60-Day SEBI Grade A IT Preparation Plan
Take a free baseline test, then work through eight weeks in four blocks: foundations, broad Phase I coverage, a Phase II drill, then timed papers and revision. The time follows the marks in SEBI's 2025 advertisement, the latest SEBI has published. It is free to read here, with a version for full-time candidates and one for working candidates.
A study aid, not an exam calendar
A 60-day plan does not predict an exam date. For what SEBI has and has not published, see the SEBI Grade A 2026 notification status. Last cycle had 72 days between the advertisement and Phase I. Nothing says the next cycle will match that, so starting before the advertisement is safer.
The outline
How the 60 days add up
Four baseline days and four two-week blocks: 4 + 14 + 14 + 14 + 14 = 60 days, or 8 weeks and 4 days.
| Block | When | Days | What you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline | Days 1 to 4 | 4 | A free IT mock taken cold, one timed English paper, and your language and timetable fixed. |
| Weeks 1 and 2: foundations | Days 5 to 18 | 14 | Data structures, algorithms, programming and OOP. |
| Weeks 3 and 4: broad coverage | Days 19 to 32 | 14 | The other Phase I subjects: databases, SQL, Python or R, networking, security, data warehousing and shell. |
| Weeks 5 and 6: Phase II technical drill | Days 33 to 46 | 14 | Dry runs, debugging and syntax on data structures, algorithms, OOP and strings, then long sittings. |
| Weeks 7 and 8: timed papers and revision | Days 47 to 60 | 14 | Timed papers, mistake review and no new topics at the end. |
| Total | 60 |
Start on a Thursday. Days 1 to 4 then run Thursday to Sunday, so week 1 begins on a Monday. There is no full day off built in. If you take one, move the rest along by a day and keep the weekly English paper.
Where this sat on last cycle's dates. As an illustration only: starting on the day of the advertisement, Day 60 would have left 12 spare days before Phase I, and Phase II came 42 days after Phase I. Use those spare days for more timed papers, and the gap after Phase I for the Phase II subjects and English.
Why this order
Time follows SEBI's marks
These figures are from the 2025 advertisement and handouts. SEBI labels its topic weights indicative only, and the next advertisement can change any of this. If it does, re-order your time.
About 57%
of final merit is the Phase II IT paper: two-thirds of Phase II, which is 85% of the final score.
About 28%
is the Phase II English paper, the other third of Phase II.
15%
is the interview.
0%
is Phase I, but you must clear it: 30 in Paper 1, 40 in Paper 2 and 80 of 200 overall. The two paper minimums add up to only 70.
| Subject | Phase I IT marks | Phase II IT marks | Days in this plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Programming and OOP | 30 | 20 | 8 |
| Algorithms | 10 | 30 | 8 |
| Data structures | None | 40 | 9 |
| String manipulation | None | 10 | 1 |
| Databases | 10 | None | 2 |
| SQL | 10 | None | 2 |
| Python or R | 10 | None | 2 |
| Networking | 10 | None | 2 |
| Cyber security | 10 | None | 2 |
| Data warehousing | 5 | None | 1 |
| Shell | 5 | None | 1 |
| All IT subjects | 100 | 100 | 38 |
| Baseline, mock reviews, long sittings, timed papers and revision | 22 | ||
| Total | 60 |
The marks are SEBI's. The days are our suggestion.
Weeks 1 and 2: the subjects with the most marks
Data structures, algorithms, programming and OOP carry 130 of the 200 marks across the Phase I and Phase II IT papers. Starting here helps in both phases.
Weeks 3 and 4: follow Phase I's marks
The other seven Phase I subjects carry 60 marks. With 12 study days, that is one day for every 5 marks: 10-mark subjects get 2 days and 5-mark subjects get 1. Days 31 and 32 are for a mock and catching up.
Weeks 5 and 6: follow Phase II's marks
12 study days split by 40, 30, 20 and 10 marks come to 5, 4, 2 and 1 days, to the nearest whole day. Strings gets one day here because regex and slicing also appear under Python or R. Days 45 and 46 are long sittings.
