Insurance · Government Exams

LIC AAO 2026 Notification, Exam Pattern, Syllabus, Salary, Cut-off, Eligibility and Free LIC AAO Mock Tests

LIC AAO is the officer-entry examination of the Life Insurance Corporation of India — a three-stage recruitment of prelims, mains with a descriptive English paper, and interview, for Assistant Administrative Officers who begin at a basic pay of ₹88,635 and about ₹1.26 lakh a month in an A-class city. The 2025 notification carried 350 Generalist posts, 410 Specialist posts and 81 Assistant Engineer posts; the Generalist prelims were held on 3 and 7 October 2025 and the mains on 8 November 2025.

It is one of the few officer examinations with no negative marking at any stage, which changes how the paper should be attempted, and one where the Insurance and Financial Market Awareness section of the mains separates candidates who prepared for LIC from those who prepared for banking. This guide reads the 2025 notification and cut-off sheet so the next cycle can be planned against them.

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LIC AAO · checked 19 September 2026

LIC AAO at a glance, from the official notices

The dates, vacancies and rules below are read on the conducting body’s own site and rewritten as each notice appears. The guide beneath carries the full pattern, syllabus, cut-offs and free mock tests.

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19September 2026

Checked 19 September 2026

LIC AAO: the facts that matter now

  1. 01

    Notification 16 August 2025; applications 16 August – 8 September 2025; prelims 3 and 7 October 2025; mains 8 November 2025; cut-offs and…

    2025 cycle

  2. 02

    Life Insurance Corporation of India, through an online test agency; the recruitment page is licindia.in → Careers

    Conducted by

  3. 03

    Assistant Administrative Officer (Generalist), and Specialist AAOs in Actuarial, CA, CS, Legal and Insurance Specialist streams, plus Assistant…

    Posts

  4. 04

    Online prelims (qualifying) → online mains, 300 objective marks plus a 25-mark descriptive English paper → interview of 60 marks → pre-recruitment…

    Stages

Notification

LIC AAO notification and key dates

Checked 16 September 2026 on licindia.in → Careers. The page lists only the 2025 recruitment of AAO (Generalists, Specialists and Assistant Engineers): its notifications, the prelims results of 3 and 7 October 2025, the mains results of 8 November 2025, the Generalist and Specialist cut-off sheets and the scorecard notice. No 2026 AAO notification has been issued; LIC recruited AAOs in 2019, 2023 and 2025, so the next notice is more likely than not to follow the same August timing when it comes.

LIC AAO 2025 — the reference cycle, from the notification of 16 August 2025.
EventDate
Notification16 August 2025 (Generalist and Specialist notices separately)
Online registration and fee16 August – 8 September 2025
Call lettersAbout seven days before each examination
Preliminary examination3 and 7 October 2025
Main examination8 November 2025
Mains results, cut-offs and scorecardsPublished on the Careers page; interviews and the final list followed
LIC AAO Generalist 2025 vacancies and cut-offs.
ItemFigure
Vacancies350 Generalist (142 UR, 91 OBC, 38 EWS, 51 SC, 28 ST) plus 410 Specialist and 81 Assistant Engineer posts
Prelims total cut-off (70)UR 58, EWS 54, OBC 55, SC 51, ST 46
Mains total cut-off (300)UR 232, EWS 220, OBC 221, SC 205, ST 189
Mains plus interview cut-off (360)UR 294, EWS 288, OBC 285, SC 271, ST 260
Sectional minimumsPrelims 18/18/10 (16/16/9 reserved); mains 45/30/45/30 (40/27/40/27 reserved); descriptive 10 (9)

What to watch for

LIC publishes the notification, the call-letter link, results and cut-offs on the same Careers page, and posts nothing by e-mail except the call-letter intimation. A candidate preparing for 2026 should read the 2025 Generalist notification now: the pattern, fee, age date and bond terms have been stable since 2023 and the next notice will very likely repeat them.

