IBPS Exam Pattern – PO, SO, Clerk, RRB
This year the IBPS Recruitment exam pattern for Probationary Officers (IBPS PO/MT) and Clerk Posts has been slightly altered.The Common Written Examination is a Two Tier Written Examination, as it was last year.
However, for the Mains exam, each subject will have an allotted time instead of a composite time for the entire exam. This is a BIG change in the IBPS Exam Pattern from last year and means that candidates will need to prepare for each section differently.
Background
IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) is an autonomous body set up to recruit candidates for various client organizations, conduct relevant supportive research and publicize the findings. It has been rendering assistance to the financial sector in the fields of employee selection, promotion and placement.
IBPS has a mandate from multiple Indian Public Sector Banks to conduct the eligibility exam for selection to these banks. The computer-based exam is termed as the Common Written Examination and is held across multiple Indian cities multiple times a year to select candidates for Clerical, Probationary Officer (PO), Specialist Officer (SO), and Management Trainee (MT) roles.
Exam Pattern for PO and Clerk Exams
- Tier I will be an easier exam. The paper will consist of 100 questions from three topics – English Language, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning Ability. Total time duration for this exam would be one hour and maximum marks that can be obtained would be 100.
- Tier II will have questions with a higher difficulty level. The paper will consist of 200 questions from five topics – Reasoning, English Language, Quantitative Aptitude, General Awareness and Computer Knowledge. Total time duration for this exam would be 2 hours and maximum marks that can be obtained would be 200. HOWEVER IT IS PERTINENT TO NOTE THAT EACH SUBJECT WILL NOW HAVE A FIXED TIME DURATION and the duration of the Mains exam will NOT be cumulative
- Tier I exams will be of qualifying nature and its score will not be added while preparing for final merit list. Only Tier II marks and Interview score will be considered for the preparation of final merit list.
If you want to ace the IBPS examinations, you should be well acquainted with the IBPS Question Paper pattern.
NOTE – The following tables provide a brief overview of the expected IBPS question paper pattern for PO and CLERK examinations based on last year’s question paper and based on the latest IBPS notification. However, since this year the pattern has been altered, some changes might ensue at the last minute.
IBPS PO
The exam pattern for IBPS PO PRELIMINARY examination is as follows:
| Sr.No. | Name of Tests (Objective) | Questions/ Maximum Marks | Duration | |
| 1 | Reasoning Ability | 35/ 35 | Composite Time of 1 hour | |
| 2 | English Language | 30/ 30 | ||
| 3 | Quantitative Aptitude | 35/ 35 | ||
| TOTAL | 100 | |||
The question paper pattern for IBPS PO MAINS examination is as follows:
| Sr.No. | (Objective) Test Name | Number of Questions | Marks | Duration |
| 1 | Reasoning | 50 | 50 | 40 mins |
| 2 | English Language | 40 | 40 | 30 mins |
| 3 | Numerical Ability | 40 | 40 | 40 mins |
| 4 | General Awareness with special emphasis on Banking Awareness | 40 | 40 | 20 mins |
| 5 | Computer Knowledge | 20 | 20 | 10 mins |
| TOTAL | 200 | 200 | 140 minutes |
IBPS CLERK
The exam pattern for IBPS Clerk PRELIMINARY examination is as follows:
| Sr.No. | Name of Tests (Objective) | Questions/ Maximum Marks | Duration | |
| 1 | Reasoning Ability | 35/ 35 | Composite Time of 1 hour | |
| 2 | English Language | 30/ 30 | ||
| 3 | Quantitative Aptitude | 35/ 35 | ||
| TOTAL | 100 | |||
The question paper pattern for IBPS Clerk MAINS examination is as follows:
| Sr.No. | (Objective) Test Name | Number of Questions | Marks | Duration |
| 1 | Reasoning | 50 | 50 | 40 mins |
| 2 | English Language | 40 | 40 | 30 mins |
| 3 | Numerical Ability | 40 | 40 | 40 mins |
| 4 | General Awareness with special emphasis on Banking Awareness | 40 | 40 | 20 mins |
| 5 | Computer Knowledge | 20 | 20 | 10 mins |
| TOTAL | 200 | 200 | 140 minutes |
You can read about the implications of this change in the question paper pattern on your preparation
IBPS SO
IBPS conducts the IBPS SO examination in order to recruit participants for various posts in several participating banks. IBPS Specialist Officer exam consists of 200 objective type questions with each question carrying 1 mark. The total time duration of the paper is 2 hours. IBPS Question paper pattern with regard to SO varies across different posts.
IBPS Question Paper Pattern For Law Officer & Rajbhasha Adhikari
| S. No. | Name of the Tests | Maximum Marks | Total Time |
| 1 | Specialist Officer Reasoning Test | 50 | 120 Minutes |
| 2 | SO English Language Test | 25 | |
| 3 | SO General Awareness Test | 50 | |
| 4 | SO Professional Knowledge Test | 75 | |
| Total | 200 | ||
Paper Pattern For IT Officer, Agricultural Field Officer, HR / Personnel Officer & Marketing Officer
| S. No. | Paper name | Maximum Marks | Total Time |
| 1 | SO Reasoning Paper | 50 | 120 Minutes |
| 2 | SO English Language Paper | 25 | |
| 3 | SO Quantitative Aptitude Paper | 50 | |
| 4 | SO Professional Knowledge Paper | 75 | |
| Total | 200 | ||
IBPS RRB
IBPS conducts IBPS RRB CWE for filling the posts of Group “A”-Officers (Scale-I, II & III) and Group “B”-Office Assistants (Multipurpose) in Rural Banks.
