IBPS Clerk

The IBPS Clerk Syllabus 2026, officially applicable to the Customer Service Associate recruitment under CRP CSA-XVI, is divided into Preliminary and Main examinations.

IBPS Clerk Prelims tests English Language, Numerical Ability and Reasoning Ability through 100 questions carrying 100 marks in 60 minutes.

Revised Mains Pattern: The Main Examination has a revised structure for the current recruitment cycle. It contains 160 questions for 200 marks with a total duration of 125 minutes. The four Mains sections are General/Financial Awareness, General English, Reasoning Ability and Quantitative Aptitude.

Important: Older IBPS Clerk resources may still show 155 questions and 120 minutes. The current CSA-XVI pattern increased the number of questions to 160 and the total test duration to 125 minutes.

Exam Dates: The Preliminary Examination is scheduled for 10 and 11 October 2026, while the Main Examination is scheduled for 27 December 2026.

IBPS Clerk Syllabus 2026 Overview

Stage	Subjects	Questions	Marks	Duration
Prelims	English, Numerical Ability, Reasoning	100	100	60 minutes
Mains	General/Financial Awareness, English, Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude	160	200	125 minutes
Local Language	LLPT where applicable	Qualifying	Qualifying	As prescribed

Prelims is primarily a screening stage. Only marks obtained in the Main Examination are considered for final merit listing under the current notification.

IBPS Clerk Prelims Exam Pattern 2026

The Preliminary Examination has three separately timed sections.

Section	Questions	Marks	Time
English Language	30	30	20 minutes
Numerical Ability	35	35	20 minutes
Reasoning Ability	35	35	20 minutes
Total	100	100	60 minutes

IBPS requires candidates to qualify in each of the three tests according to cut-offs decided by the institute. Candidates shortlisted from Prelims proceed to the Main Examination.

Because every section has a separate 20-minute timer, candidates cannot transfer extra time from English to Quant or Reasoning. This makes speed, accuracy and question selection particularly important.

IBPS Clerk Prelims Syllabus 2026

English Language Syllabus

The English section has 30 questions for 30 marks.

Important preparation areas include:

Reading Comprehension
Cloze Test
Error Detection
Error Spotting
Fill in the Blanks
Sentence Improvement
Phrase Replacement
Para Jumbles
Sentence Rearrangement
Word Swap
Vocabulary
Synonyms and Antonyms
Contextual Vocabulary
Sentence Completion
Connectors
Match the Column
Odd Sentence
Grammar
Spelling Errors
Word Usage

Candidates should not prepare English only through grammar rules. Reading Comprehension increasingly requires contextual understanding, inference and vocabulary in context. Regular reading combined with targeted grammar practice generally provides better preparation than memorising isolated rules.

Numerical Ability Syllabus

Numerical Ability contains 35 questions for 35 marks in Prelims.

Important topics include:

Simplification
Approximation
Number Series
Missing Number Series
Wrong Number Series
Quadratic Equations
Data Interpretation
Tabular DI
Bar Graph DI
Line Graph DI
Pie Chart DI
Caselet DI
Percentage
Ratio and Proportion
Average
Profit and Loss
Discount
Simple Interest
Compound Interest
Time and Work
Pipes and Cisterns
Time, Speed and Distance
Trains
Boats and Streams
Partnership
Mixture and Alligation
Ages
Mensuration
Probability
Quantity Comparison

Preparation Focus: Arithmetic is particularly important because topics such as percentage, ratio and average also form the calculation base for many Data Interpretation questions. Candidates should develop calculation speed alongside formula knowledge.

Reasoning Ability Syllabus

Reasoning Ability contains 35 questions for 35 marks.

Important areas include:

Seating Arrangement
Circular Seating Arrangement
Linear Seating Arrangement
Floor-Based Puzzles
Box-Based Puzzles
Scheduling Puzzles
Day/Month/Year Puzzles
Order and Ranking
Syllogism
Inequalities
Coding-Decoding
Blood Relations
Direction Sense
Alphanumeric Series
Pair Formation
Word Formation
Data Sufficiency
Input-Output
Miscellaneous Logical Reasoning

Puzzles and seating arrangements usually require significant practice because they combine several conditions within one set.

Candidates should develop the ability not only to solve a puzzle but also to decide quickly whether a particular set is worth attempting.

IBPS Clerk Mains Exam Pattern 2026

The Main Examination contains four separately timed sections.

Mains Section	Questions	Marks	Time
General / Financial Awareness	40	50	20 minutes
General English	40	40	35 minutes
Reasoning Ability	40	60	35 minutes
Quantitative Aptitude	40	50	35 minutes
Total	160	200	125 minutes

All four sections contain 40 questions, but their marks are not equal. Reasoning carries the highest sectional weight at 60 marks. General/Financial Awareness and Quantitative Aptitude each carry 50 marks, while General English carries 40 marks.

What Changed in IBPS Clerk Mains 2026?

The current CRP CSA-XVI pattern differs from the previous Clerk/CSA structure.

Total questions increased from 155 to 160.
Total duration increased from 120 to 125 minutes.
Quantitative Aptitude increased to 40 questions.
Total Mains marks remain 200.

Mock Test Warning: Candidates using old mock tests should check whether those tests reproduce the current 160-question, 125-minute pattern.

IBPS Clerk Mains Syllabus 2026

General and Financial Awareness Syllabus

General/Financial Awareness has 40 questions carrying 50 marks, with only 20 minutes available.