Overview

What LIC AAO is, and who it suits

LIC recruits AAOs when it has vacancies rather than on a fixed annual calendar: the 32nd Generalist batch was recruited in 2025 after the 2023 exercise of 300 posts, and there was no 2024 recruitment. A candidate should therefore prepare on the assumption that a notification can appear with about three weeks between the notice and the closing date and roughly seven weeks between the notice and the prelims — the 2025 gaps were exactly that.

The paper suits a candidate with a banking-style preparation in reasoning, quantitative aptitude and English who is willing to add two things: a genuinely different mains section on insurance and financial-market awareness, and a typed descriptive paper of e-mail, report, situation analysis and précis writing. The interview carries 60 marks and counts in the final merit alongside the 300 mains marks, so it is a real stage rather than a formality.

Who LIC AAO suits

  • Graduates in any discipline aged 21 to 30 — the Generalist post has no subject requirement; specialist streams need the professional qualification named for them.
  • Banking aspirants — the prelims and three of the four mains sections are the IBPS PO pattern in a different order; the insurance section is the only new study.
  • Candidates who dislike negative marking — every question can be attempted in both stages, which rewards speed and elimination rather than caution.
  • Those ready for mofussil postings — the notification says most vacancies are in mofussil branches and posting is anywhere in India.

Eligibility

Who can apply for LIC AAO

From the LIC AAO (Generalist) notification of 16 August 2025, eligibility as on 1 August 2025. The next notification will set its own cut-off date, usually the first of the month in which it is issued.

Who could apply in 2025.
RequirementDetail
Qualification — GeneralistA bachelor’s degree in any discipline from a recognised Indian university or institution; no equivalent qualification accepted
Qualification — SpecialistActuarial: degree plus Institute of Actuaries papers; CA, CS: membership; Legal: law degree with the practice or experience stated; Insurance Specialist: degree with the insurance qualification stated in the specialist notice
Age21 to 30 years on 1 August 2025 (born 2 August 1995 to 1 August 2004)
Age relaxationSC and ST 5 years; OBC 3 years; PwBD 10, 13 or 15 years; ex-servicemen 5, 8 or 10 years; confirmed LIC employees a further 5 years
Fee₹700 plus transaction charges and GST for others; ₹85 intimation charges plus charges for SC, ST and PwBD; non-refundable
Attempts and nationalityNo attempt limit; Indian citizens and the categories of subjects of Nepal, Bhutan and Tibetan refugees usually admitted to central recruitment

Points the notification stresses

  • One application only — multiple registrations are cancelled and only the last complete one is kept.
  • Category cannot change — after registration; certificates are checked at the interview.
  • Passing date — the date on the marksheet or provisional certificate decides whether the degree counts by the cut-off date.

Selection process

How LIC AAO selection works

Each stage in order, and what it actually tests.

Stages change between cycles. Confirm the structure in the notification for the cycle you are sitting.
StageFormatWhat it involves
Phase I — Preliminary examinationOnline, 1 hour, 100 questions, three separately timed sectionsReasoning Ability 35 marks, Quantitative Aptitude 35 marks and English Language 30 marks (English is qualifying and not counted). Sectional minimums of 16/16/9 for SC, ST and PwBD and 18/18/10 for others. About 20 times the vacancies in each category go through to the mains.
Phase II — Main examinationOnline, 2 hours objective plus 30 minutes descriptive, 120 questions for 300 marks plus 25Reasoning Ability 90, General Knowledge and Current Affairs 60, Data Analysis and Interpretation 90, Insurance and Financial Market Awareness 60; then a typed English descriptive paper of two questions for 25 marks, qualifying only and evaluated only for candidates who clear the objective part.
Phase III — Interview60 marks; about three times the vacancies calledQualifying marks 30 (27 for SC, ST and PwBD). Final merit is mains plus interview; prelims marks are not added. Ties are broken by post-graduate qualification, then age.
Pre-recruitment medical examinationFor candidates in the final merit listAppointment follows medical fitness; a guarantee bond of ₹5 lakh binds the officer to four years of service including probation.

Application to appointment

How LIC AAO runs, from the Careers page notice to the interview and the medical

The steps follow the 2025 notification and the way that cycle actually ran.