IBPS Question paper pattern for –
Group: I For ‘A & B ’ category States (under Official Languages Act)
IBPS Office Assistant (Multipurpose) Exam Pattern
| S.No | Name of Test |
Medium of Exam |
No. of Questions | Max.Marks | Total Time |
| 1 | Reasoning | Hindi/English | 40 | 50 | Composite Time of 2 hours and 30 minutes |
| 2 | Numerical Ability | Hindi/English | 40 | 50 | |
| 3 | General Awareness | Hindi/English | 40 | 40 | |
| 4a | English Language | English | 40 | 40 | |
| 4b | Hindi Language | Hindi | 40 | 40 | |
| 5 | Computer Knowledge | Hindi/English | 40 | 20 | |
| Total | 200 | 200 |
IBPS Officer Scale-I Exam Pattern
| S.No | Name of Test |
Medium of Exam |
No. of Questions | Max.Marks | Total Time |
| 1 | Reasoning | Hindi/English | 40 | 50 | Composite Time of 2 hours and 30 minutes |
| 2 | Quantitative Aptitude | Hindi/English | 40 | 50 | |
| 3 | General Awareness | Hindi/English | 40 | 40 | |
| 4a | English Language | English | 40 | 40 | |
| 4b | Hindi Language | Hindi | 40 | 40 | |
| 5 | Computer Knowledge | Hindi/English | 40 | 20 | |
| Total | 200 | 200 |
IBPS Officer Scale-II (Specialist Cadre) Exam Pattern
| S.No | Name of Test |
Medium of Exam |
No. of Questions | Max.Marks | Total Time |
| 1 | Reasoning | Hindi/English | 40 | 40 | Composite Time of 2 hours and 30 minutes |
| 2 | Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation | Hindi/English | 40 | 40 | |
| 3 | Financial Awareness | Hindi/English | 40 | 40 | |
| 4a | English Language | English | 40 | 20 | |
| 4b | Hindi Language | Hindi | 40 | 20 | |
| 5 | Computer Knowledge | Hindi/English | 40 | 20 | |
| 6 | Professional Knowledge | Hindi/English | 40 | 40 | |
| Total | 240 | 200 |
IBPS Officer Scale- III Exam Pattern
| S.No | Name of Test |
Medium of Exam |
No. of Questions | Max.Marks | Total Time |
| 1 | Reasoning | Hindi/English | 40 | 50 | Composite Time of 2 hours and 30 minutes |
| 2 | Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation | Hindi/English | 40 | 50 | |
| 3 | Financial Awareness | Hindi/English | 40 | 40 | |
| 4a | English Language | English | 40 | 40 | |
| 4b | Hindi Language | Hindi | 40 | 40 | |
| 5 | Computer Knowledge | Hindi/English | 40 | 20 | |
| Total | 200 | 200 |
II: Group: II For ‘C’ category States (under Official Languages Act)
IBPS Office Assistant (Multipurpose) Exam Pattern
| S.No | Name of Test |
Medium of Exam |
No. of Questions | Max.Marks | Total Time |
| 1 | Reasoning | English | 40 | 50 | Composite Time of 2 hours and 30 minutes |
| 2 | Numerical Ability | English | 40 | 50 | |
| 3 | General Awareness | English | 40 | 40 | |
| 4 | English Language | English | 40 | 40 | |
| 5 | Computer Knowledge | English | 40 | 20 | |
| Total | 200 | 200 |
Read about how you need to change your preparation strategy due to the change in the question paper pattern
IBPS Officer Scale-I Exam Pattern
| S.No | Name of Test |
Medium of Exam |
No. of Questions | Max.Marks | Total Time |
| 1 | Reasoning | English | 40 | 50 | Composite Time of 2 hours and 30 minutes |
| 2 | Quantitative Aptitude | English | 40 | 50 | |
| 3 | General Awareness | English | 40 | 40 | |
| 4 | English Language | English | 40 | 40 | |
| 5 | Computer Knowledge | English | 40 | 20 | |
| Total | 200 | 200 |
IBPS Officer Scale-II Exam Pattern (General Banking Officer)
| S.No | Name of Test |
Medium of Exam |
No. of Questions | Max.Marks | Total Time |
| 1 | Reasoning | English | 40 | 50 | CompositeT ime of 2 hours and 30 minutes |
| 2 | Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation | English | 40 | 50 | |
| 3 | Financial Awareness | English | 40 | 40 | |
| 4 | English Language | English | 40 | 40 | |
| 5 | Computer Knowledge | English | 40 | 20 | |
| Total | 200 | 200 |
IBPS Officer Scale-II (Specialist Cadre) Exam Pattern
| S.No | Name of Test |
Medium of Exam |
No. of Questions | Max.Marks | Total Time |
| 1 | Reasoning | English | 40 | 40 | Composite Time of 2 hours and 30 minutes |
| 2 | Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation | English | 40 | 40 | |
| 3 | Financial Awareness | English | 40 | 40 | |
| 4 | English Language | English | 40 | 20 | |
| 5 | Computer Knowledge | English | 40 | 20 | |
| 6 | Professional Knowledge | English | 40 | 40 | |
| Total | 240 | 200 |
IBPS Officer Scale- III Exam Pattern
| S.No | Name of Test |
Medium of Exam |
No. of Questions | Max.Marks | Total Time |
| 1 | Reasoning | English | 40 | 50 | Composite Time of 2 hours and 30 minutes |
| 2 | Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation | English | 40 | 50 | |
| 3 | Financial Awareness | English | 40 | 40 | |
| 4 | English Language | English | 40 | 40 | |
| 5 | Computer Knowledge | English | 40 | 20 | |
| Total | 200 | 200 |
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