IBPS CRP PO/MT XVI 2026 Syllabus & Exam Pattern – Prelims, Mains, Descriptive Paper, Data Analysis, Penalty & Cut-off | Official Notification
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)
Delhi - Pan India (participating public sector banks)
Salary
Pay scale as per the pay bands and CTC approved by the participating banks for Probationary Officer / Management Trainee posts, as notified by IBPS.
⚠ Please verify all details (dates, eligibility, vacancies) from the official notification before applying. Rojgarpulse is an information aggregator and not a government body.
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Important Dates 2026
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Application Fee 2026
Application fee as per the official notification for CRP-PO/MTs-XVI (general and reserved categories, plus late-intimation charges where applicable).
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Age Limit 2026
Minimum Age
20 Years
Maximum Age
30 Years
Age relaxation applicable as per govt rules for SC/ST/OBC/PwD/Ex-Servicemen.
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Eligibility Criteria 2026
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Qualification / Education
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Job Details & Overview
IBPS CRP PO/MT-XVI (Probationary Officer / Management Trainee) 2026 – Complete Exam Pattern
Compiled from the official IBPS Detailed Notification for Common Recruitment Process for CRP-PO/MTs-XVI. Every section, question count, mark allocation, sectional timer, penalty rule and eligibility clause below is taken from that notification, which states that further detailed information is published separately in the Information Handout issued with the call letters.
Overview
| Conducting body | Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) |
|---|---|
| Process | Common Recruitment Process – CRP PO/MTs XVI |
| Posts | Probationary Officer (PO) / Management Trainee (MT) in participating public sector banks |
| Official notification | Detailed Notification for CRP-PO/MTs-XVI, dated 30 June 2026 |
| Official source link | Detailed-Notification_CRP-PO-XVI_Final_V1_30.06.2026.pdf |
| Full selection chain | Online Preliminary Examination → Online Main Examination (Objective + Descriptive) → Personality Test (self-report, non-qualifying but mandatory) → Interview → Provisional Allotment |
| Final merit basis | Marks obtained in the Online Main Examination only, as stated in the notification. |
| Topic-wise syllabus | Published in the Information Handout, downloadable from the IBPS website along with the call letters. |
| Accommodation | Outstation candidates may be given accommodation by the participating bank, subject to availability. |
Preliminary Examination (Objective Test)
Each test is separately timed. Total 100 questions / 100 marks in 60 minutes. Candidates must qualify in each of the three tests by securing the minimum cut-off decided by IBPS.
| # | Test | Questions | Marks | Medium | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English Language | 30 | 30 | English | 20 minutes |
| 2 | Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 30 | English and Hindi | 20 minutes |
| 3 | Reasoning Ability | 35 | 40 | English and Hindi | 20 minutes |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 60 minutes |
Main Examination – Objective Section
Tests are NOT BY SEQUENCE and each is separately timed. Total 170 questions / 200 marks in 160 minutes.
| # | Test (not by sequence) | Questions | Marks | Medium | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reasoning | 40 | 60 | English & Hindi | 45 minutes |
| 2 | General / Economy / Banking Awareness / Digital / Financial Awareness, including RBI circulars | 50 | 60 | English & Hindi | 35 minutes |
| 3 | English Language | 40 | 20 | English | 35 minutes |
| 4 | Data Analysis & Interpretation | 40 | 60 | English & Hindi | 45 minutes |
| Total | 170 | 200 | 160 minutes |
Main Examination – Descriptive Paper
| Questions | 02 | Marks | 25 | Medium | English | Time | 30 minutes |
|---|
- The Descriptive Paper comprises an Essay and a Comprehension.
- It may be broadly based on Economic and Social issues, emerging trends in Banking and Technology, Current events, and Ethics.
- It may be evaluated by an automated scoring mechanism for identifying features related to writing proficiency. The notification states this scoring mechanism is duly validated and evaluates the proficiency of test takers.
The notification states that although the duration of the Online Main Examination is 3 hours 10 minutes, this comprises the 160 minutes of objective tests plus the 30-minute Descriptive Paper.
Full Examination Structure at a Glance
| Stage | Component | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary | Objective – 3 separately timed tests | 100 | 100 | 60 minutes |
| Main | Objective – 4 separately timed tests | 170 | 200 | 160 minutes |
| Main | Descriptive (Essay and Comprehension) | 02 | 25 | 30 minutes |
| Total | 272 | 325 | 250 minutes |
Subject Weighting Across Both Stages
| Subject | Prelims Q | Prelims Marks | Mains Q | Mains Marks | Total Marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reasoning Ability / Reasoning | 35 | 40 | 40 | 60 | 100 |
| General / Economy / Banking / Digital / Financial Awareness | – | – | 50 | 60 | 60 |
| Data Analysis & Interpretation | – | – | 40 | 60 | 60 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 30 | – | – | 30 |
| English Language | 30 | 30 | 40 | 20 | 50 |
| Descriptive (Essay and Comprehension) | – | – | 02 | 25 | 25 |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 172 | 225 | 325 |
Reasoning Ability is the single heaviest subject at 100 marks, appearing in both stages. Quantitative Aptitude is Prelims-only – it does not reappear in the Main Examination, where its 30 marks are effectively replaced by Data Analysis & Interpretation at 60 marks.