The LIC AAO process

  1. Register on the LIC Careers link Applications are online only, through the link on licindia.in → Careers, within about three weeks of the notice — 16 August to 8 September in 2025. The form takes personal details, category, qualification and centre preferences, with a photograph, signature, left-thumb impression and a handwritten declaration uploaded to the specified sizes.
  2. Pay the fee ₹700 plus transaction charges and GST (₹85 for SC, ST and PwBD) by online modes only; the application is complete only when the payment succeeds.
  3. Download the prelims call letter About seven days before the examination, from the Careers page; nothing is posted. The 2025 prelims ran on two dates, 3 and 7 October, in one-hour sessions with separate timing for each section.
  4. Sit the prelims and check the result Candidates must clear each section and the aggregate; about 20 times the vacancies per category are listed for the mains. The 2025 prelims result was posted on the Careers page with the cut-off sheet.
  5. Sit the mains Two hours of objective sections with individual timers, followed immediately by the 30-minute descriptive paper typed on the computer. The 2025 mains was on 8 November.
  6. Interview and medical About three times the vacancies are called; the interview carries 60 marks with a 30 (27) minimum. Final merit is mains plus interview, ties broken by post-graduation then age. Selected candidates take a pre-recruitment medical and execute the ₹5 lakh four-year bond before joining.

Exam pattern

LIC AAO exam pattern and marking

LIC AAO exam pattern — the 2025 notification, unchanged since 2023.
Stage and sectionQuestionsMarksTimeMinimum (others / reserved)
Prelims — Reasoning Ability353520 min18 / 16
Prelims — Quantitative Aptitude353520 min18 / 16
Prelims — English Language (qualifying)3030*20 min10 / 9
Mains — Reasoning Ability309040 min45 / 40
Mains — General Knowledge and Current Affairs306020 min30 / 27
Mains — Data Analysis and Interpretation309040 min45 / 40
Mains — Insurance and Financial Market Awareness306020 min30 / 27
Mains — English descriptive (e-mail, report, situation analysis, précis)225*30 min10 / 9
Interview—60—30 / 27

How the marks work

There is no negative marking in either stage. Prelims marks are for shortlisting only; the English prelims paper and the descriptive paper are qualifying and not counted. Final merit is the 300 objective mains marks plus the 60 interview marks. Sections are individually timed, so an unfinished section cannot borrow minutes from another. Specialist mains replace the fourth section with a professional-knowledge paper of the stream.

Study plan

How to prepare for LIC AAO

A banking-pattern preparation covers three quarters of LIC AAO; the plan below allocates the remaining quarter to what is specific — insurance and financial-market awareness, data interpretation at mains weight, and a typed descriptive paper — and to attempting every question, which the absence of negative marking makes correct.

A twelve-week LIC AAO plan.
WeeksFocusWhat to do
1–4Prelims speed in reasoning and quantitative aptitudePuzzles, seating, syllogism, inequalities; simplification, number series, arithmetic, data interpretation. One sectional test a day, 20 minutes, aiming at 25-plus attempts in each.
1–12English as a qualifying paperReading comprehension, error spotting, fillers and cloze for the prelims; from week 5, one typed e-mail or report and one précis a week for the descriptive paper.
5–8Insurance and financial-market awarenessLIC’s history, plans and organisation; IRDAI and its regulations; life-insurance terms; the financial system, RBI, SEBI, PFRDA, budget and economic survey figures; the notes on money and banking on this site.
5–10Mains data analysis and reasoning at three marks a questionTwo-passage DI sets, caselets, missing-data tables; high-level puzzles, input-output, logical reasoning. Accuracy matters more here because each question is worth three marks.
9–12Full mocks on the LIC patternAlternate prelims and mains mocks with the individual section timers; attempt everything; review the insurance section against a running notes file.

Habits that pay in this examination

  • Attempt every question — a blank scores zero and a guess costs nothing in either stage.
  • Respect the section timers — the paper does not allow returning to a section, so pacing is per section.
  • Read one business newspaper daily — it feeds the current-affairs section, the insurance section and the interview at once.

Sources

Official notifications and sources

Every dated fact on this page was read from the documents below on the LIC Careers page. When the 2026 notification appears it will be linked from the same page.

