What Benefits Does NRA CET Bring to Candidates?

National Recruitment Agency has been in news for the past couple of years and for the right reasons. The proposal of setting up this agency has been approved by the Union Cabinet long back. Now the question which would be coming to your mind is what is this agency and what will it do? Well! This agency will conduct a common eligibility test for the selection of all non-gazetted (Group B and C) posts in the central government and public sector banks. More or less, this list will include exams like SBI PO, SBI Clerk, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, RRB Group D etc. You would be thinking what’s the need for this agency when already there are a number of exam-conducting bodies like IBPS, SSC etc. In this article, we will answer this question and will explain to you the other benefits of NRA CET.

What purpose does NRA & CET (Common Eligibility Test) serve?

NRA is an independent, professional, specialist organization which will be conducting computer-based online Common Eligibility Test (CET) for Graduate candidates, Higher Secondary candidates (12th pass) and Matriculate candidates (10th Pass) to screen aspirants at the first level for SSC, RRBs and IBPS. Do you get some idea about the benefits which it brings to the table? If not, read below…

A Reform in the Recruitment Process

As a job-seeker, you do understand the pain of applying for several vacancies separately and then preparing for the exams and then appearing for them. To complicate it further, there are separate recruiting agencies for different vacancies. And to put it in numbers, around 2.5 to 3 crores aspirants appear in these examinations on a cumulative basis. Well! NRA facilitated CET will enable aspirants to appear in CET once and then apply to any or all of these recruitment agencies for the higher level of examination. This will save a lot of time, money and energy from the aspirants’ perspective.

Improved Fee Payment System

NRA will facilitate aspirants to pay the fee once rather than paying fees separately to agencies for different exams.

Reduction in Costs

The monetary benefits are not only limited to the fee but it also extends to the expenses of travelling, boarding, lodging etc. which aspirants have to incur when they go to take examinations like SBI PO, SBI Clerk, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, RRB Group D etc. From the perspective of exam conducting authorities also, there is a substantial cost reduction and other benefits in terms of avoidable/repetitive expenditure, law and order/security related issues and venue related problems.

Ease of Access of Exam Centres

There is a special focus on creating examination infrastructure in 117 Aspirational Districts in the new proposal. This would be especially beneficial for aspirants who belong to rural areas as this would motivate them to take exams without much travelling. After NRA comes into the picture, it will be easy for aspirants to apply & appear for the exams such as SBI PO, SBI Clerk, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, RRB Group D etc.

Support of CET for Multiple Languages

Support of CET for Multiple Languages will enable aspirants from different languages to take the exam. It will also create a level playing field amongst candidates who know different languages.

A Relief to Rural & Poor Candidates

Because of the hefty fees, candidates have to pay to apply for competitive exams like SBI PO, SBI Clerk, IBPS PO,  IBPS Clerk, RRB Group D etc, sometimes they have to take a call as to which exams they can appear for and which exams they need to skip (because of financial constraints). With this CET, candidates by appearing in one examination get an opportunity to compete for a number of jobs’ vacancies.

Standardized Testing

Separate CETs will be conducted for the three levels: Graduate, Higher Secondary (12th Pass) and Senior Secondary (10th Pass) for the non-technical posts. Currently, recruitment for these posts is done by SSC, RRBs and IBPS. Based on the screening done at the CET score level, the final selection for recruitment will be done through separate specialised Tiers (II, III etc) of the examination which will be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies. The curriculum for the test at this level will be common.

3 Years Validity of CET Score

Once you take the CET, the score will be valid for a period of 3 years from the date when the result was declared. So, you can go through the further recruitment processes of different jobs for a period of 3 years and you don’t have to repeat giving this test. This would be a major benefit for those candidates who want to keep applying for the jobs in the 2nd & 3rd years as well.

No Bar of Attempts on Taking CET

Definitely good news! There will not be any bar on the number of attempts for CET subject to upper age limits. This means if you have not been able to perform well in the exam, you can take it again.

Scheduling Tests and Centres

Candidates can schedule their own tests and centres of their choice while taking CET. When registering for this exam, candidates can give their preference of centres and based on the availability, they will be allotted centres.

Importance of Mock Tests

The importance of mock tests will remain in tact as it were before NRA CET came into the picture. The more you practice for different sections like English Language, Reasoning & Quantitative Aptitude, the better you will be prepared for NRA CET.

Time Management with Mock Tests

What’s more mock tests will help you with your time management as well. Suppose you are taking a sectional test of English Language. If you start with tough questions of reading comprehension first, you may spend too much time on those questions and may miss the easy & direct questions on English Language topics like Vocabulary, fill in the blanks etc. This way you will miss marks in this section which could have been easily scored. So, prior practice in time management will 

Previous Year Question Papers of NRA CET

Since NRA CET is introduced for the first time, there are no Previous Year Question Papers of NRA CET. However, what we know at this point in time is that the exam pattern of NRA CET will not be much different from that of banking & SSC/ RRB exams. So, all in all, there will be 4 sections to focus on: Reasoning, English Language, Quantitative Aptitude & General Awareness. You can start practising profusely on these 4 sections if you want to score high in the NRA CET exam.

This is all from us in this article. After going through this article, we hope that you are excited about NRA & CET. If you still have any questions, let us know in the comments section below.