IBPS/SBI PO & Clerk Recruitment : Exam Pattern and Syllabus
Institute of Banking Personal Selection (IBPS) conducts written examinations and interviews to select eligible candidates for the post of officers and clerical cadre staff for Public Sector Banks SBI RBI RRB NABARD SIDBI and Insurance companies. Examinations to recruit Probationary Officers and Clerical Cadre Staff for various banks are conducted every year.
Important information regarding these exams is given ahead :-
IBPS PO Exam
1. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
A. Essential Academic Qualification
Graduation in any discipline from a recognized University
B. Age Limit
Not below 21 years and not above 30 years.
Relaxation of upper age limit is as per government norms.
2. SELECTION PROCEDURE
The selection for Probationary Officers is done through a three-phase process :
Phase – I : Preliminary Examination
Preliminary examination consisting of objective test for 100 marks is conducted online. The test will have three sections (with separate timings for each section) as follows :
| S.No. | Name of Test | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks | Duration |
| 1 | English Language | 30 | 30 | 20 minutes |
| 2 | Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 35 | 20 minutes |
| 3 | Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 minutes |
| 100 | 100 | 60 minutes |
Phase – II : Main Examination
Main examination is conducted online and consists of objective test for 200 marks and descriptive test for 50 marks. Objective test consists of four sections and number of questions is 155, duration is 3 hours. There will be separate timing for every section.
| S.No. | Name of Tests(Objective) | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks | Duration |
| 1 | Reasoning & Computer Aptitude | 45 | 60 | 60 minutes |
| 2 | English Language | 35 | 40 | 40 minutes |
| 3 | Data Analysis & Interpretation | 35 | 60 | 45 minutes |
| 4 | General/ Economy/ Banking Awareness | 40 | 40 | 35 minutes |
| Total | 155 | 200 | 3 Hours |
The descriptive test is a test of English Language that consists Essay and Letter Writing with 25 marks and time duration is 30 minutes.
NOTE : There will be negative marking of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer in Preliminary as well as Main examination (objective)
IBPS Clerk Exam
1. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
A. Essential Academic Qualification
Graduation in any discipline from a recognised University
B. Age Limit
Not below 20 years and not above 28 years.
Relaxation of upper age limit is as per government norms.
2. SELECTION PROCEDURE
The selection for Clerical Cadre Staff is done through a two phase process :
Phase – I : Preliminary Examination
Preliminary examination consisting of 100 objective type questions for 100 marks is conducted online. The test would be of 1- hour duration consisting of three sections as follows:
| S.No. | Name of Tests(Objective) | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English Language | 30 | 30 | 20 minutes |
| 2 | Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 35 | 20 minutes |
| 3 | Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 minutes |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 60 minutes |
Phase – II : Main Examination
Main examination consists of 190 objective questions for 200 marks. Zhe test would be of 160 minutes duration consisting of four sections as follows:
| Sr. No | Name of Tests(NOT BY SEQUENCE) | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks | Medium of Exam | Time allotted for each test (Separately) |
| 1 | General/ Financial Awareness | 50 | 50 | English & Hindi | 35 minutes |
| 2 | English Language | 40 | 40 | English | 35 minutes |
| 3 | Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude | 50 | 60 | English & Hindi | 45 minutes |
| 4 | Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 50 | English & Hindi | 45 minutes |
| Total | 190 | 200 | 160 minutes |
Note : There will be negative marking of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer in both the tests. Preliminary examination is of qualifying nature, marks obtained by the candidates in the main exam will be considered for short listing for the final merit list.
IBPS RRB (Scale-I Officer) Exams
1. Essential educational qualification
Graduation in any discipline from a recognized university.
2. Age limit
21 to 30 Years.
3. Exam pattern
RRB officer scale-I exam is conducted in three phase
Phase 1 preliminary examination
Phase 2 Main Examination
Phase 3 Interview
Phase 1 : Preliminary Examination
The preliminary examination of RRB officers scale I has only two sections i.e. Test of Reasoning Ability and Test of Quantitative Aptitude
| Sections | No. of Questions | No. of Marks | Duration |
| Reasoning Ability | 40 | 40 | 45 minutes |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 40 | 40 | |
| Overall | 80 | 80 |
Phase – 2 : Main Examination
It has following 5 sections, 40 questions in each section, total number of question is 200 and time duration is 2 hours. Structure of this online Main Exam would be as follows:
| Sections | No. of Questions | No. of Marks | Duration |
| Reasoning Ability | 40 | 50 | 2 hours |
| General Awareness | 40 | 40 | |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 40 | 50 | |
| English Language/Hindi Language | 40 | 40 | |
| Computer Knowledge | 40 | 20 | |
| Overall | 200 | 200 |
Note : There is negative marking of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer. There is no sectional timing. Final selection is made based on the marks obtained by the candidate the main examination and interview.
