IBPS PO
Recruits Probationary Officers (PO) / Management Trainees for 11 public-sector banks (Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank and others — State Bank of India recruits separately). The entry point to an officer-grade career in public-sector banking.
Eligibility
A Bachelor's degree in any discipline from a recognised university. Age 20–30 years as on 1 July 2026, with relaxations of 5 years for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST), 3 years for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and up to 10 years for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD). IBPS itself places no cap on the number of attempts.
Age limit: 20–30 years (relaxations as per category)
Exam pattern
Fully online, three stages. Prelims: 100 objective questions, 100 marks, 60 minutes with strict 20-minute sectional timers (English 30, Numerical Ability 35, Reasoning 35); used only for shortlisting. Mains (revised from the 2026 cycle): 170 objective questions for 200 marks — Reasoning 40, General/Economy/Banking/Digital Awareness 50, English 40, Data Analysis & Interpretation 40 — plus a 25-mark descriptive English test (essay and comprehension-based writing), about 3 hours 10 minutes in total. Wrong objective answers cost 0.25 marks each. Interview carries 100 marks; final merit combines Mains and Interview in an 80:20 ratio.
Syllabus at a glance
Prelims covers English language, numerical ability and reasoning ability. Mains adds data analysis and interpretation, and a heavyweight awareness section spanning current affairs, the economy, banking, financial and digital awareness (including Reserve Bank of India circulars and schemes). The descriptive test assesses formal written English through essay and comprehension-based writing.
Upcoming dates
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Notification released | 1 Jul 2026 | confirmed |
| Online application window | 1–21 Jul 2026 | confirmed |
| Preliminary exam | 22–23 Aug 2026 | confirmed |
| Mains exam | 4 Oct 2026 | confirmed |
| Interviews | Nov–Dec 2026 | expected |
| Final result / provisional allotment | Jan 2027 | 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
- Magical Book on Quicker Maths — M. Tyra
- Analytical Reasoning — M.K. Pandey
- Objective General English — S.P. Bakshi
- How to Prepare for Data Interpretation — Arun Sharma
- Banking Awareness — Arihant Experts
How toppers play it
- Prelims has hard 20-minute sectional timers — you cannot borrow time across sections, so drill each section to finish with a 1–2 minute buffer.
- The revised 50-mark General/Economy/Banking/Digital Awareness section is the single biggest scorer in Mains: revise 5–6 months of monthly capsules plus RBI circular highlights.
- The descriptive test is typed on a computer — practise essays and comprehension-based answers on a keyboard, not on paper.
- With 0.25 negative marking, attempt only puzzle and Data Interpretation (DI) sets you can fully crack; half-solved sets bleed marks.
- Prelims marks do not carry into merit (final merit is Mains + Interview, 80:20), so prepare at Mains difficulty from day one and treat prelims as a checkpoint.