Why a Phase II drill comes before Phase I
SEBI does not count Phase I marks for final selection, and last cycle gave only 42 days between the two phases. Algorithms and code reading also help in Phase I, so this time is not lost.
Weeks 7 and 8: pace is part of the paper
Phase I's IT paper allows 48 seconds a question (50 questions in 40 min). Paper 1 allows 45 (80 in 60 min). Phase II's IT paper allows 108 (100 in 180 min). Those are 2025 cycle figures. A wrong answer costs a quarter of its marks, so practise leaving a question as well as answering it.
English gets a slot every week
One English mark is worth half an IT mark. With 60 in English you would need 85.5 in IT to reach last cycle's unreserved cut-off of 77.00, and other categories had lower cut-offs. Comprehension is the largest part of that paper: essay (30), précis (30), comprehension (40).
Week by week
What to study in each week
Tick off each milestone before you move on. Days are counted from your own start date.
Days 1 to 4: baseline
- Day 1. Take a free full IT mock cold: no notes, the full 40 minutes. Write down the score.
- Day 2. Go through every question. Tag each mistake by syllabus topic and by cause: did not know, misread, or ran out of time. This starts your mistake log.
- Day 3. Write one English paper in 60 min: an essay, a précis and a comprehension. Keep it, so you can compare it later.
- Day 4. Pick one language to write in. The 2025 Phase I topic names Java, C and C++. Check that you can write loops and functions in it, and if you cannot, learn those before week 1. Then fix your timetable.
Weeks 1 to 8
| Week | Days | Subjects | Practice milestone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Days 5 to 11 | Data structures, 4 days: arrays and matrices; linked lists; stacks and queues; trees, heaps and hashing. Algorithms, 3 days: sorting and searching; tree and graph traversal; spanning trees and shortest paths. | Code a linked list, a stack and a breadth-first search from memory. |
| Week 2 | Days 12 to 18 | Algorithms, 1 day: greedy, dynamic programming, divide and conquer. Programming and OOP, 6 days: control flow and recursion; scope and binding; parameter passing; classes and constructors; inheritance and polymorphism; exception handling. | Day 18 check: trace 10 short programs by hand. |
| Week 3 | Days 19 to 25 | Databases, 2 days. SQL, 2 days. Python or R, 2 days. Networking, 1 day. | Write 20 SQL queries and run them. Reshape one small dataset in Python or R. |
| Week 4 | Days 26 to 32 | Networking, 1 day. Cyber security, 2 days. Data warehousing, 1 day. Shell, 1 day. Day 31: a timed IT mock and its review. Day 32: catch up. | Day 32 check: your mock score, and your log sorted by subject. |
| Week 5 | Days 33 to 39 | Phase II drill. Data structures, 5 days: dry runs and debugging on arrays, linked lists, stacks and queues, trees and heaps, hashing, matrix and JSON objects. Algorithms, 2 days: sorting, searching, divide and conquer. | A set of dry-run and debugging questions every day, with no compiler. |
| Week 6 | Days 40 to 46 | Algorithms, 2 days: greedy, dynamic programming, backtracking, pattern searching. OOP, 2 days. Strings, 1 day. Days 45 and 46: two sittings of 100 questions in 180 min. | Day 46 check: your score on the second long sitting. |
| Week 7 | Days 47 to 53 | Timed Phase I IT papers on alternate days, each reviewed the same day. In between, revise the three subjects where your log shows the most lost marks. One 180-minute sitting. | At least three timed IT papers, each reviewed. |
| Week 8 | Days 54 to 60 | No new topics. Revise from your mistake log. Two last timed IT papers, one timed Paper 1 set, one 180-minute sitting and one English paper. | Day 60 check: see the checkpoints below. |
Last cycle's Phase II IT paper was 100 multiple choice questions, but the 2024 paper was a coding test of 9 questions in 210 minutes. So read code and write code too, and check the format when the next advertisement comes out. SEBI's 2025 handout also says its question types are "only illustrative and not exhaustive", and that questions may be "of a higher difficulty level".