IBPS RRB (Clerk/Office Assistant) Exams
1. Essential educational qualification
Graduation in any discipline from a recognized university.
2. Age limit
18 to 28 Years.
3. Exam pattern
RRB Clerk/office Assistant exam is conducted in two phase
Phase 1 preliminary examination
Phase 2 Main Examination
Phase 1 : Preliminary Examination
The preliminary examination of RRB officers scale I has only two sections i.e. Test of Reasoning Ability and Test of Quantitative Aptitude
| Sections | No. of Questions | No. of Marks | Duration |
| Reasoning Ability | 40 | 40 | 45 minutes |
| Numerical Ability | 40 | 40 | |
| Overall | 80 | 80 |
Phase – 2 : Main Examination
It has following 5 sections, 40 questions in each section, total number of question is 200 and time duration is 2 hours. Structure of this online Main Exam would be as follows:
| Sections | No. of Questions | No. of Marks | Duration |
| Reasoning Ability | 40 | 50 | 2 hours |
| General Awareness | 40 | 40 | |
| Numerical Ability | 40 | 50 | |
| English Language/Hindi Language | 40 | 40 | |
| Computer Knowledge | 40 | 20 | |
| Overall | 200 | 200 |
Note : For the post of office assistant (multipurpose), there is no interview round, marks obtain in will be consider for final merit list.
SBI PO Exam
1. ELIGIBLITY CRITERIA:
(A) Essential Academic Qualifications
Graduation in any discipline from a recognised University
2. SELECTION PROCEDURE :
- Age Limit:
Not below 21 years and not above 30 years
The selection for Probationary Officers will be done through a three-Phase process:
Phase-I: Preliminary Examination:
Preliminary Examination consisting of Objective Test for 100 marks will be conducted online. The test will have of 3 Sections (with separate timings for each section) as follows:
| SL. | Name of test | No. of Questions | Marks | Duration |
| 1. | English Language | 30 | Total Maximum Marks 100 | 20 minutes |
| 2. | Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 20 minutes | |
| 3. | Reasoning Ability | 35 | 20 minutes | |
| Total | 100 | 1 hour |
Selection criteria for Main Examination: Category wise merit list will be drawn on the basis of the aggregate marks scored in the Preliminary Examination. There will be no sectional cut-off. Candidates numbering 10 times (approx.) the numbers of vacancies in each category will be short listed for Main Examination from the top of above merit list.
Phase-II: Main Examination:
Main Examination will be conducted online and will consist of Objective Tests for 200 marks and Descriptive Test for 50 marks. The Descriptive Test will be administered immediately after conclusion of the Objective Test and candidates will have to type their Descriptive Test answers on the computer.
| (i) Objective Test: The duration of objective test is 3 hours, and it consists of 4 Sections of total 200 marks. There will be separate timing for every section. | ||||
| Test | Name of the test | No. of Qs. | Max. Marks | Duration |
| I | Reasoning & Computer Aptitude | 40 | 50 | 50 minutes |
| II | Data Analysis & Interpretation | 30 | 50 | 45 minutes |
| III | General/ Economy/ Banking Awareness | 50 | 60 | 45 minutes |
| IV | English Language | 35 | 40 | 40 minutes |
| Total | 155 | 200 | 3 hours | |
| (ii) Descriptive Paper | ||||
| English Language (Letter Writing & Essay) | 2 | 50 | 30 minutes | |
| Grand Total | 250 | |||
Penalty for Wrong Answers (Applicable to both – Preliminary & Main Examination): There will be penalty for wrong answers marked in Objective Tests. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, 1/4th of marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty to arrive at corrected score. If a question is left blank, i.e.
if no answer is marked by candidate, there will be no penalty for that question.
Sectional Marks will not be maintained for both Preliminary & Main Examinations.
Selection criteria for Phase-III:
Category wise merit list will be drawn on the basis of the
aggregate marks scored in Phase-II (Main Exam). There will be no sectional cut-off.
Candidates numbering up to 3 times (approx.) of the category wise vacancies will be shortlisted for Phase-III from the top of the category wise merit list subject to a candidate scoring the minimum aggregate qualifying score, as decided by the Bank.
Phase-III:
Psychometric Test:
The Bank may conduct Psychometric test for personality profiling, of those candidates who will be shortlisted for Phase-III. Finding of the test may be placed before the Interview panel for having a through perspective on the candidates.
III Phase Comprise of:
| TEST STRUCTURE | GROUP EXERCISE | INTERVIEW | TOTAL |
| Maximum Marks | 20 | 30 | 50 |
The minimum qualifying marks will be decided by the Bank.
