IBPS Clerk Mains mock tests

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This page covers the IBPS Clerk Mains pattern and marking. The practice tests on this site are for the other forms listed above.

About the exam

CRP-CSA-XVI recruits Customer Service Associates (clerical cadre) for vacancies of 2027-28 in eleven participating public sector banks. A candidate applies for vacancies in one State or Union Territory only. The notification is dated 1 August 2026; a corrigendum of 29 September 2026 updates the indicative vacancies and leaves every other condition unchanged.

The online examination has two phases. The Preliminary Examination is an objective test of 100 questions and 100 marks in 60 minutes: English Language (30 questions, 30 marks, 20 minutes, in English), Numerical Ability (35 questions, 35 marks, 20 minutes) and Reasoning Ability (35 questions, 35 marks, 20 minutes). Each test is separately timed. A candidate must reach the cut-off IBPS sets in each of the three tests to be shortlisted for the main exam. A wrong answer costs one fourth of the marks assigned to that question; a blank answer costs nothing.

The Main Examination is an objective test of 160 questions and 200 marks in 125 minutes, and each test is separately timed: General/Financial Awareness (40 questions, 50 marks, 20 minutes), General English (40 questions, 40 marks, 35 minutes, in English), Reasoning Ability (40 questions, 60 marks, 35 minutes) and Quantitative Aptitude (40 questions, 50 marks, 35 minutes). The mains table is marked 'not by sequence'. Only main-exam marks go into the final merit list. Those marks, out of 200, are converted out of 100 for provisional allotment. Where more than one session is held, corrected scores are normalised by the equi-percentile method and taken to two decimal places.

A candidate must be a graduate in any discipline from a recognised university as on 21 August 2026, and must have a working knowledge of computers. Age is 20 to 28 years as on 1 August 2026 (born not earlier than 2 August 1998 and not later than 1 August 2006), with the relaxations in the notice. Candidates need the specified local language of the State or UT they apply for. Those who cannot show a Class 10 or higher certificate in that language take a qualifying Local Language Proficiency Test after the main exam and before joining.

Exam pattern

Form

IBPS Clerk Main Examination · since 2026-08-01

How it is taken

Online, at an examination centre

Timing

Each of the four tests is separately timed: 20 minutes for General/Financial Awareness and 35 minutes each for the other three.

Adaptive

None

The mains table is headed 'NOT BY SEQUENCE', so the order of the four tests on the screen is not fixed by the notification.

Candidates called for the main exam must also bring the authenticated call letter of the preliminary exam and the authenticated photocopy of the photo identity proof. Without those, the notice says they will not be allowed to appear.

The Local Language Proficiency Test is a later, qualifying, marks-based test held by the allotted bank or an independent body. It is not one of the two online phases, and candidates who produce a Class 10 or higher certificate in the opted local language do not have to take it.

Topics in the exam

• English: spot the error
• English: fill in the blanks
• English: vocabulary and spelling
• English: sentence order
• English: cloze test
• English: reading comprehension
• Numerical Ability: simplification
• Numerical Ability: number series
• Numerical Ability: quadratic comparison
• Numerical Ability: percentage
• Numerical Ability: ratio and average
• Numerical Ability: time, work and distance
• Numerical Ability: data interpretation
• Reasoning: syllogism
• Reasoning: inequality
• Reasoning: coding and decoding
• Reasoning: blood relation and direction
• Reasoning: order, ranking and alphabet
• Reasoning: puzzles and seating

How it is scored

The main exam has 160 questions and 200 marks: General/Financial Awareness 50, General English 40, Reasoning Ability 60 and Quantitative Aptitude 50. This guide assumes the questions inside a test carry equal marks, so a question is worth 1.25, 1, 1.5 or 1.25 marks in those four tests. A wrong answer costs one fourth of the marks assigned to that question (0.3125, 0.25, 0.375 or 0.3125). A blank answer scores nothing. If every question in a test is wrong, the test falls to −12.5, −10, −15 or −12.5. The main total is the sum, out of 200. A candidate needs a minimum score in each main test and a minimum total, both decided by IBPS, and the cut-offs also depend on State and UT vacancies. Marks obtained in the main exam alone are considered for the final merit list. For provisional allotment those marks are converted out of 100. Scores from different sessions, if held, are normalised by the equi-percentile method and taken to two decimal places.

Tips to clear IBPS Clerk

1. English: spot the error

   Find the subject of the verb first and ignore phrases such as 'along with' or 'as well as' that sit between them. After 'did', the next verb stays in its base form (did not know, not did not knew). 'Since' needs a point of time; a length of time needs 'for'.

2. English: fill in the blanks

   Learn the fixed pairings as whole phrases: insist on, no sooner … than, senior to, divided into. Read the words on both sides of the blank before you look at the options.

3. English: vocabulary and spelling

   Read whether the question asks for a similar meaning or the opposite, because the opposite is often sitting among the options. For spellings, check double letters (accommodation has two c's and two m's) before you check the ending.

4. English: sentence order

   Lock the opening sentence first: it names the subject and does not start with 'then', 'finally' or a pronoun whose noun has not appeared. Then join the pair that the word 'then' or 'finally' forces, and test only the options that contain that pair.

5. English: cloze test

   Read the whole passage once before filling any blank, so the tense stays the same from start to end. Match the verb to the subject that is actually doing the action, not to the noun that happens to sit next to the blank.

6. English: reading comprehension

   Answer from the lines of the passage. Reject an option that adds a fact the passage never states, even when that fact sounds likely. For a 'not true' question, tick off each option against a sentence.

