| Conducting body | Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). Official website ↗ |
|---|---|
| Posts | Probationary Officer, Management Trainee |
| Qualification | A degree in any discipline from a university recognised by the Government of India, or an equivalent qualification recognised by the Central Government, as on 21 July 2026. You must already be a graduate on the day you register and must enter your graduation percentage in the form. |
| Age limit | 20–30 years on 1 July 2026 (general category) |
| Domicile | Not required |
| Selection stages | Online preliminary exam (objective, qualifying) → Online main exam (objective tests and a descriptive paper) → Personality test (self-report; not scored for merit but you must take it) → Interview of 100 marks conducted by the participating banks → Provisional allotment to a participating bank |
| Latest notification | CRP PO/MT-XVI detailed notification (vacancies of 2027-28) · 7,565 vacancies |
Last checked . Sources
About IBPS PO
IBPS PO is the common exam for Probationary Officer and Management Trainee posts in public sector banks such as Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and Punjab National Bank. The XVI round fills vacancies for the year 2027-28. IBPS conducts the online exams, the participating banks conduct the interviews, and selected candidates are provisionally allotted to a bank.
Eligibility
Age limit
General category: 20–30 years, counted on 1 July 2026.
Age relaxation
- OBC: 3 years
- SC: 5 years
- ST: 5 years
- PwBD: 10 years
- Ex-servicemen: 5 years
- You must be born between 2 July 1996 and 1 July 2006, both dates included.
- The 5-year ex-servicemen relaxation is for commissioned officers, including ECOs and SSCOs, with at least five years of military service.
- The SC/ST/OBC relaxation can be added to only one other relaxation (PwBD or ex-servicemen).
Qualification
A degree in any discipline from a university recognised by the Government of India, or an equivalent qualification recognised by the Central Government, as on 21 July 2026. You must already be a graduate on the day you register and must enter your graduation percentage in the form.
Other conditions
- Application fee: Rs 175 for SC/ST/PwBD candidates and Rs 850 for everyone else, including GST.
Selection process
- Online preliminary exam (objective, qualifying)
- Online main exam (objective tests and a descriptive paper)
- Personality test (self-report; not scored for merit but you must take it)
- Interview of 100 marks conducted by the participating banks
- Provisional allotment to a participating bank
Exam pattern
Preliminary exam
Mode: Online, objective · Duration: 60 minutes (20 minutes for each section, timed separately) · Negative marking: 0.25 of the question's marks cut for each wrong answer; no penalty for a blank
| SUBJECT | QUESTIONS | MARKS |
|---|---|---|
| English Language | 30 | 30 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 30 |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | 40 |
Main exam (objective)
Mode: Online, objective · Duration: 160 minutes (each test timed separately) · Negative marking: 0.25 of the question's marks cut for each wrong answer
| SUBJECT | QUESTIONS | MARKS |
|---|---|---|
| Reasoning | 40 | 60 |
| General/Economy/Banking Awareness, Digital/Financial Awareness including RBI circulars | 50 | 60 |
| English Language | 40 | 20 |
| Data Analysis and Interpretation | 40 | 60 |
Main exam (descriptive)
Mode: Online, in English · Duration: 30 minutes
| SUBJECT | QUESTIONS | MARKS |
|---|---|---|
| Essay and comprehension | 2 | 25 |
Interview
| SUBJECT | MARKS |
|---|---|
| Interview (minimum 40%, or 35% for SC/ST/OBC/PwBD); mains and interview weighted 80:20 | 100 |
IBPS PO syllabus
Prelims
- English Language
- Quantitative Aptitude
- Reasoning Ability
Mains objective
- Reasoning
- General, economy and banking awareness
- Digital and financial awareness, including RBI circulars
- English Language
- Data analysis and interpretation
Mains descriptive
- Essay
- Comprehension
- Themes named in the notification: economic and social issues, trends in banking and technology, current events, ethics
What they ask
The prelims has 100 questions in 60 minutes, split into three sections of 20 minutes each, and you have to clear IBPS's cut-off in every section. The mains objective paper has 170 questions for 200 marks over 160 minutes, with a minimum score needed in each test as well as in total. English carries only 20 mains marks but still has its own cut-off. The descriptive paper asks for an essay and a comprehension answer in English. Only mains marks decide who reaches the personality test and interview.
How to prepare
- Reasoning and Data Analysis carry 60 mains marks each, more than half of the 200 between them, so give them most of your practice time once the prelims is over.
- Read RBI circulars and banking news every week. The notification names RBI circulars and digital and financial awareness inside the awareness test.
- Write timed essays on economic and social issues, banking and technology trends and ethics, the areas the notification lists for the descriptive paper.
- Skip questions you cannot narrow down. A wrong answer costs a quarter of that question's marks and a blank costs nothing.
- Build prelims speed with daily topic-wise practice quizzes in quant and reasoning on the free Improvam app.
IBPS PO is one of the exams in the Improvam app. Open it to start a practice quiz.
Open in the Improvam appPhoto and signature
- Photo: 200 x 230 pixels preferred, file size 20 KB to 50 KB
- Signature: 140 x 60 pixels preferred, file size 10 KB to 20 KB
Source: official instructions ↗
Resize your photo and signature for IBPS PO
IBPS PO FAQs
20 to 30 years on 1 July 2026, which means you must be born between 2 July 1996 and 1 July 2006. SC/ST candidates get 5 extra years, OBC (non-creamy layer) 3 and PwBD 10.
Sources
- IBPS CRP PO/MT-XVI detailed notification ↗ (official, checked )
- IBPS CRP PO/MT-XVI vacancy annexure updated 25.08.2026 ↗ (official, checked )
- IBPS Management Trainees XVI page ↗ (official, checked )
Checked against official sources on . Rules change with each notification, so read the latest one before you apply.