ICAR Exam: Difficulty, Preparation Tips, and Success Strategies
Indian Council of Agricultural Research All India Entrance Examination 2025 ( ICAR AIEEA )
Counselling - 23 Jan '26
Cracking the ICAR AIEEA exam needs a smart preparation strategy along with dedication, as it is one of the highly competitive examinations. In this Shiksha article, the candidates will be able to learn about some important tips to boost their confidence and improve their performance in the ICAR Exam.
The exam conducting authority of ICAR AIEEA PG and ICAR UG is the Indian Council for Agriculture Research. These exams are conducted for all those students who wish to study both UG and PG courses in the Agriculture field. Both the exams for Undergraduate and postgraduate courses are held through offline (OME) mode.
Explore colleges based on ICAR AIEEA
Based on ,M.Sc.,ICAR AIEEA
Want better recommendations?
There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.
- Chat with our counselor
- Get your personalised list of colleges & exams matching your preferences
Only those students who qualify through ICAR AIEEA PG and ICAR UG will get the opportunity to get admission to some of the top universities to study agriculture-related courses in India.
- Eligibility Criteria for the ICAR Exam
- Application Procedure
- ICAR Exam Syllabus
- ICAR Exam Pattern
- Tips to Prepare for ICAR Exam
- Is the ICAR exam in comparison to other competitive entrance exams?
Eligibility Criteria for the ICAR Exam
- Aadhar card is mandatory as ID proof for these exams
- The candidate must be a citizen of India
- For the UG exam, the candidates must have passed the XIIth standard or must be appearing for the exams
- For the PG exam, the candidates must have a bachelor’s degree completed after the graduation pattern
Application Procedure
The overall Merit/Rank List will be prepared by NTA separately for ICAR AIEEA PG exam. In the event of candidates getting equal marks in the exam, the merit will be determined in the following order:
(i) The candidate scoring less negative marks will be rated higher in merit
(ii) the candidate higher in age would be rated higher in merit
(iii) the candidate with higher score in Master’s/PG examination would be rated higher in merit
The ICAR AIEEA (PG)-2025 examination will be conducted in 89 cities across the country. To enable participation of a large number of candidates seeking admission in Master's degree programmes in AUs in different disciplines of Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry, Veterinary, Animal Sciences, Agricultural Engineering, Community Science (erstwhile Home Science), Fisheries, Dairy Science and other allied sciences.
Students need to visit the official website to submit their application form to be able to appear for the ICAR PG and UG exams in online mode. Once submitted, students are advised to keep a hard copy and a soft copy of their application form for the further admission process. Only after a candidate submits their application fee, their application form be considered submitted successfully.
It is suggested to always review all the important details mentioned in the application form, including the photographs and important documents uploaded, before submitting. In case they miss correcting a mistake, they can edit their application form during the application correction window.
ICAR Exam Syllabus
The subjects tested for the ICAR UG exam are mentioned below:
The subjects the candidate needs to prepare for the ICAR PG exam are:
- Plant Biotechnology
- Physical Science
- Horticulture
- Animal Sciences
- Veterinary Science
Explore more Science exams with upcoming dates
14 Dec '25 - 23 Jan '26
13 Jan '26 - 14 Feb '26
15 Feb '26
17 Feb '26
11 Apr '26
ICAR Exam Pattern
Mode: Both the AIEEA UG and PG exams will be conducted in online mode via OMR.
Duration: The exam time will be 150 minutes for the UG exam and two hours and thirty minutes for the PG exam.
Language: The language for testing will be English only.
Questions: The questions will be multiple-choice and objective type.
Marking: For the UG exam, four marks will be granted to the applicants for the right response, and one mark will be deducted for the wrong response.
In the Postgraduate exam, for every right answer in the multiple-choice section, candidates earn four marks, and for a correct answer in the cross-matching section, candidates earn five marks. For each wrong answer, one mark is subtracted for multiple-choice questions, and 0.2 marks are subtracted for cross-matching questions.
Tips to Prepare for ICAR Exam
The ICAR preparation is quite stressful for most students, but with proper preparation, it can be a smooth ride. The following are a few tips to prepare for the ICAR exams:
Applicants who want to ace the ICAR AIEEA PG exam with good marks need to first know the syllabus as well as the exam pattern. Make short notes while preparing the topics to quickly revise at the last moment. After this practice from the previous year question papers and evaluate yourself.
Students who will follow all the above mentioned practises along with discplined schedule, there are high possibility of them qualifying the exam.
If a candidate of the OBC Category scores 300 or higher in the ICAR AIEEA (UG) exam then, it is a good score. If the score is 450 or above then it is considered to be a good score for general category candidates.