Final Selection
The candidates will have to qualify both in Phase-II and Phase-III separately. The marks obtained in Main Examination (Phase-II), both in the Objective Test and the Descriptive Test, will be added to the marks obtained in Phase-III for preparing the final merit list. The marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination (Phase-I) will not be added for preparing the final merit list for selection
| The marks obtained by the candidates in Phase-II (Main Examination both Objective & Descriptive Tests) and Phase-III (Group Exercise & Interview) will be normalised to 100 marks as detailed below. | |||
| Test | Main Exam | Group Exercise & Interview | Total |
| Maximum Marks | 250 | 50 | 300 |
| Normalized Marks | 75 | 25 | 100 |
The final merit list is arrived at after aggregating (out of 100) converted marks of Phase-II and Phase-III. Selection will be made from the top merit ranked candidates in each category.
SBI Clerk (Junior Associates) Exam
1. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
A. Age Limit:
Not below 20 years and not above 28 years
Relaxation of Upper age limit is as per govt. norms.
B. Essential Academic Qualifications:
Graduation in any discipline from a recognised University
2. SELECTION PROCEDURE: The selection process will consist of on-line test (Preliminary & Main exam) and test of specified opted local language.
Phase-I: Preliminary Examination: Online Preliminary Exam consisting of Objective Tests for 100 marks will be conducted online. This test would be of 1-hour duration consisting of 3 Sections as follows:
| Sl. | Name of Test | Medium of Exam | No. of Questions | Max. Marks | Duration |
| 1. | English language | English | 30 | 30 | 20 min. |
| 2. | Numerical Ability | * | 35 | 35 | 20 min. |
| 3. | Reasoning Ability | * | 35 | 35 | 20 min. |
| Total | * | 100 | 100 | 1 Hour |
Each test will have a separate timing as mentioned above. There will be negative marks for wrong answers in the Objective tests. 1/4th of mark assigned for question will be deducted for each wrong answer. No minimum qualifying marks are prescribed for individual test OR for aggregate score. Section wise marks will not be maintained.
Adequate number of candidates in each category as decided by the Bank (approximately 10 times the numbers of vacancies, subject to availability) will be shortlisted for the Main Exam from the list of all candidates arranged in descending order of aggregate marks scored.
Phase – II: Main Examination: Structure of Online Main Exam would be as follows:
| Sl. | Name of Test | Medium of Exam | No. of Questions | Max. Marks | Duration |
| 1. | General/ Financial Awareness | * | 50 | 50 | 35 min. |
| 2. | General English | English | 40 | 40 | 35 min. |
| 3. | Quantitative Aptitude | * | 50 | 50 | 45 min. |
| 4. | Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude | * | 50 | 60 | 45 min. |
| Total | 190 | 200 | 2 Hr. 40min. |
Each test will have a separate timing as mentioned above.
There will be negative marks for wrong answers in the Objective tests. 1/4th of mark assigned for question will be deducted for each wrong answer.
RBI grade B Officer and RBI Assistant Exams
RBI Grade B Officer Exam Pattern
Phase-I :
Preliminary Examination (200 Marks): The Paper consists of tests of
(i) General Awareness
(ii) English Language
(iii) Quantitative Aptitude
(iv) Reasoning, which is to be attempted in a composite time of 120 minutes.
However, separate time will be allotted for each test. Other detailed information regarding the examination will be given in an Information Handout.
The Exam Pattern of RBI Grade B is divided into three phases, Phase-I, Phase-II, and Interview Round. The exam pattern for the two phases is given below.
RBI Grade B Phase-I Exam Pattern:
RBI Phase-I of this examination consists of four sections. There is no sectional time limit. The total duration of the RBI Grade B Phase- I is of 120 minutes. The marks for each section are given below.
| Subjects | Number of questions | Maximum marks | Duration |
| General Awareness | 80 | 80 | 25 minutes |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 30 | 30 | 25 minutes |
| English Language | 30 | 30 | 25 minutes |
| Reasoning | 60 | 60 | 45 minutes |
| Total | 200 | 200 | 120 minutes |
RBI Grade B Phase-II Exam Pattern:
RBI Grade-B Phase-II examination question paper consists of three sections. Each section needs to be completed within 90 minutes. The total time duration is 270 minutes.
Phase-II :
Main Examination:
| Name of the Paper | Type of the Paper | Time (Mins) | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper I Economic & Social Issues | Objective Type | 120 Minutes | 100 |
| Paper-II English (Writing Skills) | Descriptive (to be typed with the help of keyboard) | 90 Minutes | 100 |
| Paper III Finance & Management | Objective Type | 120 Minutes | 100 |
Interview (50 marks): Candidates are shortlisted for the personal interview round based on an aggregate of marks obtained in Phase-II (Paper-I +Paper-II +Paper-III). Candidates are given the option to opt for interview either in Hindi or English. Final Selection is done through a merit list which is prepared by adding marks secured by candidates in Phase-II examination and interview.
