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Banking & Insurance

IBPS PO preparation

Probationary Officers for public sector banks.

24 free guides·Conducted by Institute of Banking Personnel SelectionOfficial website

About the IBPS PO exam

IBPS PO is the common recruitment process that the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection runs for Probationary Officers and Management Trainees in the public sector banks that take part; SBI recruits separately. A PO joins as an officer in Junior Management Grade Scale I. It is open to graduates in any discipline, and many candidates prepare alongside college or a job.

Prelims is a one-hour, 100-mark test in English, quant and reasoning, each with its own 20-minute timer. It only qualifies you, and you usually need to clear each section's cut-off as well as the overall one. Mains is a 200-mark objective paper of 170 questions, plus a 25-mark descriptive test typed in English. Wrong answers cost a quarter of the question's marks. The last stage is a 100-mark interview, and final merit weighs mains and interview 80:20, so a mains mark is worth more than an interview mark.

Begin with the “Start here” guides: the pattern, eligibility, the syllabus, the prelims and mains strategies, a four-month plan, sectional cut-offs and mocks. Then go subject by subject. Start a banking awareness notebook in the first month, and practise typing essays and letters against the clock well before the mains.

IBPS PO exam pattern at a glance
Prelims100 Qs, 100 marks, 60 min; 20 min per section; qualifying
Prelims sectionsEnglish 30 Qs/30 marks; Quant 35/30; Reasoning 35/40
Mains170 Qs, 200 marks + 25-mark descriptive test
Negative markingOne-quarter of the question's marks
Interview100 marks; qualifying 40% (35% for reserved categories)
Final meritMains 80 : Interview 20

Patterns change. Confirm details in the latest notification on the official website.

Start here

New to IBPS PO? Read these first, in this order.

  1. 1The IBPS PO exam pattern explainedIBPS PO selects Probationary Officers for public sector banks through a prelims, a mains with an objective paper and a descriptive test, and an interview. The 2026 cycle changed several section weights. How each stage works, what each question is really worth, and how the final merit is built.
  2. 2IBPS PO eligibility: age, education and attemptsA degree in any subject, an age between 20 and 30 on a fixed date, and a few conditions that trip people up at document verification. Who can apply for IBPS PO, how to work out your age window, category relaxations, attempts, credit history and the papers to arrange early.
  3. 3The IBPS PO syllabus, analysedIBPS lists only broad section names, but recent papers show a clear pattern of question types. The topics in quant, reasoning, English and banking awareness, how prelims and mains differ, and which topics to build first.
  4. 4IBPS PO prelims strategy: 60 minutes, three sectional timersTwenty minutes per section, sectional cut-offs and negative marking make the IBPS PO prelims a test of selection as much as knowledge. How to split each 20 minutes, which questions to pick first, when to leave a puzzle, and how to set targets from your own mocks.
  5. 5IBPS PO mains strategyThe mains carries 80% of your final merit. Longer puzzles, heavy data interpretation, a 50-question banking awareness section and a typed descriptive test, all in one sitting. How to prepare each part, where the marks really are, and how to manage the day.
  6. 6A four-month IBPS PO planFour months, two exams in quick succession. A plan that builds basics in month one, covers everything in month two, sharpens prelims speed in month three and adds mains depth in month four, with weekly targets, a daily timetable and a way to catch up when you fall behind.
  7. 7Sectional cut-offs and how to clear all of themIn IBPS PO, a brilliant score in one section cannot rescue a weak one. You must clear every sectional cut-off and the overall one. How cut-offs work, why strong candidates still fail them, how to measure your real margin from mocks, and a plan for each weak section.
  8. 8Mock tests and analysis for IBPS POBank exams are won in mock analysis. When to start prelims and mains mocks, how many to take, how to analyse one in 40 minutes, a worked example of finding lost marks, and the question-selection lessons that mocks teach better than any book.

Subject by subject

Strategy

The pattern, eligibility, the PO's job, pay and career, the syllabus, prelims and mains strategy, a four-month plan, sectional cut-offs, mocks, negative marking, bank preferences, probation and preparing alongside a job or college.

All 16 Strategy guides

Quantitative Aptitude

Simplification, number series, quadratic equations, data interpretation of every kind, data sufficiency, quantity comparison and arithmetic. It is a 30-mark prelims section and becomes Data Analysis and Interpretation, worth 60 marks, in the mains.

All 8 Quantitative Aptitude guides

Latest IBPS PO guides

IBPS POQuantitative AptitudeQuantitative data sufficiency for IBPS POYou don't have to find the answer, only decide whether the statements give enough information to find one. The standard options, a checking order, yes/no questions, the three-statement version, and the traps where even both statements are not enough, with worked examples and practice. 7 min read·29 Sept 2026IBPS POQuantitative AptitudeCaselet and missing DI for IBPS POIn a caselet the data comes as a paragraph, not a table. In missing DI some cells are blank and you fill them from clues. Both are mains favourites. How to turn text into a table, fill gaps in the right order, check your work, and answer fast, with three worked sets and practice. 7 min read·27 Sept 2026IBPS POQuantitative AptitudeBar, line and pie chart DI for IBPS POCharts test the same percentages and ratios as tables, but first you have to read the picture correctly. How to read bar, line and pie charts, the growth-rate line trap, the central-angle method, three worked sets and practice with answers. 7 min read·26 Sept 2026IBPS POQuantitative AptitudeTable data interpretation for IBPS POA table of numbers and five questions on growth, averages, ratios and totals. Table DI is the most common DI form in IBPS PO. A reading method, the calculations and shortcuts that matter, two full worked sets at prelims and mains level, and practice with answers. 7 min read·25 Sept 2026IBPS POQuantitative AptitudeQuadratic equations for IBPS POTwo equations, one in x and one in y: find the relation. Quadratic equation questions are among the fastest marks in IBPS PO prelims. Factorising in seconds, the sign-flip shortcut and why it works, comparing roots, the square-root trap, worked examples and practice with solutions. 8 min read·25 Sept 2026IBPS POQuantitative AptitudeNumber series (missing and wrong) for IBPS POIBPS PO number series are built from a small family of patterns: differences, ×n + k rules, squares and cubes, division by rising numbers and mixed series. A checking routine that cracks most series in about 20 seconds, why it works, worked examples of both "missing" and "wrong term" types, and practice with solutions. 6 min read·25 Sept 2026