Banking · Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)
IBPS Clerk — Common Recruitment Process for Clerical cadre (CRP CSA)
The complete IBPS Clerk blueprint: tier-wise pattern, topic weightage from previous-year analyses, and free chapter-by-chapter study material.
5 subjects200 Mains marks = your entire merit2 stages: Prelims · Mains — no interview Free · tutor-verified
IBPS Clerk at a glance
Conducted byInstitute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)
CycleOnce a year (notification ~July–Aug, Prelims ~Aug–Sept, Mains ~Nov–Dec)
ModeOnline CBT — Prelims + Mains, both fully objective (no descriptive test, unlike IBPS PO)
EligibilityBachelor's degree in any discipline plus basic computer proficiency (certificate/diploma/degree, or computer studied in school/college); age 20–28
LanguagesEnglish & Hindi in every section except the English Language paper
Pay bandStarting basic pay ₹24,050/month; in-hand salary approx. ₹37,000–₹43,000/month after allowances and deductions
Posts you can get
Clerk → Customer Service AssociateBank of BarodaCanara BankIndian Overseas BankUCO BankBank of IndiaCentral Bank of IndiaPunjab National BankUnion Bank of IndiaBank of MaharashtraIndian BankPunjab & Sind Bank
⚡ What changed recently
- Mains grew from 155 to 160 questions (still 200 marks), with total duration extended from 120 to 125 minutes — the extra 5 minutes and 5 questions both landed in Quantitative Aptitude.
- The Mains numerical-skills section is sometimes labelled 'Quantitative Aptitude' and sometimes 'Numerical Ability' across recent cycles' official material — same syllabus either way, so both names point to the same chapters here.
- Unlike IBPS PO, there is no descriptive test and no interview anywhere in the IBPS Clerk process — the entire 200-mark Mains objective score IS the final merit, which raises the stakes on every single Mains question.
- Qualified candidates may also need to clear a Local Language Proficiency Test for their allotted state (a qualifying hurdle, not a merit-scoring one) unless they already meet an exemption condition (e.g. studied that language at school).
How IBPS Clerk selection works
Know what each stage is for before you spend a single hour preparing.
QUALIFYING SCREEN
Prelims
100 questions · 100 marks · 60 min with 20-min sectional locks (English 30, Numerical Ability 35, Reasoning 35). Clear each section's cut-off AND the overall cut-off — these marks are NOT added to the final merit.
100% OF YOUR FINAL MERIT
Mains
160 objective questions, 200 marks, 125 minutes across 4 sectional-locked sections. This is the ONLY score that decides your rank and provisional bank/state allotment — there is no interview stage at all.
QUALIFYING ONLY
Local Language Proficiency Test (where applicable)
Candidates allotted to a state whose local language they have not already studied or certified must clear a proficiency test after Mains. It does not add marks — it is a pass/fail condition for confirming the allotment.
The exam pattern, tier by tier
Marks, timing and negative marking exactly as per the official notification.
Preliminary Exam (Phase 1)
Qualifying only100 marks · 100 Q
60 min (20 min per section, locked) · −0.25 per wrong answer
| Section | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 30 | 30 | 20 min |
| Numerical Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 min |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 min |
💡 Each of the three sections is a separate 20-minute sprint — no time borrowing between them.
Main Exam (Phase 2) — your entire merit
Merit — 100% of the final rank, no interview follows200 marks · 160 Q
125 min (each section separately timed) · −0.25 per wrong answer
| Section | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General/Financial Awareness | 40 | 50 | 20 min |
| English Language | 40 | 40 | 35 min |
| Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude | 40 | 60 | 35 min |
| Quantitative AptitudeAlso called Numerical Ability — same syllabus | 40 | 50 | 35 min |
💡 Reasoning & Computer Aptitude is the single heaviest section at 60 marks. General/Financial Awareness moves fastest (40 questions in just 20 minutes — pure recall).
Where your rank actually comes from
Prelims is only a gate — its marks are NOT counted in the final merit. There is no interview at all for IBPS Clerk: your entire rank comes from the 200-mark Mains exam alone (followed, for some candidates, by a qualifying Local Language Proficiency Test). Here is how the 200 Mains marks split — click any block to open its chapters:
Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude60 marks · 30%
40 questions, 35 minutes — the single heaviest section. Puzzles & seating arrangement alone are typically 40%+ of this section.
Quantitative Aptitude / Numerical Ability50 marks · 25%
40 questions, 35 minutes. A narrower syllabus than IBPS PO's Quant — no ratio/partnership, mensuration or P&C at this level, just the core arithmetic toolkit.
General/Financial Awareness50 marks · 25%
40 questions in just 20 minutes — the fastest section per question, pure recall with zero calculation.
English Language40 marks · 20%
40 questions, 35 minutes, fully objective — no descriptive component at all, unlike IBPS PO.
Subjects in IBPS Clerk
Chapter-by-chapter study material built to the exam's own blueprint.