Every week, in every block
English
Practise one part on each of your practice days. Once a week, write a full paper in 60 min: three questions, essay (30), précis (30), comprehension (40).
Paper 1
In the 2025 cycle general awareness, English, quant and reasoning each carried 25 marks, with no sectional cut-off. Give most of your time to your weakest two, and read financial-sector news, since general awareness includes some financial-sector questions.
Mistake log
Every wrong answer, the same day: the topic, the cause and the fix. Revise from this in weeks 7 and 8, not from fresh notes.
For what to revise on each day, use our free SEBI revision notes by subject, and for weeks 5 and 6 read the Phase II preparation guide. The rest of the exam is covered in our SEBI Grade A IT hub.
Full-time candidate
A sample week at 46 hours
Our assumptions: no job, and some programming already behind you. Monday to Saturday is 7 hours: 4 on the main subject, 1.5 on questions, 1 on the second block and 0.5 on the mistake log. Sunday is 4 hours. This is week 3.
| Day | Main IT subject | Second block | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, Day 19 | Databases: ER model, keys, relational algebra, tuple calculus | Paper 1: quant and reasoning | 7 |
| Tue, Day 20 | Databases: normal forms, indexing, transactions, concurrency | English: comprehension | 7 |
| Wed, Day 21 | SQL: joins and aggregate functions | Paper 1: general awareness | 7 |
| Thu, Day 22 | SQL: nested queries, set operators, views, alter and truncate | English: précis | 7 |
| Fri, Day 23 | Python or R: slicing, dictionaries, sets, regex | Paper 1: quant and reasoning | 7 |
| Sat, Day 24 | Python or R: dataframes, reshaping, import and export, charts | English: essay | 7 |
| Sun, Day 25 | Networking: OSI stack, LAN technologies, TCP and UDP, 2 hours | Full English paper, 1 hour. Weekly review, 1 hour | 4 |
| Week | 46 |
Working candidate
A sample week at 22.5 hours
Our assumptions: a five-day job. A weekday is 2.5 hours: 1 before work on the main subject, 1 in the evening on questions and 0.5 on the second block. Saturday and Sunday are 5 hours each. This is week 3 of the 60-day version, so it goes less deep than the full-time week.
| Day | Main IT subject | Second block | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Databases: ER model and keys | Paper 1: quant | 2.5 |
| Tue | Databases: normal forms | English: comprehension | 2.5 |
| Wed | Databases: indexing and transactions | Paper 1: general awareness | 2.5 |
| Thu | SQL: joins and aggregate functions | English: précis | 2.5 |
| Fri | SQL: nested queries and set operators | Paper 1: reasoning | 2.5 |
| Sat | Python or R: slicing, dictionaries, regex, dataframes, 4 hours | Paper 1, 1 hour | 5 |
| Sun | Networking: OSI stack, TCP and UDP, 2 hours | Full English paper, 1 hour. Paper 1, 1 hour. Weekly review, 1 hour | 5 |
| Week | 22.5 |
The two versions compared, in hours
| Full-time | Working | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours a week | 46 | 22.5 |
| IT study, a week | 35 | 16 |
| Paper 1 and English, a week | 7 | 5.5 |
| Review and mistake log, a week | 4 | 1 |
| Days 1 to 4, Thursday to Sunday | 25 | 15 |
| All 60 days | 393 | 195 |
The working version has about half the hours. In weeks 3 and 4, a 10-mark subject gets 11 hours full-time but only about 5 when working. That is enough to revise a subject you have studied before, but not to learn it from zero. You have two choices.
Stretch it, if you have the time
Give each block four weeks instead of two. That makes 16 weeks plus the baseline: 116 days and 375 hours, close to the full-time total of 393. It is longer than last cycle's 72-day gap, so it only works if you start before the advertisement.
Cut by marks, if you only have 60 days
- Keep in full: the baseline, the mistake log, the weekly English paper and the timed papers in weeks 7 and 8.
- Keep at full depth: data structures, algorithms, programming and OOP.
