The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development conducted the Development Assistant Prelims Exam 2026 Shift 1 on 21 February 2026 across various exam centres nationwide. This first shift paper was attended by thousands of aspirants vying for clerical positions, including Development Assistant and Development Assistant (Hindi) posts. The prelims exam is the first stage of selection for a total of 162 vacancies announced for this recruitment cycle.
The Prelims paper had three sections with an easy to moderate difficulty level
According to feedback from candidates and initial exam reviews, the NABARD DA Prelims Shift 1 question paper was overall easy to moderate in difficulty. The exam consisted of three key sections — English Language, Reasoning Ability and Quantitative Aptitude — each designed to assess foundational skills essential for the post.
- English Language was reported as Easy to Moderate, with standard comprehension and grammar-based questions.
- Reasoning Ability featured common puzzle sets and logical questions at an Easy to Moderate level, solvable by candidates with clear fundamentals.
- Quantitative Aptitude presented a mix of arithmetic and data interpretation items, also falling in the Easy to Moderate category.
The balanced mix helped ensure that well-prepared candidates could attempt a good number of questions accurately within the 60-minute exam duration.
Detailed section review shows standard topics with familiar trends
In the Reasoning Ability section, most questions were derived from typical banking exam topics such as seating arrangements, puzzles, inequalities and series. The standard nature of these questions allowed candidates with regular practice to score well. The English Language segment included reading comprehension, para-jumbles and error detection, providing scoring opportunities for candidates with strong verbal skills. For Quantitative Aptitude, arithmetic-based questions and data interpretation items were common. While a few questions demanded accurate calculations, the section did not include highly complex items, making it accessible for most aspirants.
Candidates can estimate good attempts based on initial feedback
Although exact good attempt numbers are updated once full analysis is available, early feedback from Shift 1 suggests candidates with high accuracy within the majority of attempted questions are likely to remain competitive for qualifying to mains. These estimations will be refined further once more detailed analysis and cut-off trends are published.
Understanding the paper’s difficulty helps in planning for the mains exam
Since the Prelims stage is qualifying in nature, clearing it is essential to progress to the mains exam scheduled for 12 April 2026. Aspirants are advised to use feedback from this analysis to identify areas needing improvement and focus on stronger strategy for the mains examination. Preparation strategies should include targeted revision, mock tests and sectional practice to cover reasoning puzzles, arithmetic topics and English language proficiency. These efforts will help candidates maximise their performance when mains results draw closer.
Candidates should track official result announcements and cut-off trends
Aspirants who appeared in Shift 1 must now await the official result and cut-off updates released by NABARD on its website. Regular monitoring of official announcements will ensure they stay informed about qualifying marks, merit list preparation and mains exam scheduling.