The penalty for Wrong Answers (Applicable to both – Preliminary and Main examination)
There is a penalty for wrong answers marked in the Online Objective Tests. For each wrong answer, one-fourth of the marks assigned to that question is deducted as a penalty to arrive at a corrected score. No marks are deducted for un-attempted questions.
RBI Assistant Selection Process
Candidates will be selected for the RBI Assistant based on the:
- Prelims Exam
- Mains Exam
- Language Proficiency Test
RBI Assistant Exam Pattern
I. Preliminary Examination
| Serial Number | Name of Test | No. of Question | Maximum Marks | Duration |
| 1. | English Language | 30 | 30 | 20 Minutes |
| 2. | Reasoning | 35 | 35 | 20 Minutes |
| 3. | Numerical Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 Minutes |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 60 Minutes |
II. Mains Examination
| Serial Number | Name of Test | No. of Question | Maximum Marks | Duration |
| 1. | Test Of English Language | 40 | 40 | 30 minutes |
| 2. | Test of Reasoning | 40 | 40 | 30 minutes |
| 3. | Test Of Computer Knowledge | 40 | 40 | 30 minutes |
| 4. | Test Of General Awareness | 40 | 40 | 25 minutes |
| 5. | Test of Numerical Ability | 40 | 40 | 20 minutes |
| Total | 200 | 200 | 135 minutes |
III. Language Proficiency Test (LPT)
The candidates who are provisionally shortlisted from the main online examination will undergo a language proficiency test (LPT). The language proficiency test will be conducted in the Official/Local Language of the State concerned as detailed below). Candidates not proficient in the Official/Local Language shall be disqualified.
SYLLABUS :
(For IBPS PO/Clerk, SBI PO/Clerk, RRB, RBI Grade B Offcer (Preliminary exam), RBI Assistant exam, SIDBI, LIC AAO/ADO, etc.)
After careful study and analysis of previous papers of above mentioned examinations, we have found that the questions of these examinations are generally asked from following sections:
1. TEST OF REASONING ABILITY :
(i) Common Sense Reasoning :
Coding Decoding
- Alphabet to Alphabet
- Alphabet to Symbols/Numbers
- Sentence Coding
- Number-Word Substitute Code
- Pairs of Alphabet
- Conditional Coding
Alphabet Test and Miscellaneous Series
- Classification (Alphabet)
- Alphabetical Series
- Word Formation
- Alpha Numeric Arrangement
Blood Relation
- Type-I : Puzzle Form
- Type-II : Indicating Form
- Type-III : Coding Form
Direction & Distance
Order and Ranking
(ii) Analytical Reasoning :
- Puzzles
- Equality / Inequality
- Syllogism
- Input-Output
- Data Sufficiency
- Decision making
(iii) Logical Reasoning :
- Reasoning Based on Logic
- Assumption
- Argument
- Conclusion
- Inference
- Cause & Effect
- Decision Making
2. TEST OF QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE
(i) Numerical Ability
- Simplification
- Approximation
- Number Series
(ii) Arithmetic
- Percentage
- Profit & Loss
- Time and Work / Work & Wages, Pipe & Cistern
- Pipe-Cistern
- Miscellaneous
- Interest
- Simple Interest
- Compound Interest
- Miscellaneous
- Average
- Age Related Problems
- Ratio and Proportion
- Partnership
- Alligation
- Time & Distance
- Train
- Boat and Stream
- Mensuration
- Volume
- Combination, Permutation & Probability
(iii) Data Interpretation
- Bar Graph
- Line Graph
- Tabulation
- Pi-Graph
- Percent Tabulation
- Formulae Based
- Caselets
- Data Sufficiency
- and Other Graph
- Linear and Quadratic Equation
3. Test of English Language
- Cloze Test
- Idioms and Phrases
- Commonly Misspelled Words
- Jumbled up sentences
- Spotting Errors
- Fill in the Blanks
- Comprehension Reading
- Word/Phrase Substitution
- One word Substitution
- Vocabulary Test
- Synonyms/Antonyms
- Sentence Connectors
4. General/Financial/Banking Awareness
- Current Affairs Banking
- Indian and International Awareness Economy
- RBI
- Fiscal-Monetary Policies
- Social Function of Banks
- Marketing
- Sports
- Agriculture
- Countries/Currencies
- Banking Terms
- Books and Authors
- Repo and Reverse Repo Rate
- UNO
- Awards and Honors
- Finance
- History of Banking
5. Computer Aptitude
- Software and Hardware Knowledge Fundamentals
- MS Office
- Computer Fundamentals
- Operation System
- Computer Fundamentals
- Networking
- Database
- History and Future of Computers
- Software and Hardware Fundamentals
- MS Office