- Take to revision level: the five 10-mark Phase I subjects.
- Give one sitting each: data warehousing and shell, at 5 marks each.
From selected candidates
Two interviews to watch alongside this plan
Our own interviews with selected candidates. One started after the notification, and the other came from outside computer science. Use them to see how real preparation differs from any outline.
AIR 2: Cracked SEBI Grade A in First Attempt, Strategy by Sushil
15 min · Watch on YouTube
A short interview with Sushil, who the video describes as AIR 2 in a first attempt, having started preparing after the notification. Its chapters cover Phase I, Phase II, English and shell programming, then a recommended study plan for 2026 candidates and common mistakes. Compare it with the outline above, then adjust the outline to your own starting point.
SEBI Grade A IT Topper without a CS Degree: First Attempt, Preparation Strategy
20 min · Watch on YouTube
An interview with Ankit, a civil engineering graduate who moved to the IT stream, on preparing in 5 months without a computer science degree. SEBI's 2025 advertisement accepted an engineering degree in any branch, so this is the closest match if you are not from a CS background. The chapters cover daily hours, resources, mock tests and how to review them.
Move on or stay
A simple check at the end of each block
These pass marks are our own suggestion, not SEBI's figures, and scoring them does not predict a result. Use them to decide whether to spend more days on a block.
| When | The check | Move on if | Stay if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 4 | A free IT mock taken cold, 50 questions in 40 min. | Always move on. There is no pass mark here, and the score sets your start. At 60 or more, you can give 2 days from weeks 1 and 2 to your weakest subject. | Under 40, the 2025 minimum for this paper, keep every foundation day and start earlier if you can. |
| Day 18 | Trace 10 short programs by hand, covering recursion, parameter passing and inheritance. Code a linked list, a stack and a breadth-first search from memory. | 8 of 10 traced correctly, and all three programs run. | Spend up to 2 more days. Take them from Day 32, then from data warehousing and shell. |
| Day 32 | A free IT mock in 40 min, with your mistakes sorted by subject. | 60 or more of 100, and no 10-mark subject where you lost most of its questions. The 2025 minimum was 40, so 60 leaves room for a harder real paper. | Spend 2 more days on the subjects that lost the most marks, then time yourself on a fresh 40-minute set. |
| Day 46 | A self-made set of 100 questions in 180 min. We have no mock in this shape. | 70 or more of 100. For scale, the 22 selected in the 2025 cycle scored 71.50 to 92.75 on SEBI's IT paper, with a median of 85.88. Your own set is not the same paper, so treat 70 as a floor. | Spend 3 more days on the data structures and algorithms mistakes in your log, then sit a fresh set. |
| Day 60 | Two timed IT papers from week 8, and one English paper written in 60 min. | 65 or more on both IT papers, and all three English questions finished in time. For scale, the 22 selected scored 47.00 to 71.00 in English, with a median of 58.00. | If no exam date is set yet, repeat weeks 7 and 8 with new papers, and go back to any subject that keeps appearing in your log. |
| Every Sunday | Open your mistake log. Pick five wrong answers from the week and explain each one without notes. | You logged every wrong answer and can explain all five. | Fix those five before starting a new topic. A skipped log is the first thing to repair. |
Resources
Where to go for each topic
Marks are from the 2025 advertisement, and SEBI labels the topic weights indicative only. Library folders are matched by the names of their files. We have not listed a folder where no file is named for the topic.