The NTA score is a percentile score of the candidate in the test in which he/she appeared. It indicates the candidate's position visà-vis others who appeared in it. It is not mark.
It is an indicator of the relative position of the candidates amongst those who appeared in the ICAR AIEEA PG test.
Make a plan: Plan your study schedule by making a timetable and sticking to it. Balance out the subjects and make maximum use of available study time.
Study with concentration: Whatever study time you have, use it to the maximum by studying with concentration and sincerity. Only then will you be able to cover all topics.
Revision: You will need to allow time to revise what you studied to know where you stand.
Devise strategies for the ace exam: It is necessary to formulate strategies to approach each subject in the exam to perform your best on it. Prioritise the topics that need more time and attention and focus on them.
Stay healthy: Lastly, to have a healthy mind, a healthy body is needed. Take care of your health, watch your diet and do relaxation exercises daily.
Is the ICAR exam in comparison to other competitive entrance exams?
ICAR exams are not as difficult as the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) or the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE), attaining a high score is necessary for admission into a top university in India. To secure a seat, candidates must focus on getting an ICAR Rank within the top 500. Although, admission to the best colleges needs a rank within the top 150. The final selection process comprises the counselling process.
Since ICAR is a competitive exam, dedication and constant efforts are critical to achieving the set goal. The following books and study materials can help in candidates preparation for the ICAR Exam:
- ICAR AIEEA Guide for UG and PG by R Gupta
- Physical Chemistry by O P Tandon, A S Singh
- Mathematics by R D Sharma
- BSc Agriculture Exam by Arihant
- General Agriculture for ICAR exams by M S Rathore
I've always been an inquisitive person who wants to know about things around the world. This was one of the reasons I started working as a content writer, as my quest to know more suited my professional goals very w
Read Full BioNews & Updates
Explore Other Exams
20 Jun '24 | MCAER PG CET 2024 Result cum R... |
20 Jun '24 | MCAER PG CET 2024 Result |
Mar '26 | UPCATET 2026 Application Proce... |
May '26 | UPCATET 2026 Correction Window... |
Jul '25 | ITM NEST 2025 Result Date |
Jun '25 | ITM NEST 2025 Exam date |
Mar '26 | OUAT Entrance Exam 2026 Form A... |
Apr '26 | OUAT Entrance Exam 2026 Form A... |
Jun '25 | FRI Entrance Exam 2025 Counsel... |
May '25 | FRI Entrance Exam 2025 |
13 Jan '26 - 14 Feb '26 | IIT JAM 2026 Admit Card |
15 Feb '26 | IIT JAM 2026 Exam Day |
Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered a month ago
Agriculture jobs are growing fast in India. ICAR students get government jobs, research work, and NGO jobs. SHIATS students get jobs in agribusiness, food companies, and private farms. Jobs include Agricultural Scientist, Farm Manager, and Agri-Tech Consultant.
I
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
Any student from India can apply. They must have passed their class 12 with Physics, Chemistry, Biology, or Agriculture as their main subjects. ICAR AIEEA gives admission to UG, PG, and PhD agriculture courses.
I
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
SHIATS is a university exam for admission to Sam Higginbottom Institute. ICAR AIEEA is a national exam for many agriculture universities in India. ICAR gives more choices and big exposure. SHIATS is good if you want to study in one famous institute.
I
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
The deadline for students to submit their Seat Acceptance fee was November 7, 2025. The dates were published on the ICAR portal related to the counselling schedule. The end date for online document verification by universities and for students to resubmit the document was November 7, 2025. The round
I
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
The ICAR AIEEA Round 3 Counselling Process started on November 6, 2025. The seat allotment result for the Round 3 counselling process for PG was declared on the official portal of ICAR. Students need to click on the Applicant Login to access the download link for the allotment letter.
I
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
The ICAR AICE JRF/SRF 2025 counselling process has already begun on November 1, 2025. So, students are advised to go through the official website for the further process.
R
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
The end date to pay the seat acceptance fee was November 3, 2025. The last date to resubmit the documents by students and online document verification by universities was November 3, 2025. Those who miss the deadline to complete the seat acceptance process will lose their seat during the ICAR admiss
I
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
The Seat Allotment Letter was out on the official website of ICAR on November 1, 2025. Students need to visit the official website, click on the Applicants Login, with the help their application number, password, and enter the security code correctly.
I
Contributor-Level 10
There are various strategies which can increase the chances of qualifying. One of the most remarkable practice which produces good result is solve previous year ICAR AIEEA PG question paper
It will help students to compose their strategy of question solving in less time and help to understand the trend of the questions. Since the syllabus remains same so some times even same questions are repeated in the exam which helps students to take an edge over others.