Topic-wise weightage — what to study first
Question counts per topic, distilled from previous-year paper analyses. Click any topic with a link to open its full chapter.
| Topic | Prelims Q | Mains Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puzzles & Seating Arrangement (linear, circular, floor, box, scheduling) | 14–18 | Very high | |
| Syllogism | 3–4 | High | |
| Inequality (direct & coded) | 3–4 | High | |
| Coding–Decoding | 4–5 | High | |
| Blood Relations | 3 | Medium | |
| Direction & Distance | 3 | Medium | |
| Order & Ranking | 2–3 | Medium | |
| Alphanumeric / Alphabet Series | 3–4 | Medium | |
| Data Sufficiency (Mains) | 0–3 | Medium | |
| Input–Output (machine, Mains) | 0–3 | Low | |
| Logical / Verbal Reasoning (Mains) | 0–3 | Low | |
| Computer Aptitude (in Reasoning, Mains) | 0–3 | Medium |
🎯 Puzzles and seating arrangement dominate this section at clerk level just as they do at PO level — master the standard grids (linear, circular, floor, box, scheduling) first, since nothing else in the syllabus carries comparable weight. Syllogism, coded inequality, coding-decoding, blood relations and direction sense are shorter, single-step questions worth securing quickly; alphanumeric series and order/ranking round out Prelims. At Mains, data sufficiency, input-output and a handful of computer-aptitude questions add depth without changing the core technique set.
| Topic | Prelims Q | Mains Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simplification & Approximation | 8–10 | Very high | |
| Data Interpretation | 6–7 | Very high | |
| Arithmetic Word Problems (Percentage, Profit & Loss, Interest) | 7–9 | Very high | |
| Number Series | 4–6 | High | |
| Quadratic Equations | 3–4 | Medium | |
| Time, Speed, Distance & Work | 4–5 | High |
🎯 Clerk-level Numerical Ability stays deliberately narrower than IBPS PO's Quantitative Aptitude — 6 topics instead of 12, with no ratio/partnership, average/mixture, permutation-combination or mensuration questions at this level. Simplification & Approximation is the single heaviest topic and the fastest to master into near-guaranteed marks; Data Interpretation and Arithmetic Word Problems (percentage, profit & loss, interest) are close behind. Number Series, Quadratic Equations and Time-Speed-Distance-Work round out a syllabus that rewards drilled speed over broad topic coverage.
| Topic | Prelims Q | Mains Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension | 6–8 | Very high | |
| Cloze Test | 5–6 | High | |
| Error Spotting / Sentence Correction | 4–5 | High | |
| Para Jumbles / Sentence Rearrangement | 4–5 | High | |
| Sentence / Double Fillers | 4–5 | High | |
| Word Swap / Word Usage / Word Rearrangement | 3–4 | Medium | |
| Vocabulary (synonyms, antonyms, idioms) | 2–3 | Medium | |
| Sentence Improvement / Phrase Replacement | 0–3 | Low | |
| Column-based / Connectors / Match the Following | 0–3 | Low |
🎯 Reading Comprehension anchors the section, rewarding accurate literal reading over vocabulary memorisation alone. Cloze Test, Error Spotting, Para Jumbles and Fill in the Blanks are the section's learnable grammar core — finite patterns worth drilling to automaticity. Unlike IBPS PO or SBI PO, there is no descriptive writing component at all at clerk level, so every English mark here comes from the objective paper.
| Topic | Prelims Q | Mains Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current Affairs (last 4–6 months, national & international) | 14–18 | Very high | |
| Banking & Financial Awareness (RBI, rates, terms, schemes, digital banking) | 10–14 | Very high | |
| Static Banking & Economy (CRR/SLR/Repo, apex bodies, HQs, taglines) | 5–8 | High | |
| Budget & Economic Survey | 2–4 | Medium | |
| Static GK (awards, sports, books, days, capitals & currencies) | 4–6 | Medium |
🎯 At only 20 minutes for 40 questions, this section demands the fastest per-question pace on the whole paper — and it rewards that pace with zero-calculation recall. Roughly 60-70% is current affairs and banking developments from the preceding 4-6 months; the rest is static banking terms, rates and apex bodies plus general static GK. Daily short revision loops beat occasional long sessions here.
| Topic | Prelims Q | Mains Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer fundamentals, generations & hardware | 1–2 | High | |
| MS Office & keyboard shortcuts | 1–2 | High | |
| Networking, internet & security | 0–1 | Medium | |
| Abbreviations, memory & number systems | 0–1 | Low |
🎯 The same shallow, finite syllabus as every other banking exam — computer generations & fundamentals, hardware, MS Office & shortcuts, networking & internet, and common abbreviations. Worth a single focused revision session; the return per minute invested is high.
IBPS Clerk resources
Everything you need to prepare.
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FAQs
Frequently asked questions
No. Prelims is qualifying only — clear the sectional and overall cut-offs to reach Mains, but the marks are then discarded. Unlike IBPS PO, there is also no interview: the 200-mark Mains score alone is your entire final merit.
No to both. IBPS Clerk has only two fully objective stages — Prelims (qualifying) and Mains (100% of merit) — plus a qualifying Local Language Proficiency Test for some candidates. There is no essay, no letter-writing, and no interview panel anywhere in the process.
Both names appear across recent official material for the same section and the same syllabus — this site uses 'Numerical Ability' as the chapter-organising name, matching the Prelims section's consistent naming.
Clerk-level Numerical Ability covers only 6 topics — Simplification & Approximation, Number Series, Data Interpretation, Arithmetic Word Problems, Quadratic Equations, and Time-Speed-Distance-Work — leaving out Ratio/Partnership, Average/Mixture/Alligation, Permutation & Combination, Mensuration and Data Sufficiency, all of which appear at PO level.
A qualifying (not merit-scoring) test for the local language of the state a candidate is provisionally allotted to. It applies only if the candidate hasn't already studied or been certified in that language; it is a pass/fail condition on confirming the allotment, not a marks-adding stage.
The same 11 public-sector banks as IBPS PO — Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, PNB, Union Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Bank and Punjab & Sind Bank. Starting basic pay is ₹24,050/month, with in-hand salary typically ₹37,000-₹43,000/month.
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