| Topic | Marks | Guide pages | Tests | Library folder |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data structures | Phase II: 40 | Data structures notesPhase II guide | None in this shape. Use a self-made timed set. | 60-Day IT Plan |
| Algorithms | Phase I: 10. Phase II: 30 | Algorithms notesPhase II guide | Full IT mocks | 60-Day IT Plan |
| Programming | Phase I: 30 | Programming notesSyllabus guide | Full IT mocks | No file named for this topic |
| OOP | Phase II: 20 | OOP notesPhase II guide | None in this shape. Use a self-made timed set. | No file named for this topic |
| Strings | Phase II: 10 | Strings notesPhase II guide | None in this shape. Use a self-made timed set. | No file named for this topic |
| Databases | Phase I: 10 | Database notesSyllabus guide | Full IT mocks | SEBI - Phase 01 |
| SQL | Phase I: 10 | SQL notesSyllabus guide | Full IT mocks | SEBI - Phase 01 |
| Python or R | Phase I: 10 | Python and R notesSyllabus guide | Full IT mocks | SEBI - Phase 01 |
| Networking | Phase I: 10 | Networking notesSyllabus guide | Full IT mocks | SEBI - Phase 01 |
| Cyber security | Phase I: 10 | Cyber security notesSyllabus guide | Full IT mocks | SEBI - Phase 01 |
| Data warehousing | Phase I: 5 | Data warehousing notesSyllabus guide | Full IT mocks | SEBI - Phase 01 |
| Shell | Phase I: 5 | Shell notesSyllabus guide | Full IT mocks | SEBI - Phase 01 |
| Mixed IT practice | Both IT papers | Previous year questions guide | Tests titled PYQ and full IT mocks | SEBI - Practice IT MCQs |
| Paper 1: general awareness, English, quant, reasoning | Phase I: 100 | Syllabus guide | Not covered by the full IT mocks | SEBI - GA |
| English descriptive | Phase II: 100 | Phase II guide | None. Write and time your own papers. | No file named for this topic |
| Interview | 15% of final merit | 2025 marks and cut-offs | None | SEBI Interview Documents |
SEBI tests this plan uses
- IT Mock Test 1Free
- IT Mock Test 2Free
- IT Mock Test 3Course
- SEBI Grade A PYQ 2020 ITCourse
- SEBI PYQ 2024Free
This plan uses about 7 timed sittings and the list above has fewer tests, so our suggestion is to retake an IT mock after two weeks or more. Free tests ask you to sign in first. Timers vary by test, so for Phase I pace, give yourself 40 min. As far as SEBI's Careers pages show, SEBI has not published its IT question papers, so treat any test titled PYQ as practice and not as an official copy. Our previous year questions guide explains what exists. See every SEBI mock test.
The Day files in our library
This page is the week-level outline. The daily files are separate: they sit in the 60-Day IT Plan folder of our SEBI library, which is part of the course. When we checked signed out on 4 November 2026, the folder held 5 Day files, Day 01 to Day 05, not 60. Of these, 4 showed a Free label and 1 showed a Pro label. Labels can change, so the library shows the current one.
Questions
SEBI Grade A IT study plan: frequently asked questions
Is 60 days enough for SEBI Grade A IT?
It can be enough if you already know some programming and can give about 46 hours a week. It is tight if you are starting from zero or have 22.5 hours a week. Phase II needs further work after that: last cycle gave 42 more days after Phase I. No plan can promise a result.
When should I start this plan?
Before the advertisement if you can. Last cycle had 72 days from advertisement to Phase I, which would leave 12 days after Day 60. Nothing says the next cycle will match that gap. This plan is a study aid and does not predict an exam date.
How many hours a day does the plan assume?
Full-time: 7 hours Monday to Saturday and 4 on Sunday, 46 a week. Working: 2.5 hours on weekdays and 5 on each weekend day, 22.5 a week. These are our assumptions, so adjust them to your own week and keep the order.
Can a working candidate finish this in 60 days?
Only at revision depth. 195 hours is about half of the full-time 393. If you have the time, stretch it: four weeks for each block makes 116 days and 375 hours. If you do not, keep the order and cut by marks.
What should I do between Phase I and Phase II?
Drop the Phase I-only subjects and Paper 1. Spend the time on data structures, algorithms, OOP, strings and the English paper. SEBI does not count Phase I marks for final selection. Last cycle the gap was 42 days.
Does The Victory Key have a Phase II mock test?
Not as of 4 November 2026. Our full mocks follow the Phase I IT paper: 50 questions, 40 min, 100 marks. No test has the Phase II shape of 100 questions in 180 min, and none covers the English paper. Build your own timed sets for these.