Penalty for Wrong Answers
Applicable to both the Online Preliminary and Online Main Examinations. For each question answered wrongly, one fourth (0.25) of the marks assigned to that question is deducted to arrive at the corrected score. If a question is left blank, no penalty is applied.
| Situation | Deduction |
|---|---|
| Question answered wrongly | 0.25 of the marks assigned to that question |
| Question left blank | No penalty |
Cut-off and Selection
| Cut-off (Online Main Examination) | Each candidate must obtain a minimum score in each test of the Online Main Examination and a minimum total score to be considered for shortlisting to the Personality Test and Interview. Cut-offs depend on the number of vacancies available. |
|---|---|
| Preliminary shortlisting | Minimum cut-off in each of the three Preliminary tests, as decided by IBPS. Adequate candidates per category are shortlisted as per requirement. |
| Personality Test | Candidates who qualify the Main Examination are called for a Personality Test (self-report). The candidate’s personality profile is placed before the Interview panel. The Personality Test is non-qualifying, but appearing is mandatory to be eligible for the Interview. |
| Final merit | Marks obtained in the Online Main Examination only. Score in the Online Preliminary Examination is not shared with candidates shortlisted for the Main Examination. |
Eligibility
| Age limit | Minimum 20 years, Maximum 30 years. The maximum age limit as specified applies to General Category candidates and is relaxable for SC/ST and other categories in accordance with Government of India rules – the notification carries the full relaxation table. |
|---|---|
| Educational qualification (as on 21.07.2026) | A Degree (Graduation) in any discipline from a University recognised by the Government of India, or any equivalent qualification recognised as such by the Central Government. The candidate must possess a valid mark-sheet / degree certificate proving graduation on the day of registration, and must indicate the percentage of marks obtained at registration. |
| Cut-off date for qualifications | All educational qualifications must be from a University / Institution / Board recognised by the Government of India or approved by Government regulatory bodies, with the final result declared on or before 21.07.2026. |
| Visual impairment | Candidates with not less than 40% disability may opt to view the test in magnified font and are eligible for compensatory time of 20 minutes per hour. The magnified-font facility is not available to VI candidates who use a scribe. |
| Locomotor disability / cerebral palsy | Compensatory time of 20 minutes per hour is permitted where the dominant (writing) extremity is affected to the extent of slowing performance. |
| Aadhaar | Candidates are advised to possess a valid Aadhaar card; IBPS and the participating banks conduct online Aadhaar verification of the candidate and scribe at different stages. |
Preparation Guidance
Derived strictly from the weightings and timings in the official notification:
- Reasoning is worth 100 marks across both stages – 40 in Prelims and 60 in Mains. It is the highest-returns subject in the entire process and the only one that appears at full weight in both papers.
- Practise to the sectional timer. Prelims is three 20-minute blocks. Mains is 45 / 35 / 35 / 45 minutes. Because the Mains tests are declared ‘NOT BY SEQUENCE’, you cannot assume an order – budget by block length, not position.
- Quantitative Aptitude is Prelims-only. It carries 30 marks in the Preliminary Examination and does not return in the Main Examination. Budget accordingly rather than treating it as a continuous subject.
- Data Analysis & Interpretation is new weight in the Main stage at 40 questions for 60 marks – double the marks-per-question of Prelims Quantitative Aptitude, and it is where the Main Examination differs most sharply from the Clerk exam.
- General / Economy / Banking Awareness is explicitly RBI-circular-inclusive. The notification names Digital and Financial Awareness alongside it, so RBI circulars are examinable rather than background reading.
- English falls sharply in the Main stage. 30 marks in Prelims drops to 20 marks for 40 questions in Mains – the lowest marks-per-question ratio in the Mains objective section.
- The 25 descriptive marks are scored separately and matter. Final merit rests on Main Examination marks only, and the essay/comprehension may be machine-scored – so structure and clarity carry weight alongside content.
- Leave blanks when unsure. Penalty is 0.25 of the question’s marks for a wrong answer and zero for a blank, so on low-confidence questions the expected-value calculation favours leaving it empty.
- The Personality Test is mandatory but not scored. Non-appearance ends eligibility for the Interview, so treat it as a gate rather than an optional round.
