RBI Grade B Exam: Complete Guide to Pattern and Preparation

Last updated: 2026-11-07 · MockMentor

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recruits Officers in Grade B (Direct Recruit, DR) every year through a three-stage exam: Phase-I, Phase-II and an interview. Only Phase-II and the interview count in the final merit list, so your rank is decided by 375 marks: 300 in Phase-II and 75 in the interview.

RBI Grade B 2027: notification in February 2027, Phase-I in April 2027, Phase-II in May/June 2027, as per RBI's first annual recruitment calendar (22 October 2026). See the full calendar and what it means. This guide follows RBI's latest advertisement (Panel Year 2026) until the 2027 advertisement is out.

Streams and vacancies

RBI recruits Grade B officers in three streams. This guide covers the General stream, which has the most vacancies. The 2026 cycle had 60 vacancies:

Stream Vacancies (2026)
Grade B (DR) – General 40
Grade B (DR) – DEPR (Department of Economic and Policy Research) 10
Grade B (DR) – DSIM (Department of Statistics and Information Management) 10

How selection works

Stage What it is Counts in final merit?
Phase-I Online, objective. One paper of 200 marks in 120 minutes. No, used only for shortlisting
Phase-II Online, three papers of 100 marks each (300 marks). Objective and descriptive. Yes
Interview 75 marks. Shortlisting is based on aggregate Phase-II marks. Yes

Final merit = Phase-II (300) + Interview (75) = 375 marks, plus grace marks where applicable.

Phase-I

Phase-I has four tests: General Awareness, English Language, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning, with separate time for each test. You must clear the minimum marks in every test and in aggregate. If the exam runs in more than one session, scores are normalised. The number of questions per test is given in the Information Handout, which RBI releases with the admit card.

Phase-II

Paper Objective Descriptive (typed) Total
Paper-I: Economic and Social Issues (ESI) 30 questions, 50 marks, 30 minutes 6 questions, attempt 4, 50 marks, 90 minutes 100 marks
Paper-II: English (Writing Skills) – 3 questions, 100 marks, 90 minutes 100 marks
Paper-III: General Finance and Management (FM) 30 questions, 50 marks, 30 minutes 6 questions, attempt 4, 50 marks, 90 minutes 100 marks

Half of Phase-II (200 of 300 marks) is descriptive, and answers are typed on a keyboard. That is why descriptive practice decides most final ranks. See the descriptive writing guide and the Phase 2 subject pages.

Interview

The interview carries 75 marks and can be taken in Hindi or English. Before it, candidates go through a Personality Assessment, which carries no marks. Read the interview guide and real 2026 interview transcripts.

Last cycle at a glance (2026)

Event Date
Online application April 29 – May 20, 2026
Phase-I (General) June 13, 2026
Phase-II (General) July 25, 2026

The gap between Phase-I and Phase-II was six weeks, too short to start Phase-II subjects from scratch. Begin Phase-II preparation well before Phase-I. In 2027 both phases come earlier, so follow our 2027 study plan.

How to prepare

  1. Start with Phase-II. Cover the full ESI, Finance and Management syllabus first; it carries all the marks that decide your rank.
  2. Use previous year questions to set priorities, not limits. Our Phase 2 question analysis for 2023–2026 shows which topics repeat.
  3. Practise typed descriptive answers every week, against the clock and the word limit.
  4. Keep current affairs on a fortnightly cycle. Read the highlighted daily content on our Telegram channel, revise each fortnight's content by the 15th and the 30th, and test yourself at the end of every fortnight.
  5. Prepare the interview early from your own profile and RBI's departments.

Full details

Source: RBI advertisement for Officers in Grade B (DR), Panel Year 2026 (Advt. No. RBISB/DA/01/2026-27, April 29, 2026).

In this section

RBI Grade B: all pages

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