What is IBPS Exam, IBPS PO, IBPS SO, IBPS CLERK? Detailed Exam Information?

 

Various IBPS Exams are conducted by Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) which is an autonomous organization that conducts examinations for the selection of P.O, S.O, RRB and clerk officers in the banking sector. Aspirants aiming to target job profiles in the banking sector are requested to frequently check the official site of IBPS to keep up with the latest notification regarding the exams, eligibility, syllabus and selection criteria or check out the blog for full detailed information.

 

What is IBPS and Its fullform?

IBPS, also known as The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection is an autonomous organization established to evolve and execute universal assessment and selection processes of personnel for various organizations.

IBPS offers various banking job profiles at the different organizational levels in the system. Each of these banking jobs comes with its own set of benefits and perks and its own career growth. Some major banking profiles offered by IBPS.

 

What is IBPS PO?

IBPS PO is considered one of the most sought profiles. A PO or Probationary Officer is accountable for various operations like finance, billing, collection, accounting, revenue, investment, etc. and is trained likewise during their probation period. Some other functions that a PO can be expected to carry out are:-

• Deal with customer queries
• Supervise and regulate branch activities
• Public relations(PR) of the bank, addressing the issues and complaints of customers
• Manage Daily transaction of customers
• Processing loan(s) details
• To bring new businesses/clientele to the bank branch.

IBPS PO Exam Pattern

Given that many aspirants prepare for the IBPS PO Exam. It is imperative that they remain aware of the updated exam pattern and make their strategy accordingly. The IBPS PO exam is conducted in three main stages-

• PO Preliminary Examination

• PO Mains Exam

• PO Interview Round

 

PO Preliminary Examination

The PO Preliminary examination is conducted  online for a total duration of 1 hour to complete the exam. The paper consists of 3 sections with a total of 100 questions and has a maximum score of 100 marks. There is a negative marking in IBPS PO preliminary exam.  0.25 marks are deducted for each wrong answer attempted by a candidate. In order to qualify for the main examination, candidates have to clear the cut-off in all three sections of the preliminary examination separately.

 

S.No.	Name of Tests(Objective	No. of Questions	Maximum Marks	Duration
1	English Language	30	30	20 minutes
2	Numerical Ability	35	35	20 minutes
3	Reasoning Ability	35	35	20 minutes
Total		100	100	60 minutes

 

IBPS PO Mains Exam Pattern

IBPS PO Mains Exam has introduced a descriptive paper to check the written skills of the candidates. The paper includes letter and essay writing comprising 25 marks to be completed in a span of 30 minutes. The separate paper on Computer Applications is now merged with the Reasoning section. No separate paper for Computer Applications will be conducted from 2022. The reasoning section will now constitute 45 questions for a total of 60 marks. The allocated time duration for the IBPS PO Mains exam is currently 3 hours and 30 minutes. The distribution of topics- questions, marks and allocated time for the same, is as follows:-

 

S. No.	Name of test	No. of Questions	Max. Marks	Medium of Examination	Time Allotted
1	Reasoning & Computer Aptitude	45	60	English & Hindi	60 minutes
2	English Language	35	40	English only	40 minutes
3	Data Analysis and Interpretation	35	60	English & Hindi	45 minutes
4	General, Economy/Banking Awareness	40	40	English & Hindi	35 minutes
Total		155	200		180 minutes
English Language (Letter Writing & Essay)		2	25	English	30 minutes

 

 IBPS PO Interview 

Candidates who clear the previous two rounds by required cut-off are called for an in-person interview. The interview round assessment is done out of 100 marks. The qualifying mark for the interview round is 40% for general candidates and 35% for SC/ST/OBC/PWD candidates.

 

 IBPS PO Selection

The final selection will be done on the basis of the cumulative score of Mains and interview round. The weightage of each section is taken as 80:20 respectively. A merit list will be generated by the IBPS headquarters with details of the selected candidates.

 

IBPS SO

The IBPS SO or Specialist Officers are recruited for different positions in the Indian banking system for niche profiles. The various job profiles under the IBPS SO division are listed below and their requisite functions:-

1. IBPS SO I.T. Officer (Scale-I)

As the name suggests the I.T Officer mainly deals with the sector of Internet and technology in the banking sector. Some functions that are expected to be performed by the SO I.T Officer are:-

• Data Maintenance & Support.
• Developing and Managing Software.
•  Resolving queries related to the technical aspects of banking, i.e ATM, Mobile Banking and Internet Banking.
• Maintenance of the Bank’s Computer System.
• Reviewing and updating the Network Security and Antivirus Update.
• Supporting the Bank’s core banking system in the technical aspect.
• Managing the IT team.

2. Agricultural Field Officer (Scale-I)

• Understanding the core financial needs of people in assigned rural areas.
• Give detailed information about various loans and schemes to the people in that region, in a simple or regional language.
• Sanction of the loans and required paperwork.

3. Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale-I)

• The Rajbhasha Adhikari proofreads and translates all the important documents that are used or circulated in the Bank.
• Conduct training sessions to promote the Official language.
• Ensure that all the important documents are available both in Hindi and English.

4. Law Officer (Scale-I)

• Handle all the legal liabilities and legal affairs.
• Prepare legal documents for various processes 
• Provide assistance and oversee the legal issues of the Bank.
• Monitor the errors and keep the authenticity of the Bank Documents.

5. HR/Personnel Officer (Scale-I)

• Check and supervise Human Resource activities.
• Study all the HR policies of the Bank and suggest revisions wherever needed.
• Cohesive involvement in the recruitment process.
• Handle cases of misconduct in consultation with superiors.