Official Source Links
- Official CRP-PO/MTs-XVI Detailed Notification (30.06.2026): https://www.ibps.in/wp-content/uploads/Detailed-Notification_CRP-PO-XVI_Final_V1_30.06.2026.pdf
- Window Notification for CRP-PO/MTs-XVI (30.06.2026): https://www.ibps.in/wp-content/uploads/PO_SPL_Combined_Window_CRP-XVI.pdf
- Corrigendum dated 27.08.2026: https://www.ibps.in/wp-content/uploads/Corrigendum-CRP-PO_MT-XVI_Vacancy_Update2.pdf
- Updated vacancies as on 27.08.2026 (Annexure-I): https://www.ibps.in/wp-content/uploads/ANNEXURE-I_updated_25.08.2026.pdf
- Important Notice for PwBD candidates (07.08.2026): https://www.ibps.in/wp-content/uploads/PO_MT_Notice.pdf
- IBPS CRP PO/MT XVI page: https://www.ibps.in/index.php/management-trainees-xvi/
- IBPS homepage: https://www.ibps.in
FAQ
1. What is the exam pattern for IBPS CRP PO/MT XVI?
Three components. Preliminary: 100 questions / 100 marks / 60 minutes – English Language 30Q/30M/20 min, Quantitative Aptitude 35Q/30M/20 min, Reasoning Ability 35Q/40M/20 min. Main Objective: 170 questions / 200 marks / 160 minutes – Reasoning 40Q/60M/45 min, General/Economy/Banking/Digital/Financial Awareness incl. RBI circulars 50Q/60M/35 min, English Language 40Q/20M/35 min, Data Analysis & Interpretation 40Q/60M/45 min. Main Descriptive: 2 questions / 25 marks / 30 minutes. Candidates then appear for a Personality Test and Interview.
2. What is the negative marking for IBPS PO?
One fourth (0.25) of the marks assigned to that question is deducted for each wrong answer, in both the Preliminary and Main Examinations. A blank answer carries no penalty.
3. Which subject is highest-weighted in the IBPS PO exam?
Reasoning Ability, at 100 marks in total – 35 questions for 40 marks in Prelims and 40 questions for 60 marks in Mains. It is the only subject carrying full weight in both stages.
4. Is there a descriptive paper for IBPS PO?
Yes. The Main Examination includes a Descriptive Paper of 2 questions for 25 marks in 30 minutes, comprising an Essay and a Comprehension, broadly based on economic and social issues, emerging trends in banking and technology, current events and ethics. It may be evaluated by an automated scoring mechanism.
5. How long is the IBPS PO Main Examination?
3 hours 10 minutes in total – 160 minutes for the four separately timed objective tests plus 30 minutes for the Descriptive Paper.
6. What is the age limit?
Minimum 20 years and maximum 30 years. The maximum applies to General Category candidates and is relaxable for SC/ST and other categories per Government of India rules.
7. What is the educational qualification?
As on 21.07.2026, a Degree (Graduation) in any discipline from a University recognised by the Government of India or equivalent recognised by the Central Government, with the final result declared on or before 21.07.2026. Candidates must hold a valid mark-sheet or degree certificate on the registration date.
8. How is final selection decided?
Merit rests on marks obtained in the Online Main Examination only. The Preliminary score is not added. A candidate must also clear the Main Examination cut-off in each test as well as on total, to reach the Personality Test and Interview stage.
9. Is the Personality Test qualifying?
No – it is non-qualifying, but it is mandatory. A candidate’s personality profile is placed before the Interview panel, so failing to appear makes them ineligible for the Interview.
10. Are the Main Examination tests in a fixed order?
No. They are explicitly marked ‘NOT BY SEQUENCE’ in the notification, though each is separately timed.
11. Is there a separate General Awareness section in the Preliminary Examination?
No. General / Economy / Banking / Digital / Financial Awareness appears only in the Main Examination for 50 questions and 60 marks. The Preliminary Examination has only English Language, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning Ability.
12. Where is the topic-wise syllabus?
In the Information Handout, made available for download from the IBPS website along with the call letters. The notification states that other detailed information will be given there.
All content on this page is derived from the official IBPS notification and its corrigenda, linked above.
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What is IBPS CRP PO/MT XVI 2026 Syllabus & Exam Pattern – Prelims, Mains, Descriptive Paper, Data Analysis, Penalty & Cut-off | Official Notification?
IBPS CRP PO/MT XVI 2026 Syllabus & Exam Pattern – Prelims, Mains, Descriptive Paper, Data Analysis, Penalty & Cut-off | Official Notification is a government recruitment notification published by Institute of Banking Personnel Selection. Apply before the last date to be considered for the post.
When do applications open for Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Recruitment 2026?
Online applications for Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Recruitment 2026 start on 30 June 2026.
What is the application fee for Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Recruitment 2026?
Application fee as per the official notification for CRP-PO/MTs-XVI (general and reserved categories, plus late-intimation charges where applicable).
What is the age limit for Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Recruitment 2026?
Maximum age limit for Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Recruitment 2026 is 30 years as on the cutoff date, subject to applicable relaxations.
What is the qualification required for Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Recruitment 2026?
As on 21.07.2026: a Degree (Graduation) in any discipline from a University recognised by the Government of India, or any equivalent qualification recognised as such by the Central Government. All educational qualifications must be from a University, Institution or Board recognised by the Government of India or approved by Government regulatory bodies, with the final result declared on or before 2
How to apply for Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Recruitment 2026?
Apply online through the official application link or official website listed above for Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Recruitment 2026. Always verify all details from the official notification before applying.