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Institute of Banking Personnel Selection will soon release the recruitment for probationary officers. It is a golden chance for aspiring candidates who wish to work in the banking sector. But before they apply for the IBPS PO examination the candidates will be well versed with the exam pattern and syllabus. In this article, we have explained the entire syllabus for the IBPS PO exam as well as the exam pattern.
 
In order to make it to the final merit list, the candidates will have to clear all the three stages of examination i.e. Preliminary, Mains and Interview. This can only be achieved if the candidates have in-depth knowledge of the syllabus and follow a proper strategy to crack the IBPS PO exam. 
 

IBPS PO Syllabus

 
IBPS PO Syllabus varies for the Preliminary and Mains exam as Preliminary exam will have 3 sections and Mains examination will have 5 sections. Although some topics are similar in both the exams there is a huge difference between the level of questions asked in both the examinations and the sectional timing. The candidates can check out the IBPS PO Syllabus for both levels i.e. preliminary and Mains exam in the space below:
 

IBPS PO Syllabus for Preliminary Exam

 
The subject wise topics asked in the preliminary exam of the IBPS PO 2021 are mentioned in the table below:
 
Sections Syllabus
English language
Reasoning ability
  • Logical Reasoning
  • Alphanumeric Series
  • Ranking/Direction/Alphabet Test
  • Data Sufficiency
  • Coded Inequalities
  • Seating Arrangement
  • Puzzle
  • Tabulation
  • Syllogism
  • Blood Relations
  • Input-Output
  • Coding-Decoding
Quantitative aptitude
  • Simplification
  • Profit & Loss
  • Mixtures & Alligations
  • Simple Interest & Compound Interest & Surds & Indices
  • Work & Time
  • Time & Distance
  • Mensuration – Cylinder, Cone, Sphere
  • Data Interpretation
  • Ratio & Proportion, Percentage
  • Number Systems
  • Sequence & Series
  • Permutation, Combination & Probability
 
 

IBPS PO Syllabus for Mains Exam

 
Check out the following table for the different subjects asked in the IBPS PO Mains exam along with the names of the important topics that have been asked in the exam previously:
 
Sections Syllabus
English language
  • Reading comprehension(High Level)
  • Sentence rearrangement
  • Sentence Correction
  • Grammatical Error Detection
  • Spelling Checking
  • Fillers Test
  • Cloze Test
  • Match the Column
Reasoning ability
  • Logic-based Machine Input/Output
  • Reverse Syllogism
  • Blood Relation mixed quizzes
  • Direction Sense
  • Inequalities and Quantity Comparison
  • Puzzles based on High-Level Logic
  • Seating Arrangement(Triangular, Rectangular, Circular, Square shaped)
  • Coding-Decoding
  • Ranking based on figures
  • Statement and Assumptions
Quantitative Aptitude
  • Wrong/New Pattern Number Series
  • High-level Data Sufficiency
  • Data Interpretation based on Logica
  • Caselet
  • Quadratic Equation
  • Quantity Comparison
  • Time & Distance, Work
  • Boat and Streams
  • Partnership
  • Profit & Loss
  • Simple and Compound Interest
  • Mixture and Allegations
  • Ratio & Proportion, Averages, Percentages
General Awareness Current Affairs 
  • Banking News
  • National and International News
  • Economic and Financial News
  • Awards and honors
  • Books and authors, 
  • Latest appointments, 
  • Obituaries, 
  • New schemes sanctioned by the Central and state governments, sports, etc.
Static GK 
  • Names of Country-capital, currency, 
  • Headquarters of Financial Organizations 
  • Constituencies of Ministers, 
  • Dance forms
  • Important Dates
Banking/Financial terms
Static Awareness
 
 

IBPS PO Exam Pattern

Preliminary Exam 

 
The candidates can check out the highlight of the preliminary examination of the PO in IBPS in the space below:
 
  • The Preliminary examination is the first stage of the selection process and is qualifying in nature. It is conducted in Computer Based Test mode.
  • As per the official notification, the preliminary exam of the IBPS PO, there will be three subjects in the examination namely i.e. English language, Reasoning Ability, and Quantitative aptitude
  • All the subjects of the preliminary examination will account for 100 marks with sectional timing of 20 minutes for each subject.
  • As per the marking scheme, 1 mark will be provided to every correct answer while there will be a deduction of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer marked by the candidate.
 
