IBPS PO 2026 Syllabus: Mains Pattern, Descriptive, 80:20

The main examination was on 4 October 2026. The next printed stages are the mains result, a personality test and a common interview. Bank-wise seats and the current stage are on the IBPS PO recruitment page. Tables are from clauses D, E, F and J of the 1 July 2026 notification.

IBPS does not print a chapter-wise book list. The test names, and the descriptive line on "Economic and Social issues, emerging trends in Banking and Technology, Current events, Ethics etc.", are the syllabus.

Preliminary examination

Held on 22 and 23 August 2026. Online, objective, 60 minutes. Those marks do not join the final list.

Note the uneven marks: reasoning is 40, quant is 30, on the same 35 questions.

Main examination

Held on 4 October 2026. Objective 160 minutes, then descriptive 30 minutes.

The descriptive paper "may be broadly based on Economic and Social issues, emerging trends in Banking and Technology, Current events, Ethics etc." IBPS may mark it with a validated automated scoring system.

Negative marking on objective tests: one-fourth of that question's marks. A blank answer has no penalty. You need a minimum in each mains test and a minimum total to be shortlisted. IBPS will not share mains scores until the interview process is over.

You cannot change what you wrote on 4 October. You can still read the scheme so interview questions about marking do not surprise you. Reasoning, GA and DI were 60 marks each. English objective was only 20. The 25-mark descriptive paper is the English that actually moved the total.

What those mains tests contain, as IBPS names them and as those papers are sat:

• Reasoning (60 marks, 45 minutes): puzzles and seating, input-output, data sufficiency, inequalities, syllogisms, coding, and a miscellaneous bunch. Forty questions. A slow first puzzle costs the section.
• GA including RBI circulars (60 marks, 35 minutes): fifty questions. Banking, economy, digital payments and circulars. Fifteen minutes of reading on the day will not replace a notebook you already keep.
• English objective (20 marks, 35 minutes): forty questions. Low mark weight. Do not relive this paper unless the panel asks what you wrote in the descriptive half.
• Data analysis and interpretation (60 marks, 45 minutes): forty questions. Tables, bars, caselets and arithmetic. This is the paper that separates officer mains from clerk mains.
• Descriptive (25 marks, 30 minutes): essay and comprehension. The notice names economic and social issues, banking and technology, current events and ethics.

Personality test and interview

Personality test: a self-report. Mandatory. Non-qualifying. May be proctored or at a centre. The profile goes to the interview panel. Answer it as you actually work. A mismatch with the story you tell in the room is worse than a modest inventory.

Interview: 100 marks, conducted by participating banks and coordinated by the nodal bank. Floor 40 percent, 35 percent for SC, ST, OBC and PwBD. Final weight 80:20 mains to interview. Preference order of banks is frozen.

The interview is not a second mains. The panel already has, or will have, the personality profile. They ask who you are, why a public-sector bank, why the bank you ranked first, and whether you will serve in a rural branch. They also ask one balance-sheet item: NPA, CASA, CRR, SLR, repo, or a recent RBI circular. Answer in sentences you can defend, not a paragraph you memorised.

Documents

The notice asks for originals and copies at interview. Start the file this week.

1. Interview call letter, once issued.
2. System-generated print of the CRP PO/MT-XVI form.
3. Degree with a result date on or before 21 July 2026, plus mark sheets for every year or semester. Convert CGPA with the university's own formula. The notice says 59.99 percent is treated as less than 60 percent if a later process ever uses a 60 percent line. This notice itself does not set a percentage floor.
4. Class 10 for date of birth.
5. Photo ID that matches the form.
6. Central-format SC, ST, OBC or EWS papers. OBC (NCL) must be issued on or after 1 April 2026. EWS should be valid for 2026-27 (financial year 2025-26).
7. NOC if you are already in government or a PSU bank. It must not be written for one bank only.
8. Serving defence personnel need a release certificate dated on or before 20 July 2027.

Candidates lose interview days because an OBC certificate is still in a state format, or the NOC names one bank. IBPS will not collect a paper sent separately by post.

How to prepare now

If you sat the mains, another full 170-question mock is not the priority unless IBPS announces a re-test.

Until the result. Keep a notebook of RBI circulars from the last year, the Union Budget headlines, digital-banking products as RBI reports them (UPI, AePS, CBDC), and one page on the bank you ranked first: its head office and one recent scheme.

A practical file for November:

• One sleeve for the form print, class 10 and the degree with the 21 July 2026 result date.
• One sleeve for caste, EWS or PwBD papers in the Central format. Check the OBC date: on or after 1 April 2026.
• One sleeve for photo ID and eight copies of the application photograph.
• One sleeve for the NOC if you are already in a bank or in government. It must not name one bank only.
• One page, handwritten, on the bank you ranked first, and three RBI circulars you can explain.

That file is the interview. A 170-question mock is not.

Personality test. Appear when the link opens. Answer the inventory as you work.

Interview. Two minutes on who you are, why a public-sector bank, why that bank, and a rural posting. Carry a file of originals in the order the notice lists.

The board is run by participating banks and coordinated by the nodal bank. It is 100 marks. The floor is 40 percent, or 35 percent for SC, ST, OBC and PwBD. Combined weight is 80 percent mains and 20 percent interview. Bank preference is frozen. Do not ask the board to move you from Bank of Baroda to Canara Bank.

If you are already in a PSU bank or in government, the NOC must be in the file. A NOC written for one bank only is the usual fail. Serving defence personnel need the release certificate dated on or before 20 July 2027.

Watch ibps.in for the personality-test link first, then the interview letter. Appear for both. Skipping the personality test because it is "not qualifying" is how people exit a process they have already sat two papers for. Provisional allotment is printed as January 2027. Watch ibps.in for both links.

If you are waiting on a borderline mains score. Do not pay anyone who offers an IBPS marksheet or an allotment. Results and call letters come only from ibps.in. Provisional allotment is printed as January 2027.

What the panel can ask from the mains paper. Reasoning and DI were 60 marks each. If you were strong there, say so only if you can name a type of set you actually sit (seating, input-output, caselet). GA included RBI circulars. Have three circulars from the last year you can explain in two sentences each. The descriptive paper named economic and social issues, banking and technology, current events and ethics. If you wrote an essay on one of those, remember which one. The panel sometimes asks what you wrote.

Allotment. January 2027, as printed. IBPS allots. The bank then runs medical and joining. A failed bank medical is not repaired by a new IBPS preference. A reserve list may be used if banks report more vacancies later. Being on that list is not a joining letter. Posting can be anywhere in India in the allotted bank.

Photo ID at interview must match the form. Listed originals are the usual IBPS set: passport, PAN, driving licence, voter ID, Aadhaar with photo, or a government photo ID. The interview call letter is the list that applies that day.

Ten questions on dates, 80:20 and the personality-test rule are on the practice page.