IBPS PO syllabus

Common recruitment of Probationary Officers and Management Trainees in participating public sector banks: a sectional Prelims of 100 questions in 60 minutes, then Mains and an interview.

Preliminary examination

English Language

30 questions, 30 marks · 20 minutes (separately timed)

Test 1, in English only. Each question is 1 mark. A wrong answer costs 0.25; a blank scores 0.

  • Reading comprehension
  • Cloze test
  • Error spotting
  • Fill in the blanks
  • Sentence rearrangement
  • Vocabulary

Quantitative Aptitude

35 questions, 30 marks · 20 minutes (separately timed)

Test 2, in English and Hindi. The notice gives 30 marks for 35 questions and does not state a mark for each question. A wrong answer costs one fourth of the marks assigned to that question; a blank scores 0.

  • Simplification
  • Number series
  • Data interpretation
  • Percentage, profit and loss
  • Time and work, time and distance
  • Ratio, average and interest

Reasoning Ability

35 questions, 40 marks · 20 minutes (separately timed)

Test 3, in English and Hindi. The notice gives 40 marks for 35 questions and does not state a mark for each question. A wrong answer costs one fourth of the marks assigned to that question; a blank scores 0.

  • Seating and puzzles
  • Syllogism
  • Inequality
  • Coding-decoding
  • Blood relation, direction and ranking

Main examination

Reasoning

40 questions, 60 marks · 45 minutes (separately timed)

Listed first in the notice, which says the tests are not in sequence. English and Hindi. A wrong answer costs one fourth of the marks assigned to that question.

  • Puzzles and seating
  • Logical reasoning
  • Input-output and coding
  • Syllogism and inequality

General, Economy and Banking Awareness

50 questions, 60 marks · 35 minutes (separately timed)

The notice's name is General/Economy/Banking Awareness and Digital/Financial Awareness including RBI circulars. English and Hindi. A wrong answer costs one fourth of the marks assigned to that question.

  • Banking and financial awareness
  • Economy
  • Digital awareness
  • RBI circulars named in the notice

English Language

40 questions, 20 marks · 35 minutes (separately timed)

In English only. 40 questions for 20 marks. A wrong answer costs one fourth of the marks assigned to that question.

  • Reading comprehension
  • Grammar and vocabulary
  • Rearrangement and cloze

Data Analysis and Interpretation

40 questions, 60 marks · 45 minutes (separately timed)

English and Hindi. A wrong answer costs one fourth of the marks assigned to that question.

  • Tables, graphs and caselets
  • Comparison and calculation

Descriptive paper (Essay and Comprehension)

2 questions, 25 marks · 30 minutes

In English. The notice says the paper may be broadly based on economic and social issues, emerging trends in banking and technology, current events and ethics, and that it may be evaluated by an automated scoring mechanism. The penalty clause applies to objective tests, not to this paper. There is no practice test for Mains here yet.

  • Essay
  • Comprehension