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The Union Cabinet under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi has given its approval for the creation of a National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to streamline the hiring process by conducting a common eligibility test (CET). The NRA CET 2021 will replace the 1st level tests conducted by the three agencies namely Staff Selection Commission (SSC), the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) and the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) for the recruitment to Group B and C non-gazetted posts.The National Recruitment Agency (NRA) is likely to start conducting common eligibility test (CET) from September 2021. Union Minister Jitendra Singh stated that the agency will only conduct preliminary screening of candidates and the final recruitment will be done through domain specific examinations or tests by the respective recruiting bodies. Initially NRA will conduct exams for Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). In this blog we will discuss about NRA CET 2020-2021.
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What is NRA CET?
Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that NRA has been set up to provide the same platform to all candidates at the nearest district headquarter and with a view to set a new standard of equity and inclusiveness in recruitment. NRA will only conduct the preliminary screening of candidates. The final recruitment will be done through domain-specific examinations or tests, which will be conducted by the respective agencies such as SSC, RRBs, and IBPS. Based on the score obtained in CET conducted by NRA, candidates may appear in domain-specific exam or tests to be conducted by respective recruitment agencies. NRA CET test scores will be valid for a period of three years and there will be no bar in the number of attempts by a candidate. The exam is expected to be conducted twice a year. Around 2.5 crore aspirants appear for separate recruitment examinations every year for selection to around 1.25 lakh government jobs. In order to ease the recruitment process, the step has been taken by the government to introduce NRA Exam.
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NRA CET Exam Structure
A multi-agency body called National Recruitment Agency will be formed that would conduct a single computer-based examination for the recruitment in non-gazetted government posts from 2021. The agency will be responsible for conducting the Common Eligibility Test for selection to government jobs. Currently, multiple exams are being conducted for over 2.5 crore candidates each year. The recruitment process takes approx 18 months and more to complete one cycle. The implementation of NRA CET will provide a level playing field for all candidates and will be treated as a preliminary examination for specialized posts.
List of Exams under NRA CET 2021
Currently, the NRA CET 2021 exam has been decided to merge the preliminary exam or tier-1 exam for three government agencies Staff Selection Commission (SSC), RRB (Railway Recruitment Board), and Institue of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). The prelims exams for these organizations have been comprehended into a single common eligibility test. In the beginning, it has been declared that NRA CET would cover recruitment examinations for RRB, IBPS (IBPS RRB and IBPS Clerk, PO & SO), and SSC (SSC CHSL, CGL, JE, Steno Group C, D, JHT, etc.). This list would be expanded to the other non-gazetted posts later on.
| Governing Body | Prelims replaced by CET | Level |
| Staff Selection Commission (SSC) | SSC MTS | Matriculate |
| SSC GD | Matriculate | |
| SSC Constable (Executive) Delhi Police | Higher Secondary | |
| SSC CHSL | Higher Secondary | |
| SSC Stenographer | Higher Secondary | |
| SSC CGL | Graduate | |
| SSC CPO | Graduate | |
| SSC Selection Post | Matriculate/Higher Secondary/Graduate (as per the post requirement) | |
| SSC JHT | Matriculate/Higher Secondary/Graduate (as per the post requirement) | |
| Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) | RRB NTPC | Matriculate/Higher Secondary/Graduate (as per the post requirement) |
| RRB Group-D | Matriculate | |
| Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) | IBPS PO | Graduate |
| IBPS Clerk | Graduate | |
| IBPS RRB PO & Clerk Prelims | Graduate | |
| Other banking exams | Graduate |
As NRA CET will act as the screening test for selecting candidates for the Phase-2 or Tier-2 exams. NRA CET will be replacing the Tier-1 exam conducted by RRB, SSC, and Prelims exam conducted by IBPS. There will be a separate CET exam for each level of candidates as per the syllabus that will be announced soon. Below is the list of exams that are to be replaced by NRA CET for the upcoming years. Initially, only these exams are supposed to be replaced, further details would be updated as per government orders.
NRA CET for SSC
Every year SCC conducts exams for all levels of candidates providing them opportunities for working in the government sector at various posts. Each year selection of lakhs of candidates of matriculating, secondary, and graduate candidates are done by SSC. As per the Union Cabinet official announcement, NRA CET shall be introduced next year for selecting candidates at Tier-1 and the CET scores will be valid for the selection of Tier-2 exams. All Tier-1 exam for SSC recruitments will now be replaced by a single CET and the selection for Tier-2 exam will be totally on the basis of CET score.
