Banking · Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
RBI Grade B — Reserve Bank of India — Officers in Grade B (DR)
The complete RBI Grade B blueprint: tier-wise pattern, topic weightage from previous-year analyses, and free chapter-by-chapter study material.
3 stages — Phase I, Phase II, Interview375 final-merit marks (Phase II 300 + Interview 75)600 words — the longest descriptive essay of any banking exam on this hub Free · tutor-verified
RBI Grade B at a glance
Conducted byReserve Bank of India (RBI)
CycleOnce a year (notification ~Feb-Mar; Phase I ~Jun; Phase II ~Sep-Oct; Interview ~Dec-Jan)
ModePhase I: online objective, with fixed per-section sub-timers (no moving time between sections). Phase II: objective + descriptive (ESI, F&M) and wholly descriptive (English). Interview: in-person personality test board.
EligibilityBachelor's degree with 60% marks (50% for SC/ST/PwBD) or a Postgraduate degree with 55% (50% for SC/ST/PwBD); age 21-30 as of the cycle's cut-off date (relaxation for reserved categories, M.Phil +2 years, PhD +4 years); General/EWS get 6 attempts at Phase I, SC/ST/OBC/PwBD unlimited within the age window
LanguagesEnglish & Hindi for objective sections; Phase II is answered in English
Pay bandBasic pay ₹78,450 on the RBI Grade B officer scale, with gross monthly emoluments of approximately ₹1,54,936 (excluding HRA) once allowances are added
Posts you can get
Officer in Grade B (DR) — General stream, plus specialist DEPR (Department of Economic and Policy Research) and DSIM (Department of Statistics and Information Management) streamsIndia's central bank and monetary authority — regulates all scheduled commercial banks, NBFCs and the payments system~60 vacancies in the 2026 cycle (40 General, 10 DEPR, 10 DSIM) — a small, highly competitive cadre
⚡ What changed recently
- Phase I enforces fixed per-section sub-timers (General Awareness 25 min, Reasoning 45 min, Quantitative Aptitude 25 min, English 25 min, within a 120-minute composite exam) — candidates cannot reallocate time across sections, unlike some other banking exams' composite timing.
- Phase II's Economic & Social Issues and Finance & Management papers are each HALF objective and half descriptive (30 objective + 6 descriptive questions each, on separate sub-timers within a 120-minute paper) — a mixed format most other banking exams don't use.
- The English Writing Skills paper is wholly descriptive — a 600-word essay (40 marks), the longest descriptive essay task of any exam on this hub's banking family, plus a precis (30) and reading comprehension (30), all in 90 minutes with no sectional lock.
- This hub currently builds Phase I's shared banking-family content (aliased to IBPS PO) plus all of Phase II's Economic & Social Issues, Finance & Management and English Writing Skills — genuinely new, RBI-specific content, hand-authored rather than aliased.
How RBI Grade B selection works
Know what each stage is for before you spend a single hour preparing.
QUALIFYING ONLY
Phase I — Objective Screening
200 questions · 200 marks · 120 minutes with fixed per-section sub-timers (General Awareness 80Q/80marks/25min, Reasoning 60Q/60marks/45min, Quantitative Aptitude 30Q/30marks/25min, English 30Q/30marks/25min). −0.25 per wrong answer. Clears you to Phase II — these marks are then discarded.
300 OF YOUR FINAL 375 MARKS
Phase II — Three Papers
Economic & Social Issues (100: 50 objective + 50 descriptive) + English Writing Skills (100, wholly descriptive) + Finance & Management (100: 50 objective + 50 descriptive). All three fully merit-counting.
FINAL 75 MARKS
Interview
A personality-test board assessing suitability for a central-banking officer role. Final merit = Phase II (300) + Interview (75) = 375 marks.
The exam pattern, tier by tier
Marks, timing and negative marking exactly as per the official notification.
Phase I — Objective Screening
Qualifying only200 marks · 200 Q
120 min (fixed per-section sub-timers) · −0.25 per wrong answer
| Section | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Awareness | 80 | 80 | 25 min |
| Reasoning Ability | 60 | 60 | 45 min |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 30 | 30 | 25 min |
| English Language | 30 | 30 | 25 min |
💡 Each section has its own fixed sub-timer within the 120-minute composite exam — a candidate cannot move time from one section to another, unlike many other banking exams' shared-pool timing.
