leaves you only 15 hours, cut in this order: fewer full mocks in the early months, then less English. Keep insurance and current affairs every day, even if only 20 minutes each.
Weekday timetable
| Time | Activity | Why this slot |
|---|---|---|
| Early morning, 75 minutes | Reasoning puzzles or a DI set | Your sharpest hour goes to the hardest material |
| Commute | Insurance notes, current affairs | Reading and recall work in short bursts |
| Lunch break, 20 minutes | One timed sectional quiz | Keeps speed alive without a long session |
| Evening, 45 minutes | Insurance topic of the day, or English | Lighter work when you are tired |
If mornings are impossible, swap the morning and evening blocks, but do puzzles before dinner, not after.
Weekend timetable
| Time | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | Full mock (prelims or mains) and analysis | Mains-level puzzles and caselet DI |
| Afternoon | Weak topics from the mock | Insurance: one full topic with practice questions |
| Evening | Weekly GK revision | Plan next week; one typed descriptive task (last two months) |
A five-month plan
| Month | Focus | By the end, you should |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calculation speed, basic reasoning topics, insurance principles | Know squares, fractions and percentages cold; explain the basic principles of insurance in your own words |
| 2 | Arithmetic, puzzles and seating, life-insurance products, daily current affairs | Solve a prelims-level puzzle in about four minutes |
| 3 | Mains-level puzzles and DI, regulation and the industry, financial markets | Take your first full mains mock |
| 4 | Prelims mode: a mock every two or three days, sectional drills | Clear every prelims sectional minimum comfortably in mocks |
| 5 | Mains mode: full mains mocks, insurance and GK revision, typed descriptive | Clear every mains minimum with a margin |
If the notification lands before month 4, move straight to month 4 and keep the insurance and GK habit running.
Worked example: a hypothetical working day
Suppose an aspirant works from 9:30 to 6:00 with a 45-minute train ride each way.
- 6:15 to 7:30. One mains-level puzzle set and one DI set, both timed.
- Morning train. Fifteen current-affairs items, then the day's insurance note.
- Lunch. A 15-minute Quant sectional on the phone.
- Evening train. Recall practice: close the notes and list the key points of yesterday's insurance topic.
- 8:30 to 9:15. One English cloze or RC, or the evening insurance topic.
Counting both train rides, that is about three and three-quarter hours with the syllabus (75 + 45 + 15 + 45 + 45 minutes), and only two of those blocks need a desk. On a heavy day, drop the lunch quiz and the evening block and you still keep the habit.
Leave: when it helps most
Save leave rather than spending it early. Two windows give the most value.
- The three or four days before the prelims. Use them for daily full mocks and light revision.
- Seven to ten days before the mains. Use them for full mains mocks, insurance and GK recall, and typed descriptive practice.
If you work in a government or public-sector organisation, check early whether your employer requires permission or a no-objection certificate to apply, and what it needs at the interview stage. The rules are your employer's, so ask your HR department rather than relying on forums.
Mistakes working candidates make
- Stop-start preparation. Two intense weeks followed by a month off does more damage than a modest routine that never breaks.
- Doing only the easy half. Reading insurance notes on the train feels productive. Puzzles and DI still need desk time every week.
- Skipping mock analysis. A mock without analysis is only a score. Spend at least as long reviewing as you spent writing.
- Comparing yourself with full-time aspirants. Results depend on how well you cover the syllabus and how carefully you learn from mocks, not on total hours.
Keeping going for five months
- Sleep at least seven hours. Tired practice builds slow habits.
- Keep one evening a week completely free.
- On a bad work week, protect the minimum: 20 minutes of insurance and 20 of current affairs every day.
- Review the week every Sunday evening. Fifteen minutes of honest checking stops small slips from becoming lost months.
What to do next
- Write your own weekly budget, using the table above as a starting point.
- Start insurance awareness this week, one topic a day. The insurance and financial awareness plan sets the order.
- Take one full prelims mock this weekend to set your baseline.
- Map your months against the four-month LIC AAO plan and adjust for your hours.
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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