NRA CET for Railways
NRA CET will also be conducted for the Group B and Group C non-technical posts in the Railway department. The candidates who qualify NRA CET will be eligible for Tier-2 and Tier-3 exam for Group B & Group C posts in Railways. NRA CET 2021 will be conducted in place of RRB NTPC & RRB Group D examinations. NRA CET will be applicable for the posts mentioned below;
The posts under the NTPC exam are Commercial cum Ticket Clerk, Goods Guard, Commercial Apprentice, Junior Time Keeper, Trains Clerk, Junior Clerk cum Typist, Senior Commercial cum Ticket Clerk, Traffic Assistant, Accounts Clerk cum Typist, Junior Account Assistant cum Typist, Senior Time Keeper, Senior Clerk cum Typist, and Station Master.
The posts under the Grade-D exam are Helper, Track Maintainer, Gateman, Porter Assistant, Porter, Hospital Attendant, and Pointsman.
NRA CET for Bank Exams
Institute of Personnel Selection is one of the largest organization bodies that conduct various bank exams every year and lakhs of candidates appear in those exams. Now after the introduction of NRA CET, the candidates will not have to appear for different Prelims exams for different banking jobs. CET scores will be counted as the Prelims score and will be applicable for IBPS bank exams. The candidates will not have to waste their time appearing in different Prelims exams.
NRA CET Educational Qualification
NRA CET for 10th candidates
The candidates appearing for any SSC or Railway job after the 10th pass will have to clear Common Eligibility Test. The exam for 10th level candidates will be conducted separately with a separate syllabus. It’s a golden opportunity for 10th pass candidates and will save their time too. On the basis of one CET exam, the candidates can appear for different posts as the score will be valid for 3 years.
NRA CET for 12th candidates
SSC and Railways offer many job opportunities to the candidates after their higher secondary education. As per the rules set by the government, a separate CET will be conducted for the candidates of higher secondary level. You can check out the above list for the post CET score will be taken into account.
NRA CET for Graduates
For the banking sector, graduation is a must education level, that any candidate must have before applying for bank exams. There are job offers that a graduate candidate can find in SSC and Railway department too. On the basis of education level, a separate syllabus will be released for graduate candidates and a separate CET will be conducted for candidates who are applying after graduation.
Important Dates for CET Exam
There is no official announcement for the dates related to the NRA CET exam dates in 2020. Most probably, CET will be held next year once the recruitment agency is fully set up and ready, to begin with, the examination process. We will keep you updated with all the exam dates once notified by NRA on their official website.
| SNo | Events | Dates |
| 1 | Online Registration | Not yet disclosed |
| 2 | Last date of registration | Not yet disclosed |
| 3 | Admit Card availability | Not yet disclosed |
| 4 | NRA CET Exam date | Not yet disclosed |
| 5 | NRA CET Result | Not yet disclosed |
NRA CET Score and its Validity
The CET score is the marks obtained in the test by the candidates. This score will define the aptitude ability of the candidate and will be counted as prelims marks. On the basis of the NRA CET score, the candidate can choose their choice of exam for tier-2 and tier-3 exams. The validity for the common eligibility test score is decided to be for three years, however, who wish to improve their score could appear in the exam every year.
Eligibility Criteria
The eligibility for CET will be announced by NRA along with the official release of the CET important dates. Till now it is expected that there won’t be any minor changes in the eligibility criteria for the Prelims/ Tier-1 CET test for Banking, SSC & RRB exams. Moreover, the age relaxation for the NRA CET exam for various categories will be the same. However, the final notification is released by the NRA. Once released, we will update you with the official notification about the eligibility criteria for the CET.
Age Limit
The age limit for CET exam is expected to same as that for preliminary exam i.e.
Minimum Age: 18 years
Maximum Age: 40 years
Within this age group, the candidate can apply for the CET exam for unlimited times as there are no boundations to the number of attempts.
Exam Pattern and Exam Syllabus
The exam pattern and syllabus for the CET exam have not yet decided. Once the exam pattern and syllabus are formatted by the NRA, we will update it on our page. As per the resources, the exam pattern and syllabus for each level will be different, i.e. graduate, senior secondary, and secondary level exams. You are advised to be in touch with us and we will keep you updated about every single notification for NRA CET.
- NRA CET exam infrastructure will be created in about aspirational 117 districts.
- NRA CET will be conducted at over 1,000 exam centers in every district of India ensuring ease of access for rural youth, women, and disadvantaged candidates.
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