Phase II — Paper I: Economic & Social Issues
Merit — feeds the 300-mark Phase II total100 marks · 30 objective + 6 descriptive Q
120 min (30 min objective + 90 min descriptive, separate timers) · −0.25 on the objective half; no negative marking on the descriptive half
| Section | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economic & Social Issues | 30 obj + 6 desc | 100 | 120 min |
Phase II — Paper II: English Writing Skills
Merit — feeds the 300-mark Phase II total100 marks · 3 Q
90 min, wholly descriptive · No negative marking
| Section | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| English Writing Skills | Essay + Precis + RC | 100 | 90 min |
Official syllabus units
- Essay (40 marks, ~600 words) — chosen from 4 economic/financial/policy topics
- Precis (30 marks) — compress a passage to about one-third length
- Reading Comprehension (30 marks) — argument-vs-evidence, inference, vocabulary-in-context
Phase II — Paper III: Finance & Management
Merit — feeds the 300-mark Phase II total100 marks · 30 objective + 6 descriptive Q
120 min (30 min objective + 90 min descriptive, separate timers) · −0.25 on the objective half; no negative marking on the descriptive half
| Section | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finance & Management | 30 obj + 6 desc | 100 | 120 min |
Where your final RBI Grade B score comes from
Phase I is qualifying only — clear the sectional and overall cutoffs and its marks are discarded. Phase II (three 100-mark papers: Economic & Social Issues, English Writing Skills, Finance & Management — 300 marks total) plus the Interview (75 marks) make up your full 375-mark final merit. Here is how Phase I's 200 marks split across subjects — click any block to open its chapters:
General Awareness80 marks · 40%
The single largest Phase I block by marks — current affairs and banking/financial awareness dominate.
Reasoning Ability60 marks · 30%
Puzzles & seating arrangement carry the heaviest share, as in every banking-family reasoning paper.
Quantitative Aptitude30 marks · 15%
Data Interpretation and arithmetic together anchor this smaller-weight section.
English Language30 marks · 15%
Objective grammar/vocabulary — the real English weight sits in Phase II's dedicated 100-mark paper instead.
Subjects in RBI Grade B
Chapter-by-chapter study material built to the exam's own blueprint.
Topic-wise weightage — what to study first
Question counts per topic, distilled from previous-year paper analyses. Click any topic with a link to open its full chapter.
| Topic | Phase I Q | Phase II Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puzzles & Seating Arrangement | 15–20 | Very high | |
| Syllogism | 3–5 | High | |
| Inequality (direct & coded) | 3–5 | High | |
| Coding–Decoding | 3–5 | High | |
| Blood Relations | 2–3 | Medium | |
| Direction & Distance | 2–3 | Medium | |
| Order & Ranking | 2–3 | Medium | |
| Alphanumeric / Alphabet Series | 2–3 | Medium | |
| Data Sufficiency | 2–3 | Medium | |
| Input–Output | 0–3 | Low | |
| Logical / Verbal Reasoning | 0–3 | Low | |
| Computer Aptitude (in Reasoning) | 0–2 | Low |
🎯 The identical banking-family reasoning syllabus as IBPS PO — puzzles and seating arrangement carry the heaviest weight, followed by syllogism, coding-decoding and the rest of the standard toolkit.
| Topic | Phase I Q | Phase II Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Interpretation | 6–8 | Very high | |
| Simplification & Approximation | 3–5 | High | |
| Number Series | 2–4 | High | |
| Arithmetic — Percentage, Profit & Loss, Interest | 3–5 | High | |
| Quadratic Equations | 1–3 | Medium | |
| Ratio, Proportion & Partnership | 1–2 | Medium | |
| Average, Mixture & Alligation | 1–2 | Medium | |
| Time, Work, Speed & Distance | 1–2 | Medium | |
| Permutation, Combination & Probability | 0–1 | Low | |
| Mensuration | 0–1 | Low | |
| Data Sufficiency (quant) | 0–1 | Low | |
| Quantity Comparison (I vs II) | 0–1 | Low |
🎯 A smaller-weight section than at most banking exams, so speed on the fast, reliable topics (Simplification, Number Series) matters even more before spending time on DI and arithmetic.
