Banking · Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)
IBPS PO — Common Recruitment Process for Probationary Officers / Management Trainees (CRP PO/MT)
The complete IBPS PO blueprint: tier-wise pattern, topic weightage from previous-year analyses, and free chapter-by-chapter study material.
5 subjects225 Mains marks = your merit3 stages: Prelims · Mains · Interview Free · tutor-verified
IBPS PO at a glance
Conducted byInstitute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)
CycleOnce a year (notification ~Aug, Prelims ~Oct, Mains ~Nov)
ModeOnline CBT — Prelims + Mains objective + typed English descriptive
EligibilityBachelor's degree in any discipline (valid on registration date); age 20–30
LanguagesEnglish & Hindi in every section except the English Language paper
Pay bandJMGS Scale-I — basic ~₹48,480 (11th BPS revised scale); gross ~₹65,000–85,000/month with DA, HRA & allowances
Posts you can get
Probationary Officer → Assistant Manager (JMGS Scale-I)Bank of BarodaPunjab National BankCanara BankUnion Bank of IndiaBank of IndiaIndian BankCentral Bank of IndiaUCO BankBank of MaharashtraPunjab & Sind BankIndian Overseas Bank
⚡ What changed 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.
- 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.
How IBPS PO 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. 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.
BUILDS 80% OF YOUR RANK
Mains
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.
THE LAST 20%
Interview & final merit
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 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 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 30 | 20 min |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | 40 | 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)
Merit — 200 of your 225 counted Mains marks200 marks · 170 Q
160 min (each section separately timed) · −0.25 per wrong answer
| Section | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reasoning & Computer Aptitude | 40 | 60 | 45 min |
| Data Analysis & Interpretation | 40 | 60 | 45 min |
| General, Economy, Banking, Digital & Financial AwarenessIncludes RBI circulars & digital-banking updates | 50 | 60 | 35 min |
| English Language | 40 | 20 | 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)
Merit — the remaining 25 Mains marks25 marks · 2 tasks Q
30 min (typed, English only) · No negative marking
Official syllabus units
- Essay (~250 words) — banking/economy/social themes: financial inclusion, digital payments, bank mergers, women's economic empowerment, AI in banking, cyber-fraud, sustainable finance
- Comprehension-based writing (~150 words) — read a passage and answer/summarise (this replaced the old Letter-writing task)
- Marked on content, structure, grammar and word limit — clean paragraphing and a crisp intro/body/conclusion win the marks
💡 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)
Merit — 20% of the final score100 marks · — Q
~15–20 min panel · Minimum qualifying 40% (35% for SC/ST/OBC/PWBD)
Official syllabus units
- Banking & financial awareness — current rates, recent RBI moves, your own state's banking scene
- Why banking / why a PO — a clear, honest motivation story
- Academic & work background — be ready to defend everything on your bio-data form
- Current affairs and a basic economy/GK opinion round
- Personality, communication and situational judgement
💡 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 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. Here is how the 225 Mains marks split — click any block to open its chapters:
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.
Subjects in IBPS PO
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) | 15–20 | 15–22 | Very high |
| Syllogism (incl. new-pattern/reverse) | 3–5 | 0–5 | High |
| Inequality (direct & coded) | 3–5 | 0–3 | High |
| Coding–Decoding (new pattern) | 3–5 | 3–5 | High |
| Blood Relations (incl. coded) | 2–3 | 2–3 | High |
| Direction & Distance | 2–3 | 2–3 | Medium |
| Order & Ranking | 0–3 | 0–2 | Medium |
| Alphanumeric / Alphabet Series | 3–5 | 0–2 | Medium |
| Data Sufficiency | 0–3 | 3–5 | High |
| Input–Output (machine) | — | 5 | High |
| Logical / Verbal Reasoning (statement–argument, cause–effect, inference) | 0–2 | 5–7 | High |
| Computer Aptitude (in the Reasoning section) | — | 3–5 | Medium |
🎯 Puzzles and seating arrangement are 40–55% of every reasoning paper — you cannot clear the cut-off without owning them. Master the 6 puzzle grids (linear, circular, floor, box, month/day scheduling, and comparison) plus syllogism, coded inequality and input-output. There is no theory to 'finish', only patterns to drill until each set takes under 4 minutes.