6. Marketing Officer (Scale-I)

• Promote Bank, bring new business clients and customer bases.
• Suggest cost-effective policies to increase profit.
• Handle Marketing Channels like Newspapers, Advertisements, etc.

IBPS SO Exam Pattern

The IBPS SO exam, like the IBPS PO exam is conducted in three phases:

•  Preliminary Exams
• Mains Exams
• Interview Process.

IBPS SO Preliminary Exams

The IBPS SO Preliminary is a qualifying paper. The score of the preliminary exam will not be taken into consideration for final allotment.  Selection in the Preliminary exam is a must to appear in the IBPS SO Mains Exam. The IBPS SO Preliminary Exams have introduced separate sectional timings for each section. The IBPS SO Preliminary Exam is conducted for a total duration of 120 minutes. Out of this, 40 minutes have been allocated for each section.

 

The preliminary exam pattern for respective SO Post

For the post of Law Officer & Rajbhasha Adhikari

S No	Section	No. of Questions	Total Marks	Duration
1.	Reasoning	50	50	40 minutes
2.	English Language	50	25	40 minutes
3.	General Awareness with Special Reference to Banking Industry	50	50	40 minutes
	Total	150	125

 

For other Specialist Officers (Agriculture Field Officer, Marketing Officer (Scale I), HR/Personnel Officer, IT Officer Scale I)

S No	Section	No. of Questions	Total Marks	Duration
1.	Reasoning	50	50	40 minutes
2.	English Language	50	25	40 minutes
3.	Quantitative Aptitude	50	50	40 minutes
	Total	150	125

 

IBPS SO Mains Exam

IBPS SO Mains exam will be conducted after the completion of the Preliminary exam. Only the selected candidates will be permitted to sit for the same. The IBPS SO Mains Exam will only contain questions from Professional Knowledge subjects.

The pattern for IBPS SO Mains Exam is-

For the Post of Law Officer, IT Officer, Agriculture Field Officer, HR/Personnel Officer and Marketing Officer

Name of Test	Number of Questions	Maximum Marks	Medium of Exam	Duration
Professional Knowledge	60	60	English & Hindi	45 minutes

 

For the Post of Rajbhasha Adhikari

Name of Test	Number of Questions	Maximum Marks	Medium of Exam	Duration
Professional Knowledge(Objective)	45	60	English & Hindi	30 minutes
Professional Knowledge(Descriptive)	2		English & Hindi	30 minutes

 

IBPS SO Interview

On qualifying the Mains Exam, the candidates will be called for the final Interview Round by IBPS. The Interview round is the most important and carries the maximum weightage for the recruitment process of the IBPS SO post. Therefore, a candidate must prepare well for the interview round and give their best.

 

IBPS Clerk

An IBPS Clerk is often considered the first point of contact for bank-related inquiries and issues.The IBPS Clerk Job Profile involves a lot of duties alongside accounting. They deal with the front desk work and are at the forefront of handling customer operations. The nature of this job also gives it the name of  Single Window Operators. The candidates selected for the IBPS Clerk position are required to undergo a probation period that lasts 6 months. A review assessment test of the candidate’s performance is conducted at the end of the probation period. Only upon satisfactory performance, the candidate is considered a permanent  IBPS Clerk employee. The responsibilities of an IBPS Clerk are as follows:-

• To manage inquiry corners, receipts, withdrawals, etc.
• Deal with opening new accounts, cash collection of various accounts and issuing bank statements to clients. 
• Verification of the documents and proofs submitted by the customers
• Updating the passbooks of account holders.
• Sanction of withdrawals by the customers
• Maintaining the important documents of the bank i.e- balance sheets, ledger etc.
• Resolving the issues of the customers
• Providing guidance to customers relating to all banking activities
• Attending treasury works

IBPS Clerk Examination:-

IBPS Clerk Examination is conducted in 2 different phases which are:

• Preliminary Exam
• Mains Exam

IBPS Clerk Preliminary Exam

IBPS Clerk Preliminary Exam is conducted for the duration of 45 minutes and consists of two sections:- Reasoning and Numerical Ability. Candidates are required to clear the cut-off of each section of the preliminary exam. The cut-off is decided by the conducting body,i.e- IBPS, based on the difficulty of the paper. The pattern for the IBPS Clerk Preliminary Exam is-

 

Serial No.	Section Name	Medium of Exam	No. of Questions	Minimum Marks	Duration
1.	Reasoning	English/Hindi	40	40	A composite time of 45 mins
2.	Numerical Ability	English/Hindi	40	40
	Total		80	80

 

IBPS Clerk Mains Exam 

IBPS Clerk Mains Exam is the second and final stage for this post. There is no interview round for the same. The final selection is done on the basis of the marks obtained by the candidate in the IBPS Clerk Mains Exam.

Note:- 1/4th mark will be deducted for every wrong answer attempted.

IBPS RRB Office Assistant Mains Exam Pattern:

S. No.	Section	Question	Marks
1	Reasoning Paper	40	50
2	General Awareness Paper	40	40
3	Numerical Ability Paper	40	50
4	English Language / Hindi Language	40	40
5	Computer Knowledge Paper	40	20
Total		200	200

 

LATEST IBPS UPDATES:-

• The result for IBPS Clerk 2022 Mains Exam scheduled on 08th October 2022 has been declared on 21st October,2022.
• The candidates can check their scorecards on the official IBPS site.
•   Provisional Allotment under Reserve List for CRP-SPL-XI is uploaded on the official site on 30th September 2022. Click here to view the same