NICL AO 2026: National Insurance Administrative Officer Exam Guide

Last updated: 2026-11-14 · MockMentor

National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) published its advertisement for 321 Administrative Officers (Scale I) on 7 October 2026: 200 Generalists and 121 Specialists.

Status (14 November 2026): registration closed on 28 October 2026. Phase I is on 17 November 2026 and Phase II on 22 December 2026.

NICL AO 2026 at a glance

Specialist posts: Finance (CA and CMA) 20, Legal 20, IT 10 (plus 1 backlog), Automobile Engineers 20, Risk Engineers 28, Company Secretaries 2 and Agriculture 20.

Key dates

Eligibility

• Age: 21 to 30 years as on 1 October 2026 (born between 2 October 1996 and 1 October 2005).
• Relaxation: SC/ST 5 years, OBC 3 years, PwBD 10 years.
• Marks: at least 60% in graduation or post-graduation (55% for SC/ST/PwBD).

Exam pattern

Phase I (100 marks, 60 minutes)

Each section has its own cut-off. About 15 times the vacancies go through to Phase II.

Phase II for Generalists (objective, 250 marks, 3 hours)

Phase II descriptive (30 marks, 30 minutes): essay, precis and comprehension (10 marks each), typed in English. It is qualifying only.

• Negative marking: a quarter of the question's marks for each wrong answer.

Interview and final selection

• Interview shortlisting is on Phase II marks.
• Final score = Phase II 80% + interview 20%.
• Ties go to the candidate with higher interview marks, then to the older candidate.
• A waiting list of up to 50% of vacancies may be kept.

NICL AO cut-off: previous years (Generalist)

National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) does not publish category-wise cut-offs on its website, so the table below is compiled.

These figures were compiled from score cards and result notices by coaching institutes and exam portals, and checked against at least two such sources. They are not taken from the recruiter's own website, so treat them as a guide and confirm on the official site before relying on them.

Sectional cut-offs, Prelims 2025 (UR and EWS): English 16.25, Reasoning 11.00, Quantitative Aptitude 10.50.

The open-category Prelims cut-off fell by almost 9 marks from 2024 to 2025, which shows how much it moves with paper difficulty and vacancies. Aim for 80 or more in Prelims and do not neglect any one section.

Salary, probation and bond

• Pay scale: ₹82,485 - 4,050(14) - 1,39,185 - 4,390(4) - 1,56,745.
• About ₹1,14,000 a month in metro centres, plus other allowances.
• Probation: one year, extendable by up to one more. You must pass the non-life Licentiate exam of the Insurance Institute of India to be confirmed.
• Bond: at least four years of service, with a bond for one year's gross salary backed by two sureties.

Read next: UIIC AO and NIACL AO.

Source: National Insurance Company: Recruitment of 321 Administrative Officers (Generalists and Specialists) (Scale I), advertisement dated 7 October 2026, on nationalinsurance.nic.co.in.

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