| Conducting body | Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). Official website ↗ |
|---|---|
| Posts | IT Officer (Scale I), Agricultural Field Officer (Scale I), Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale I), Law Officer (Scale I), HR/Personnel Officer (Scale I), Marketing Officer (Scale I) |
| Qualification | It depends on the post, as on 21 July 2026. IT Officer: a 4-year engineering degree in computer science, IT, electronics or related branches, a postgraduate degree in those subjects, or graduation with DOEACC 'B' level. Agricultural Field Officer: a 4-year degree in agriculture or an allied field listed in the notification. Rajbhasha Adhikari: a postgraduate degree in Hindi with English at graduation, or in Sanskrit with English and Hindi at graduation. Law Officer: LLB and enrolment with a Bar Council. HR/Personnel Officer and Marketing Officer: graduation plus a two-year full-time postgraduate degree or diploma in the named specialisation. No equivalent qualification is accepted. |
| Age limit | 20–30 years on 1 July 2026 (general category) |
| Domicile | Not required |
| Selection stages | Online preliminary exam (qualifying) → Online main exam (merit on Professional Knowledge) → Interview conducted by participating banks → Provisional allotment |
| Latest notification | CRP SPL-XVI detailed notification (Specialist Officers, vacancies of 2027-28) |
Last checked . Sources
About IBPS SO
IBPS SO recruits Scale I specialist officers for public sector banks in six streams: IT, agriculture, Rajbhasha (official language), law, HR and marketing. Each post needs a degree in its own field. Final merit depends mainly on the Professional Knowledge test and the interview.
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.
Qualification
It depends on the post, as on 21 July 2026. IT Officer: a 4-year engineering degree in computer science, IT, electronics or related branches, a postgraduate degree in those subjects, or graduation with DOEACC 'B' level. Agricultural Field Officer: a 4-year degree in agriculture or an allied field listed in the notification. Rajbhasha Adhikari: a postgraduate degree in Hindi with English at graduation, or in Sanskrit with English and Hindi at graduation. Law Officer: LLB and enrolment with a Bar Council. HR/Personnel Officer and Marketing Officer: graduation plus a two-year full-time postgraduate degree or diploma in the named specialisation. No equivalent qualification is accepted.
Other conditions
- Candidates for posts other than IT Officer need a certificate, diploma or degree in computer operations or language, or must have studied computers/IT in school or college.
Selection process
- Online preliminary exam (qualifying)
- Online main exam (merit on Professional Knowledge)
- Interview conducted by participating banks
- Provisional allotment
Exam pattern
Prelims: IT, Agricultural Field, HR/Personnel and Marketing Officer
Mode: Online, objective · Duration: 80 minutes (20 minutes per test) · Negative marking: 0.25 of the question's marks cut for each wrong answer
| SUBJECT | QUESTIONS | MARKS |
|---|---|---|
| English Language | 25 | 25 |
| Reasoning | 25 | 25 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 25 | 25 |
| Professional Knowledge | 25 | 50 |
Prelims: Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari
Mode: Online, objective · Duration: 80 minutes (20 minutes per test) · Negative marking: 0.25 of the question's marks cut for each wrong answer
| SUBJECT | QUESTIONS | MARKS |
|---|---|---|
| English Language | 25 | 25 |
| Reasoning | 25 | 25 |
| General Awareness with special reference to banking | 25 | 25 |
| Professional Knowledge | 25 | 50 |
Mains: IT, Agricultural Field, HR/Personnel and Marketing Officer
Mode: Online, objective plus descriptive · Duration: 155 minutes in all · Negative marking: 0.25 of the question's marks cut for each wrong answer
| SUBJECT | QUESTIONS | MARKS |
|---|---|---|
| English Language (qualifying) | 30 | 30 |
| Reasoning (qualifying) | 40 | 40 |
| Quantitative Aptitude (qualifying) | 30 | 30 |
| Professional Knowledge (objective, merit) | 50 | 100 |
| Descriptive paper in English (qualifying) | 2 | 25 |
Mains: Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari
Mode: Online, objective plus descriptive · Duration: 155 minutes in all · Negative marking: 0.25 of the question's marks cut for each wrong answer
| SUBJECT | QUESTIONS | MARKS |
|---|---|---|
| English Language (qualifying) | 30 | 30 |
| Reasoning (qualifying) | 40 | 40 |
| General Awareness with special reference to banking (qualifying) | 30 | 30 |
| Professional Knowledge (objective, merit) | 50 | 100 |
| Descriptive: English for Law Officer, Professional Knowledge for Rajbhasha Adhikari | 2 | 25 |
IBPS SO syllabus
Common tests
- English Language
- Reasoning
- Quantitative Aptitude (IT, AFO, HR, Marketing)
- General awareness with special reference to banking (Law, Rajbhasha)
Professional Knowledge
- IT Officer: computer science and IT subjects
- Agricultural Field Officer: agriculture and allied subjects
- Rajbhasha Adhikari: Hindi, English and official language work
- Law Officer: law
- HR/Personnel Officer: personnel management and HR
- Marketing Officer: marketing
What they ask
The prelims has 100 questions for 125 marks in 80 minutes, and Professional Knowledge carries double marks per question there. In the mains, English, reasoning and quant (general awareness for law and Rajbhasha) only need to be cleared, and so does the 25-mark English descriptive paper. Rajbhasha Adhikari candidates write a descriptive Professional Knowledge paper instead of the English one. Merit is drawn from Professional Knowledge, so your subject knowledge decides the ranking. After the mains, marks are combined with the interview in an 80:20 ratio.
How to prepare
- Spend most of your time on Professional Knowledge. It is the only mains test used for merit and carries 2 marks per question in both stages.
- Do not ignore the qualifying tests. Missing the cut-off in English or reasoning ends your chance whatever your subject score.
- Law and Rajbhasha candidates face a banking awareness test instead of quant, so read banking news regularly.
- Check that your degree matches the notification exactly, because IBPS does not accept equivalent qualifications for SO posts.
- Keep reasoning and English sharp with daily topic-wise practice quizzes on the free Improvam app.
IBPS SO is one of the exams in the Improvam app. Open it to start a practice quiz.
Open in the Improvam appIBPS SO FAQs
IT Officer, Agricultural Field Officer, Rajbhasha Adhikari, Law Officer, HR/Personnel Officer and Marketing Officer, all in Scale I.
Sources
- IBPS CRP SPL-XVI detailed notification ↗ (official, checked )
- IBPS Specialist Officers XVI page ↗ (official, checked )
Checked against official sources on . Rules change with each notification, so read the latest one before you apply.