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IBPS PO guidance: how the paper is cracked, from your own numbers

Common Recruitment Process for Probationary Officers / Management Trainees (CRP PO/MT). Conducted by Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). Nisha knows this paper from the site's own pattern pages — and reads your scores, your mocks and what you haven't touched before saying a word.

Reads your profile first Ends in a plan
Stages
3
First paper
100 questions, 100 marks
Marking
Wrong answers cost marks
Your guide
Nisha, free
How it's decided

IBPS PO, stage by stage

Once a year (notification ~Aug, Prelims ~Oct, Mains ~Nov). Online CBT — Prelims + Mains objective + typed English descriptive.

PrelimsQualifying screen

100 questions · 100 marks · 60 min with 20-min sectional locks. You must clear each section's cut-off AND the overall cut-off. These marks are NOT added to the final merit — Prelims only decides who sits for Mains.

MainsBuilds 80% of your rank

170 objective questions (200 marks, 160 min) + a 25-mark English descriptive (30 min) = 225 marks. This is the score that carries into the merit list at 80% weight.

Interview & final meritThe last 20%

Mains-qualified candidates face a 100-mark interview (min 40%, 35% for reserved). Final merit = 80% Mains + 20% Interview; provisional allotment among 11 participating banks follows your rank and bank preference.

The papers

4 papers, and how each is marked

Preliminary Exam (Phase 1)
100 questions100 marks60 minNegative marking

Qualifying only

Marking: −0.25 per wrong answer

English Language30 Q · 30 marks · 20 minQuantitative Aptitude35 Q · 30 marks · 20 minReasoning Ability35 Q · 40 marks · 20 min

Sectional timing means each of the three sections is a separate 20-minute sprint — you cannot borrow time. Note the re-weighted marks: 35 reasoning questions carry 40 marks while 35 quant questions carry only 30.

Main Exam — Objective (Phase 2)
170 questions200 marks160 minNegative marking

Merit — 200 of your 225 counted Mains marks

Marking: −0.25 per wrong answer

Reasoning & Computer Aptitude40 Q · 60 marks · 45 minData Analysis & Interpretation40 Q · 60 marks · 45 minGeneral, Economy, Banking, Digital & Financial Awareness50 Q · 60 marks · 35 minEnglish Language40 Q · 20 marks · 35 min

Computer Aptitude is folded into the Reasoning section (~5 questions). Three 60-mark blocks — Reasoning, Data Analysis & Interpretation and Awareness — carry 90% of the objective marks; English objective is only 20.

Main Exam — English Descriptive (Phase 2)
25 marks30 minNo negative marking

Merit — the remaining 25 Mains marks

Marking: No negative marking

2 tasks

Small marks, huge leverage: 25 descriptive marks feed the same 225-mark Mains total that decides 80% of your rank, and many candidates leave them on the table.

Interview (Phase 3)
100 marks~15–20 min panelNegative marking

Merit — 20% of the final score

Marking: Minimum qualifying 40% (35% for SC/ST/OBC/PWBD)

—

Final merit = 80% Mains + 20% Interview. A strong interview cannot rescue a weak Mains, but it routinely swings borderline ranks — treat the 100 marks seriously.

Where the marks come from

Where your rank actually comes from

Prelims is only a gate — its marks are NOT counted in the final merit. Your rank is 80% Mains (out of 225) + 20% Interview.

Reasoning & Computer Aptitude60 marks · 27%

40 questions, 45 minutes. Puzzles & seating alone are ~20 marks — the single biggest, most learnable block in the paper.

Data Analysis & Interpretation60 marks · 27%

40 questions of heavier DI, caselets and approximation. Speed here decides whether you clear the sectional cut.

General, Banking & Economy Awareness60 marks · 26%

50 questions in 35 minutes — zero calculation, pure recall. The cheapest 60 marks in the exam if your current affairs are current.

English (objective 20 + descriptive 25)45 marks · 20%

Objective English is down-weighted to 20, but the 25-mark descriptive keeps English worth 45 — and the descriptive is easy marks most skip.

What changed this cycle

Things last year's advice gets wrong

  • Revised Mains pattern: the objective test grew from 155 to 170 questions (still 200 marks, 160 min). The extra load lands on the awareness section, now 50 questions.
  • Prelims marks re-weighted — Reasoning Ability is now 40 marks (up from 35) while Quantitative Aptitude drops to 30 (from 35); English stays 30. Same 100 questions, but reasoning accuracy now clears the section cut faster.
  • The awareness section is officially 'General, Economy, Banking, Digital & Financial Awareness including RBI circulars' — RBI notifications and digital-banking developments are explicitly in scope.
  • Descriptive test changed to Essay + Comprehension (the old Essay + Letter-writing format is retired). Still 2 questions, 25 marks, 30 minutes, English only.
The chapters that carry the marks

Where a plan for IBPS PO usually starts

The highest-weight chapters in each subject, linked to their notes. Weights are estimates from previous papers where the conducting body publishes none. Your guide weighs these against your own scores.

Banking & General AwarenessAll chapters
Mains only: 50 Q / 60 marks / 35 min — plus the backbone of the interview
Computer AptitudeAll chapters
Mains only: ~3–5 Q inside the Reasoning & Computer Aptitude section
Alongside guidance

The rest of your IBPS PO preparation

Questions

About IBPS PO, and guidance for it

What are the stages of IBPS PO?
1. Prelims — Qualifying screen. 2. Mains — Builds 80% of your rank. 3. Interview & final merit — The last 20%.
How is the IBPS PO paper marked?
Preliminary Exam (Phase 1): 100 questions, 100 marks, 60 min (20 min per section, locked). Marking: −0.25 per wrong answer
Is there negative marking in IBPS PO?
Yes. −0.25 per wrong answer
What decides the final merit in IBPS PO?
Prelims is only a gate — its marks are NOT counted in the final merit. Your rank is 80% Mains (out of 225) + 20% Interview.
What has changed in IBPS PO recently?
Revised Mains pattern: the objective test grew from 155 to 170 questions (still 200 marks, 160 min). The extra load lands on the awareness section, now 50 questions.
What does the IBPS PO guide know about me?
Only what you have done on the site: your scores by subject and chapter for IBPS PO, what you have never been tested on, the kinds of mistake you make across topics, your mocks, your projected score, your error book, your last two weeks and your goals. You can open the exact page Nisha reads before you start.
Is it free?
Talking to Nisha, the AI guide, is free — up to four talks a day. Real guides who have cleared or teach IBPS PO set their own prices, and many offer a free call or a short demo.

Every fact on this page comes from the exam's blueprint on this site. How the guide uses it: how Guidance works.

Your IBPS PO plan, from your own numbers.

Nisha has the pattern and will read your work. Talk it through, and leave with a plan you tick off.

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