SEBI Grade A Recruitment 2026: Eligibility Criteria Revised, Check Key Changes

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has notified the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Employees’ Service) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2026, revising educational qualification requirements for recruitment to specified posts. The amendment was notified on October 8 and published in the Official Gazette on October 9, 2026.

The revised regulations introduce changes to eligibility criteria for the General stream, update recognised academic disciplines for specialised streams, standardise CGPA-to-percentage conversion benchmarks and remove the desirable experience requirement for the Legal stream.

Candidates preparing for the SEBI Grade A recruitment examination should note that the amendment updates the existing service regulations. The detailed recruitment notification will specify the final eligibility conditions, vacancies, application dates and examination schedule.

The Second Amendment Regulations, 2026, modify the educational qualification provisions under the SEBI (Employees’ Service) Regulations, 2001. The changes broaden the qualification routes available for the General stream and expand the list of recognised disciplines for specialised posts.

The amendment came into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. Candidates should refer to the official regulations and the detailed recruitment advertisement to determine their eligibility.

Under the revised framework, candidates may qualify for the General stream through a bachelor's degree in any discipline of at least three years' duration after Class XII, subject to the prescribed minimum marks.

The minimum marks requirement is 60% for General and Unreserved candidates and 50% for SC, ST and PwBD candidates, where the relevant posts are reserved for them.

Other recognised qualification routes include a master's degree or a postgraduate diploma of at least two years' duration in any discipline after graduation. Professional qualifications such as Chartered Accountant (CA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Company Secretary (CS) and Cost Accountant are also recognised, subject to the applicable conditions.

The amendment also prescribes benchmarks for converting grades into percentages where a university or institution does not provide an official conversion formula.

Under the prescribed 10-point scale, a CGPA, OGPA or CPI of 6.75 corresponds to 60%, while 5.75 corresponds to 50%.

Candidates whose institutions have an officially recognised conversion formula should follow that method. Those using other grading scales must first normalise their grades to a 10-point scale, as applicable under the regulations.

For the Legal stream, the amendment removes the provision listing two years of post-qualification experience as an Advocate as a desirable qualification. Candidates must continue to satisfy the other applicable educational and eligibility requirements.

For specialised streams, the revised list of recognised disciplines includes Public Policy, Business Analytics, Securities Market, Capital Markets, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Big Data Analytics, alongside relevant disciplines in economics, finance, statistics and mathematics.

The specific qualifications required will depend on the stream and the conditions outlined in the recruitment notification.

The detailed SEBI Grade A Recruitment 2026 notification will confirm the number of vacancies, age limits, application dates, examination stages and stream-wise eligibility criteria.

Although a release in October or November 2026 has been anticipated, SEBI has not confirmed the schedule in the information provided. Candidates should therefore wait for an official announcement before relying on any expected dates.