| Topic | Prelims Q | Mains Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Interpretation (table, bar, line, pie, caselet, missing) | 10–15 | 18–25 | Very high |
| Simplification & Approximation | 5–10 | 0–3 | Very high |
| Number Series (missing & wrong-term) | 3–5 | 3–5 | High |
| Quadratic Equations / Inequalities | 0–5 | 0–5 | Medium |
| Arithmetic — Percentage, Profit & Loss, Interest | 5–8 | 5–8 | High |
| Ratio, Proportion, Ages & Partnership | 1–3 | 1–3 | Medium |
| Average, Mixture & Alligation | 1–3 | 1–3 | Medium |
| Time, Work, Speed & Distance | 1–3 | 1–3 | Medium |
| Permutation, Combination & Probability | 0–1 | 1–3 | Medium |
| Mensuration | 0–1 | 1–2 | Low |
| Data Sufficiency (quant) | 0–2 | 3–5 | Medium |
| Quantity Comparison (I vs II) | — | 0–5 | Low |
🎯 Data Interpretation is 30–50% of the section across both stages — and DI is just arithmetic (percentage, ratio, average) applied to charts. Bank simplification/approximation and number series as your fast, near-certain marks first, then attack DI. In Mains, caselets, missing-DI and data sufficiency raise the difficulty; your arithmetic templates must be one-line.
| Topic | Prelims Q | Mains Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension (with vocab & inference) | 7–10 | 10–15 | Very high |
| Cloze Test | 5–8 | 5 | High |
| Error Spotting / Sentence Correction | 3–5 | 3–5 | High |
| Para Jumbles / Sentence Rearrangement | 3–5 | 3–5 | High |
| Sentence / Double Fillers | 3–5 | 0–3 | High |
| Word Swap / Word Usage / Word Rearrangement | 3–5 | 3–5 | High |
| Sentence Improvement / Phrase Replacement | 0–3 | 3–5 | Medium |
| Column-based / Connectors / Match the Following | 0–3 | 3–5 | Medium |
| Vocabulary (synonyms, antonyms, idioms) | 0–3 | 0–3 | Medium |
| Descriptive — Essay & Comprehension writing | — | 25 marks | Very high |
🎯 Reading comprehension is the anchor — 30–40% of the section — and it is where a daily-reading habit quietly out-scores rote grammar. Grammar (error spotting, sentence improvement, fillers) and the newer word-swap/word-usage patterns are finite and fully learnable. Don't skip the descriptive: 25 clean, on-topic marks feed the same Mains total as everything else.
| Topic | Prelims Q | Mains Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current Affairs (last 4–6 months, national & international) | — | 15–20 | Very high |
| Banking & Financial Awareness (RBI, rates, terms, schemes, digital banking) | — | 12–18 | Very high |
| Static Banking & Economy (CRR/SLR/Repo, apex bodies, HQs, taglines) | — | 6–10 | High |
| Budget & Economic Survey | — | 3–5 | High |
| Static GK (awards, sports, books, days, capitals & currencies) | — | 5–8 | Medium |
🎯 This section takes ~40 seconds per question — you either know it or you don't — so it is the highest marks-per-minute block in Mains. Roughly 60–70% is current affairs + banking of the last 4–6 months; the rest is static banking (rates, apex bodies, headquarters, schemes). Revise in daily loops, never in one sitting, and read RBI/PIB updates through the whole prep window.
| Topic | Prelims Q | Mains Q | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer fundamentals, generations & hardware | — | 1–2 | High |
| MS Office & keyboard shortcuts | — | 1–2 | High |
| Networking, internet & security | — | 1–2 | Medium |
| Abbreviations, memory & number systems | — | 0–1 | Low |
🎯 Small but genuinely free: the questions are shallow — computer generations & fundamentals, hardware, MS Office & shortcuts, networking & internet, common abbreviations. One focused weekend covers the entire syllabus; don't over-invest, but don't donate these marks either.
IBPS PO resources
Everything you need to prepare.
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FAQs
Frequently asked questions
No. Prelims is qualifying only — you must clear the sectional and overall cut-offs to reach Mains, but its marks are not added to the merit list. The final rank is 80% Mains (out of 225) + 20% Interview (out of 100).
The Mains objective test grew from 155 to 170 questions (still 200 marks), with the awareness section expanded to 50 questions and explicitly covering RBI circulars and digital/financial awareness. Prelims marks were re-weighted — Reasoning to 40, Quant to 30 — and the descriptive test is now Essay + Comprehension instead of Essay + Letter.
0.25 marks are deducted for every wrong answer in both the Prelims and the Mains objective test. There is no negative marking in the English descriptive test. Unattempted questions carry no penalty.
The three 60-mark blocks — Reasoning & Computer Aptitude, Data Analysis & Interpretation, and General/Banking Awareness — together are 180 of the 200 objective marks. English objective is only 20, but the 25-mark descriptive keeps overall English worth 45 of the 225 Mains marks.
IBPS PO recruits for 11 participating public-sector banks including Bank of Baroda, PNB, Canara, Union Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank, Indian Bank, UCO, Bank of Maharashtra, Punjab & Sind Bank and Indian Overseas Bank. SBI is NOT part of IBPS — it runs its own SBI PO exam separately.
Yes. In Prelims each of the three sections has a locked 20-minute window (60 min total). In Mains every section is separately timed too (45/45/35/35 min for the four objective sections), so you cannot move time between sections — per-section speed is decisive.
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