ASRB NET Exam Pattern: Marking Scheme, Number of Questions, Exam Duration

ASRB NET Exam pattern: The Agriculture Scientist Recruitment Board Service (ASRB) will organize the ARS (Preliminary) and NET (I) Examination in online mode probably in May 2021. However, the ARS Mains is a Paper pen based examination and it will be held in June 2021. The ARS (Prelims) Examination is a qualifying examination and its score will not be used to calculate the final merit. Candidates who qualify the ARS (Preliminary) Examination as per standards mentioned in information brochure will be allowed to appear in the ARS (Mains) Examination. Candidates who cleared the ARS (Mains) and viva-voce will be recommended for position as Scientists in Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

On the other hand, National Eligibility Test (NET (I) is a qualifying examination for deciding the eligibility of candidates for the position of Lecturer/Assistant Professor in the State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and other Agricultural Universities (AUs). Candidates planning to appear for ASRB NET should be familiar with the pattern of the examination. The examination pattern of ARS and NET examination is varied from each other. The detailed info about ASRB NET exam pattern is furnished below.

Examination scheme for ARS

The conducting board will organize two different competitive examinations i.e. Computer Based Test and paper pen based exam followed by Viva-voce as per the following scheme of exam.

Examination type	Duration	Maximum marks
ARS (Preliminary) (Objective Type)	2 hours	150
ARS (Mains) (Descriptive Type)	3 hours	240
Viva voce	–	60

• ARS (Preliminary) Examination Paper

ARS (Preliminary) will comprised of multiple choice objective questions from the particular professional subject(s) for which candidate has selected with the worth of 150 marks. The duration given to complete this exam is 2 hours. The questions of the paper will be available in both Hindi as well as English language. There is also the provision of negative marking. For every incorrect answer, 1/3 mark will be deducted. Candidates who qualify the ARS (prelims) with the following standards will be allowed to appear in the ARS Mains examination.

Candidate’s Category	Minimum qualifying marks
General or Un-reserved (UR)	67.5 (45%)
OBC	60.0 (40%)
SC / ST/ Divyang	52.5 (35%)

• ARS (Mains) Examination Paper:-

ARS (Mains) Examination will be held in offline mode i.e. paper and pen based. It is a single paper of 240 marks in the respective disciplines. The exam is to be completed in 3 hours duration. ARS (Mains) will be divided in three parts A, B and C as given below.

Parts	Number of questions	Marks allotted
Part A	40	80
Part B	20	100
Part C	6	60

• ARS Viva voce

Candidates who successfully cleared the ARS mains examination will be called for interview/viva voce round of 60 marks. The interview will be conducted by board of Board of competent authority. The main purpose of the viva-voce is to analyze candidate’s suitability for the Service for which he/she has appeared.

Examination scheme for NET (I) 

The exam will consist of a single paper of 150 marks comprising a total of 150 objective types multiple choice questions. These questions will be asked from the respective discipline in which the candidate has selected to appear. The duration provided to complete this exam is 2 hours. Each correct response carries one mark. There will be also the negative marking of 1/3 mark for each wrong answer given by candidate in the NET (I). Candidates should clear the NET (I) exam with the prescribed minimum qualifying marks as follows:

Candidate’s Category	Minimum qualifying marks
General or Un-reserved (UR)	75.0 (50%)
OBC	67.5 (45%)
SC / ST/ Divyang	60.0 (40%)

Instruction to apply online