The candidates can check out the minimum qualifying marks for all the categories in the space below:
 
Sections Number of question Maximum marks Duration of exam
English language 30 30 20 minutes
Reasoning ability 35 35 20 minutes
Quantitative aptitude 35 35 20 minutes
Total 100 100 60 minutes
 
 

IBPS PO Mains Exam Pattern

 
The Mains exam is the second phase of the IBPS PO exam pattern and will have two sections i.e. Objective and Descriptive. The candidates can check out the details of both the stages in the space below:
 

Objective Paper

 
  • The IBPS PO Mains examination will be conducted in Computer Based Test mode which will consist of both objective and descriptive questions. The marks scored in the mains exam will be considered for final selection and will be given more weightage.
  • The questions in the online exam will be based on mainly five subjects i.e. Insurance and Financial Market Knowledge, Reasoning Ability, General Awareness, English and Data Analysis and Interpretation.
  • Each section will have separate sectional timing and a total of 3 hours and 30 minutes will be allotted for a total of 157 questions.
  • As per the marking scheme, every correct answer will fetch the candidate with 01 marks while  0.25 marks will be deducted for each wrong answer marked by the candidate.
 
Sections Number of question Maximum marks Duration of exam
Reasoning Ability and Computer 45 60 60 minutes
General Knowledge 40 40 35 minutes
Data Analysis and Interpretation 35 60 45 minutes
English Language 35 40 40 minutes
Total 155 200 180 minutes
 

Descriptive Paper

 
Sections Number of
Question		 Maximum
Marks		 Duration
of Exam
English Descriptive paper
(Essay and Letter Writing)		 2 25 30 minutes
 
 
Attempt the IBPS PO Mains Mock Test and improve your score!
 

IBPS PO Interview

 
The candidates qualifying for the preliminary and mains examination will be invited for the Interview round. The interview dates are announced after the commencement of the Mains examination. A total of 100 marks is allotted for the Interview round where the candidates will have to score at least 40% to get on the final merit list. The candidates' names displayed in the final merit list have to go through the DV and Medical procedure and are finally appointed as Probationary Officers in any branch across the nation.
 

IBPS PO Important Books

 
The IBPS PO Exam is one of the toughest exams to crack owing to the fewer vacancies and a single entrance test. Hence, candidates must follow the books mentioned below to tackle each subject asked in the IBPS PO exam.
 
Resources Name Author  Synopsis
Topic Wise Reasoning Quizzes Smartkeeda Provides Daily Quizzes based on topics asked in the examination.
An Advanced Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning for Competitive Exams Oswal Publishers A very good book that contains the basic concepts as well as a lot of practice questions. 
Topic Wise Quantitative Aptitude Quizzes Smartkeeda Provides Daily Quizzes based on topics asked in the examination.
Quantitative Aptitude R S Aggarwal A helpful book to ace the basic concepts of each chapter.
How to Prepare Quantitative Aptitude for CAT Exam Arun Sharma A very good book by the author for dealing with the different levels of questions asked in the Quantitative Aptitude section.
Topic Wise English Quizzes Smartkeeda Provides Daily Quizzes based on topics asked in the examination.
English for Bank Exams
(Written & Main)		 S Chand One of the best books to clear the basics of each chapter of the Grammar section.
 
 

IBPS PO Syllabus and Exam Pattern FAQs

Q.1: What is the selection process for the IBPS PO 2022 Exam?
 
Ans.: The selection process for the IBPS PO 2022 Exam includes a Preliminary exam, Mains exam and Interview round. 
 
Q.2: What are the subjects asked in the IBPS PO 2022 Preliminary Exam?
 
Ans.: The subjects asked in the IBPS PO 2022 Preliminary Exam are English Language, Numerical Ability and Reasoning Ability. Out of all the subjects, English will be a qualifying paper.
 
Q.3: What is the marking scheme for the IBPS PO Preliminary Exam?
 
Ans.: The marking scheme for the IBPS PO Preliminary Exam has 1 mark for each correct answer while there is a negative marking of 0.25 marks for the wrong answer marked.
 
Q.4: How many questions are asked in the Descriptive paper of the IBPS PO 2022 Exam?
 
Ans.: A total of 2 questions are asked in the Descriptive paper of the IBPS PO 2022 Exam.
 
Q.5: How many marks is the Interview section held for the IBPS PO 2022 Exam?
 
Ans.: The Interview section is held for a total of 60 marks in the IBPS PO 2022 Exam.

Regards,
Team Smartkeeda