LIC AAO — official documents

LIC Careers page Recruitment of AAO (Generalists, Specialists, Assistant Engineers) 2025 — recruitment page AAO Generalist notification 2025 (PDF) AAO Specialist and Assistant Engineer notification 2025 (PDF) Cut-offs for AAO Generalist 2025 (PDF) Cut-offs for AAO Specialist 2025 (PDF)

Exam resources

Everything for LIC AAO

Six resource pages, each kept in step with the latest official notification.

LIC AAO SyllabusLIC AAO syllabus — prelims reasoning, quantitative aptitude and English; mains reasoning, GK and current affairs, data analysis.LIC AAO Exam PatternLIC AAO exam pattern — prelims and mains sections, marks, section timers, the descriptive paper, interview weight and the no-negative-marking rule.LIC AAO Previous PapersLIC AAO previous year papers — what the 2019, 2023 and 2025 prelims and mains asked, section by section, and how to use them.LIC AAO Mock TestsLIC AAO mock tests — free full-length and sectional tests on the 2025 pattern with section timers, no negative marking and a typed descriptive paper.LIC AAO PreparationHow to prepare for LIC AAO — a twelve-week plan covering prelims speed, mains DI and reasoning at three marks a question.LIC AAO Study MaterialLIC AAO study material — books and free notes for reasoning, quantitative aptitude, English, current affairs and insurance and financial-market awareness.

Related

More Insurance preparation

All Insurance examsEvery exam in this categoryPrevious-year papersPast papers with solutionsCurrent affairsDaily, weekly and monthlyExam updatesNotifications and results

Questions

LIC AAO — FAQs

When is the LIC AAO 2026 notification?

Not issued as of 16 September 2026. LIC recruited AAOs in 2019, 2023 and 2025 — the 2025 notification came on 16 August with applications to 8 September, prelims on 3 and 7 October and mains on 8 November — so the next notice, when it comes, is more likely to follow that August-to-November shape than any other. It will appear on licindia.in → Careers.

What is the LIC AAO exam pattern?

Prelims of 100 questions in one hour in three timed sections — Reasoning 35, Quantitative Aptitude 35 and a qualifying English paper of 30 — followed by a mains of 120 questions for 300 marks in two hours (Reasoning 90, GK and Current Affairs 60, Data Analysis 90, Insurance and Financial Market Awareness 60) plus a 25-mark typed English descriptive paper, then a 60-mark interview. There is no negative marking at any stage.

What was the LIC AAO 2025 cut-off?

For Generalist posts, the prelims total cut-off out of 70 was 58 for UR, 55 OBC, 54 EWS, 51 SC and 46 ST; the mains cut-off out of 300 was 232 UR, 221 OBC, 220 EWS, 205 SC and 189 ST; and the mains-plus-interview cut-off out of 360 was 294 UR, 285 OBC, 288 EWS, 271 SC and 260 ST, with sectional minimums of 45/30/45/30 (40/27/40/27 for reserved categories) in the mains.

What is the LIC AAO salary?

Basic pay of ₹88,635 a month in the scale ₹88,635–4,385(14)–150,025–4,750(4)–169,025, with total emoluments of about ₹1,26,000 a month at the minimum in an A-class city, plus defined contributory pension, gratuity, LTC, medical benefit, group insurance and allowances for passing insurance and actuarial examinations. Selected officers sign a ₹5 lakh bond to serve four years including probation.

Who is eligible for LIC AAO?

For the Generalist post, a bachelor’s degree in any discipline from a recognised Indian university and an age of 21 to 30 years on the cut-off date — 1 August 2025 in the last cycle — with relaxation of 5 years for SC and ST, 3 for OBC, 10 to 15 for PwBD and 5 to 10 for ex-servicemen. Specialist posts need the professional qualification of the stream. The fee was ₹700 plus charges, or ₹85 for SC, ST and PwBD.

Is there negative marking in LIC AAO?

No. Neither the prelims nor the mains deducts marks for a wrong answer, which means every question should be attempted. Candidates must still clear the minimum marks in each section and in the aggregate, and the English paper at both stages is qualifying only.

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