IBPS PO
Recruits Probationary Officers (PO) and Management Trainees into the participating public sector banks such as Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank and Union Bank of India, as Junior Management Grade Scale I officers.
Eligibility
A graduate degree in any discipline from a recognised university, held by the last date of registration. Age 20-30 years (relaxation: SC/ST 5 years, OBC non-creamy layer 3 years, PwBD 10 years). There is no cap on the number of attempts for IBPS PO, and candidates must be Indian citizens and computer literate.
Age limit: 20-30 years (category relaxations apply)
Exam pattern
Online Preliminary, online Mains, a non-qualifying Personality Test, then Interview. Prelims has 100 questions in 60 minutes: English (30 questions, 30 marks), Quantitative Aptitude (35 questions, 30 marks) and Reasoning (35 questions, 40 marks), with 20 minutes per section and sectional cut-offs. For CRP PO/MT-XVI (2026) the Mains objective paper has 170 questions for 200 marks in 160 minutes: Reasoning (40 questions, 60 marks, 45 min), General/Economy/Banking/Digital/Financial Awareness (50, 60 marks, 35 min), English (40, 20 marks, 35 min) and Data Analysis & Interpretation (40, 60 marks, 45 min), each separately timed; a 30-minute descriptive paper (Essay and Comprehension, 2 questions, 25 marks) follows. Wrong objective answers cost one quarter of the marks for that question. The self-report Personality Test must be taken to be eligible for the interview (100 marks); final merit combines Mains and Interview in an 80:20 ratio.
Syllabus at a glance
Quantitative Aptitude covers simplification, number series, quadratic equations, arithmetic and, most heavily, data interpretation (caselets, tables, missing-data DI). Reasoning covers puzzles and seating arrangement, syllogism, inequality, blood relations, input-output, data sufficiency and computer awareness. English covers reading comprehension, cloze test, error detection, para-jumbles and word usage. General Awareness covers banking and financial awareness, RBI policy and circulars, digital banking, the economy, government schemes and 6-8 months of current affairs; the descriptive paper draws on economic and social issues, banking and technology trends, current events and ethics.
Upcoming dates
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| CRP PO/MT-XVI (2026) Mains result and Personality Test | Nov 2026 (per notification, tentative) | expected |
| CRP PO/MT-XVI Interviews | Nov – Dec 2026 (per notification, tentative) | expected |
| CRP PO/MT-XVI provisional allotment | Jan 2027 (per notification, tentative) | expected |
| CRP PO/MT-XVII (2027) notification and registration | Jul 2027 (expected) | expected |
| IBPS PO 2027 Preliminary exam | Aug 2027 (expected) | expected |
| IBPS PO 2027 Mains exam | Oct 2027 (expected) | expected |
Expected dates follow the usual calendar; confirm on the official notification before planning.
Free prep material
Standard books
- Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations – R.S. Aggarwal
- How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for the CAT – Arun Sharma
- A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning – R.S. Aggarwal
- Analytical Reasoning – M.K. Pandey
- Objective General English – S.P. Bakshi
- Banking Awareness – Arihant Experts
How toppers play it
- Prelims has hard 20-minute sectional timers and cut-offs: aim for safe attempts of roughly 22-25 in English and 22-25 each in Quant and Reasoning rather than chasing one section.
- In Reasoning, do the 3-5 puzzles/seating arrangements last; first clear inequality, syllogism, blood relations and direction questions, which take under a minute each.
- Mains is decided by Reasoning, Data Analysis and General Awareness (60 marks each, while English is only 20): practise at least two caselet and missing-data DI sets daily from June onwards.
- General/Banking Awareness gives the highest marks per minute in Mains (60 marks in 35 minutes); revise RBI policy and circulars, budget, schemes, digital payments and six months of banking news from monthly capsules.
- With one-quarter negative marking, skip guesses you cannot narrow down to two options; accuracy above 85% is the usual target.