| Topic | Phase I Q | Phase II Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension | 6–8 | Very high | |
| Cloze Test | 3–5 | High | |
| Error Spotting / Sentence Correction | 3–4 | High | |
| Para Jumbles / Sentence Rearrangement | 2–3 | Medium | |
| Sentence / Double Fillers | 2–3 | Medium | |
| Word Swap / Word Usage | 1–2 | Medium | |
| Sentence Improvement | 1–2 | Medium | |
| Column-based / Connectors | 1–2 | Low | |
| Vocabulary | 1–2 | Low |
🎯 Standard banking-family objective English — Reading Comprehension anchors the section, with the usual grammar-pattern topics rounding it out. This is distinct from Phase II's 100-mark English Writing Skills paper, covered as its own subject.
| Topic | Phase I Q | Phase II Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current Affairs | 30–35 | Very high | |
| Banking & Financial Awareness | 20–25 | Very high | |
| Static Banking & Economy | 10–15 | High | |
| Budget & Economic Survey | 5–8 | High | |
| Static GK | 8–10 | Medium |
🎯 The biggest single Phase I section by marks, dominated by current affairs and banking/financial awareness — the fastest marks-per-minute on the paper once revised, and directly reused as background for Phase II's ESI and F&M papers.
| Topic | Phase I Q | Phase II Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Growth, Development & Poverty Measurement | — | Very high | |
| Employment, Agriculture & Economic Reforms | — | Very high | |
| Social Sector — Education, Health & Social Justice | — | High | |
| Demographics, Urbanisation & Sustainable Development | — | High |
🎯 Rewards citing a real committee, figure or mechanism over general commentary — growth vs. development, poverty measurement, employment/agriculture/reforms, the social sector, and demographics/urbanisation/sustainability are this paper's four pillars.
| Topic | Phase I Q | Phase II Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Financial System & Regulators | — | Very high | |
| Banking Regulation, Capital Adequacy & Risk Management | — | Very high | |
| Financial Markets, Instruments & Derivatives | — | High | |
| Union Budget, Fiscal Policy & Financial Inclusion | — | High | |
| Management Theory, Leadership & Organisational Behaviour | — | High | |
| Corporate Governance & Business Ethics | — | Medium |
🎯 The most technically precise Phase II paper — regulators, capital adequacy, risk management and financial markets in Section I; management theory, leadership and corporate governance in Section II. Exact percentages and named frameworks are what score marks here.
| Topic | Phase I Q | Phase II Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay (economic/financial/policy topics) | 40 marks | Very high | |
| Precis Writing | 30 marks | Very high | |
| Reading Comprehension | 30 marks | Very high |
🎯 A 600-word policy essay (40 marks) — considerably longer than a typical banking-exam essay — plus a precis (30) and reading comprehension (30), all on economic/policy-themed material. Rewards a stated position, a real figure and mechanism, and a controlled register.
RBI Grade B resources
Everything you need to prepare.
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FAQs
Frequently asked questions
No — Phase I is qualifying only. The final 375-mark score combines Phase II's 300 marks (ESI + English Writing Skills + Finance & Management) and the Interview's 75 marks.
This mixed format is specific to RBI Grade B's Phase II — each paper has 30 objective questions (30 min, −0.25 negative marking) and 6 descriptive questions (90 min, no negative marking) on the same 100-mark paper, unlike most other banking exams' fully separate objective/descriptive splits.
It is entirely descriptive and considerably more demanding — a 600-word essay plus a precis and reading comprehension, versus the shorter, lighter descriptive tasks (Email/Report, Essay/Letter) most other banking exams set.
Specialist recruitment streams — DEPR (Department of Economic and Policy Research) and DSIM (Department of Statistics and Information Management) — with their own distinct Phase II papers focused on economics/statistics rather than the General stream's ESI/English/F&M structure. This hub's chapters cover the General stream.
A Bachelor's degree with 60% marks (50% for SC/ST/PwBD) or a Postgraduate degree with 55%, age 21-30. Selected candidates join as Officers in Grade B (DR) at basic pay ₹78,450/month, with gross monthly emoluments of approximately ₹1,54,936 before HRA.
Around 60 in the 2026 cycle (40 General, 10 DEPR, 10 DSIM) — a small, highly competitive cadre compared to larger banking exams like IBPS PO.
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