IBPS PO Exam Pattern 2026

IBPS PO Exam Pattern

IBPS PO is held online. There is a penalty of 0.25 (one-fourth) of the marks for each wrong answer in the objective tests. Candidates must clear both sectional and overall cut-offs.

Preliminary Exam (100 questions, 100 marks, 60 minutes)

Section	Questions	Marks	Time
English Language	30	30	20 min
Quantitative Aptitude	35	35	20 min
Reasoning Ability	35	35	20 min
Total	100	100	60 min

Note for 2026: Several reports for CRP PO/MT-XVI give the marks split as English 30, Quantitative Aptitude 30 and Reasoning 40 (questions unchanged). Check the official Information Handout on ibps.in for the final split.

Main Exam (as per CRP PO/MT-XIV pattern)

Section	Questions	Marks	Time
Reasoning & Computer Aptitude	45	60	60 min
General / Economy / Banking Awareness	40	40	35 min
English Language	35	40	40 min
Data Analysis & Interpretation	35	60	45 min
Objective total	155	200	3 hours
Descriptive (Letter Writing & Essay)	2	25	30 min

Note for 2026: Reports on the 4 October 2026 Mains describe a revised split (for example, Reasoning & Computer Aptitude 40 questions/60 marks/50 minutes and English 35 questions/40 marks/40 minutes, with a 25-mark descriptive test). The section-wise figures differ between sources, so please refer to the official Mains Information Handout for CRP PO/MT-XVI.

Interview and final merit

Stage	Details
Personality Test	Self-report test before interview; no marks in merit
Interview	100 marks; minimum 40% (35% for SC/ST/OBC/PwBD)
Final merit	Mains : Interview = 80 : 20

Prelims marks are not added to the final merit.

Source: IIT Kanpur SATHEE – IBPS PO exam pattern (CRP PO/MT-XIV), Careers360 – IBPS PO 2026, Sreedhar's CCE – IBPS PO XVI notification guide, FindMyCollege – Mains exam held

IBPS PO Exam Pattern 2026