7. Numerical Ability: simplification

   Do the brackets first, then multiplication and division from left to right, then addition and subtraction. For a difference of squares, use a² − b² = (a − b)(a + b) instead of squaring both numbers.

8. Numerical Ability: number series

   Write the differences, then the differences of those differences. If the differences themselves double, or rise by a fixed amount, you have the rule. Check the rule on every term, not only on the last gap.

9. Numerical Ability: quadratic comparison

   Factorise both equations and list every root before you compare. Compare each root of x with each root of y. Choose 'greater or equal' only when one pair is equal and every other pair goes the same way.

10. Numerical Ability: percentage

    A rise of r percent multiplies by (100 + r)/100, and a fall multiplies by (100 − r)/100. For two successive rises, multiply the two factors; do not add the percentages. A discount is a fall on the marked price.

11. Numerical Ability: ratio and average

    If a ratio is a:b and the total is T, one part is T/(a+b). For an average, convert to a sum first (average × count) and do the adding and removing on the sums, then divide at the end.

12. Numerical Ability: time, work and distance

    Add rates, not days: A in x days and B in y days finish 1/x + 1/y of the work in one day. For a train passing a pole, the distance is the length of the train. Convert m/s to km/h by multiplying by 18/5.

13. Numerical Ability: data interpretation

    Read the unit and the row and column headings before any sum. When a question says 'percent of', the 'of' quantity is the denominator. Write the four totals in the margin once and reuse them.

14. Reasoning: syllogism

    Draw three circles and shade only what the statements force. 'All A are B' and 'All B are C' give 'All A are C'. A 'some' statement does not become 'all', and 'no relation shown' means that conclusion does not follow.

15. Reasoning: inequality

    Combine the signs only along a chain that faces the same way. A ≥ sign lets the two sides be equal, so do not mark a strict > unless every link in the chain is strict. If the chain breaks, the conclusion does not follow.

16. Reasoning: coding and decoding

    Test one rule on the whole example before you touch the question word: +1 to each letter, reverse the order, or swap the first and last letters. Apply that same rule, unchanged, to the new word.

17. Reasoning: blood relation and direction

    For a blood relation, replace 'only son of my grandfather' from the speaker's side, one phrase at a time, and draw the family before you read the options. For a direction, sketch north upwards and turn the person, not the page.

18. Reasoning: order, ranking and alphabet

    Position from the other end is (total − position + 1). In the alphabet, the 12th letter from the left is L; count the next steps from that letter, not from A again.

19. Reasoning: puzzles and seating

    Write every case the first two clues allow, then cross out a case as soon as one clue kills it. Do not place a person until only one seat is left for them. Read 'second to the left' as one seat in between, and 'immediate right' as the next seat.

After the exam

For information only. Selection, allotment and admission follow the rules in the official notice of your year, which can change.

Customer Service Associate in a participating public sector bank

The process allots Customer Service Associates (clerical cadre) to one of the participating banks on merit-cum-preference, for vacancies of 2027-28. The banks named in the notification are Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab National Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, UCO Bank and Union Bank of India. The basic pay printed in the notification is ₹24050-1340/3-28070-1650/3-33020-2000/4-41020-2340/7-57400-4400/1-61800-2680/1-64480, with allowances as per the bank's rules. Allotment is provisional and depends on the vacancies the banks actually report. Official page

Official links and sources

• Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (ibps.in)
• CRP-CSA-XVI page (clerical cadre)
• Notification for CRP-CSA-XVI, dated 1 August 2026 (PDF)
• Corrigendum dated 29 September 2026 (PDF)

Where this information comes from

Checked against these sources on 2026-10-16. Exams change their format and rules; the exam’s own site is always the final word.

• Notification: Common Recruitment Process for Customer Service Associates, CRP-CSA-XVI, dated 1 August 2026 (ibps.in) (2026-10-16)
• Corrigendum dated 29 September 2026 in connection with CRP-CSA-XVI (ibps.in). It updates indicative vacancies and states that all other terms of the 1 August 2026 notification remain unchanged. (2026-10-16)
• CRP CSA (Customer Service Associate) XVI page, which lists the notification and the corrigendum (ibps.in) (2026-10-16)

Still to be confirmed

• The notification does not say how many options a question has. These practice questions use four.
• The notification names the tests and gives their question counts, marks and times. It does not publish a topic-wise syllabus. The task lists above are the kinds of questions these tests have long asked; the Information Handout, issued with the call letter, is where IBPS gives further detail about the paper.
• The notification gives each test a total of marks but does not say that every question inside a test carries the same marks. The marks and penalties on this page assume equal marks within a test. For the preliminary tests the totals equal the question counts, so equal marks means 1 mark a question.
• Whether a candidate may submit a 20-minute test before the timer ends, and whether time left in one test can be used in another. The notice says the tests are separately timed and does not describe the screen.
• How compensatory time is divided across the separate timers. The notice gives 20 minutes for every hour of the examination for candidates eligible to use a scribe or the other categories it names, and, for persons with a specified disability below 40 percent who are eligible for a scribe, pro-rata time when a test is shorter than an hour.
• The preliminary cut-off in each test, and the main-exam cut-off in each test and in the total, are decided by IBPS. They are not printed in the notification.
• The main-exam table is headed 'NOT BY SEQUENCE'. The order of those four tests on screen is not fixed here. The preliminary table does not carry that heading; this guide follows the order printed there.
• The notice says scores of different sessions are normalised by the equi-percentile method. It does not print the formula.