Important preparation areas include:

Current Affairs
Banking Awareness
Financial Awareness
RBI
RBI Functions
Monetary Policy
Repo Rate
Standing Deposit Facility
CRR and SLR
Banking Terminology
Types of Banks
Public Sector Banks
Bank Headquarters
Banking Products
Deposits
Loans and Advances
Non-Performing Assets
Priority Sector Lending
Financial Inclusion
Digital Banking
UPI
NEFT
RTGS
IMPS
NPCI
RuPay
CBDC / Digital Rupee
FinTech
Government Financial Schemes
Union Budget
Economic Survey
Inflation
GDP
Fiscal Policy
SEBI
NABARD
SIDBI
EXIM Bank
IMF
World Bank
Asian Development Bank
Important Appointments
Reports and Indices
Awards
Important Banking News
National and International Current Affairs

Because this section provides only 20 minutes for 40 questions, candidates need strong recall rather than lengthy calculation. Current affairs should therefore be revised repeatedly instead of being read only once.

General English Mains Syllabus

General English contains 40 questions for 40 marks.

Reading Comprehension
Cloze Test
Vocabulary in Context
Error Detection
Sentence Correction
Phrase Replacement
Fillers
Para Jumbles
Sentence Rearrangement
Word Swap
Sentence Completion
Connectors
Match the Column
Grammar
Contextual Usage
Inference Questions

Mains English can require greater reading and contextual understanding than Prelims. Candidates should practise longer passages and questions involving inference, tone and the author's argument.

Reasoning Ability Mains Syllabus

Reasoning is the highest-weighted Main Examination section with 40 questions carrying 60 marks.

High-Level Puzzles
Seating Arrangement
Multi-Variable Puzzles
Floor and Flat Puzzles
Scheduling
Selection and Distribution
Input-Output
Coding-Decoding
Syllogism
Inequality
Data Sufficiency
Blood Relations
Direction Sense
Order and Ranking
Alphanumeric Series
Statement and Conclusion
Statement and Assumption
Cause and Effect
Course of Action
Critical Reasoning
Logical Reasoning
Decision Making

The difficulty generally rises from Prelims because Mains questions can combine more variables and require more deductions. Candidates should gradually shift from small puzzle sets to complex timed sets.

Quantitative Aptitude Mains Syllabus

Quantitative Aptitude now contains 40 questions for 50 marks under CSA-XVI.

Data Interpretation
Table DI
Bar Graph DI
Line Graph DI
Pie Chart DI
Mixed Graph DI
Caselet DI
Missing Data DI
Arithmetic DI
Number Series
Quadratic Equations
Quantity Comparison
Data Sufficiency
Percentage
Ratio and Proportion
Average
Profit and Loss
Simple and Compound Interest
Partnership
Mixture and Alligation
Time and Work
Pipes and Cisterns
Time-Speed-Distance
Trains
Boats and Streams
Ages
Mensuration
Probability
Permutation and Combination

Data Interpretation becomes particularly important at the Main level. A strong DI candidate must understand arithmetic relationships instead of relying only on graph-reading skills.

For example, the chart may provide values directly, but the questions may require percentage change, averages, ratios, profit calculations or missing-data derivation.

IBPS Clerk Prelims vs Mains Syllabus

Area	Prelims	Mains
English	Basic to moderate	More contextual and analytical
Numerical / Quant	Speed-focused	Advanced Quant and DI
Reasoning	Short topics + puzzles	Higher-level puzzles and logic
Banking Awareness	Not a separate section	Major section
Current Affairs	Not separately tested	Important
Final Merit	No	Yes

Preparation Lesson: Candidates should not wait for the Prelims result before starting Mains preparation. General/Financial Awareness in particular requires months of current-affairs revision, making last-minute preparation difficult.

Is There Negative Marking in IBPS Clerk 2026?

Yes. IBPS applies negative marking in both Preliminary and Main objective examinations.

For every incorrect response, one-fourth or 0.25 of the marks assigned to that question is deducted. There is no penalty if the question is left unanswered.

Candidates should note the wording carefully. The penalty is one-fourth of the marks assigned to the question, not necessarily a universal 0.25 raw marks for every question because question weight can vary.

This makes random guessing risky.

Does IBPS Clerk Have Sectional Timing?

Yes. Both Prelims and Mains have separately timed sections.

Stage	Section	Time
Prelims	English	20 minutes
	Numerical Ability	20 minutes
	Reasoning	20 minutes
Mains	General/Financial Awareness	20 minutes
	English	35 minutes
	Reasoning	35 minutes
	Quantitative Aptitude	35 minutes

Candidates cannot compensate for slow performance in one section by using unused time from another. Mocks should reproduce this sectional timing.

Does IBPS Clerk Have a Sectional Cut-Off?

For Prelims, candidates must qualify in each of the three tests according to the cut-off marks decided by IBPS.

For Mains, candidates are required to obtain a minimum score in each test as well as a minimum total score to be considered for the further process.

Cut-offs depend on the recruitment process and State/UT-wise vacancies. Candidates should therefore avoid concentrating on only two sections while neglecting another.

Which Section Carries the Highest Marks in IBPS Clerk Mains?

Reasoning Ability carries the highest weight in IBPS Clerk Mains 2026 with 60 marks.

Section	Marks
Reasoning Ability	60
General / Financial Awareness	50
Quantitative Aptitude	50
General English	40

A higher sectional weight does not mean candidates should neglect lower-mark sections because sectional qualifying requirements apply.

Which Topics Are Most Important for IBPS Clerk Prelims?

Candidates should generally prioritise recurring high-utility areas such as:

Reasoning: Puzzles, seating arrangements, inequality, syllogism and alphanumeric questions.
Numerical Ability: Simplification/approximation, number series, arithmetic and Data Interpretation.
English: Reading Comprehension, fillers, error detection, cloze tests, sentence arrangement and contextual vocabulary.

The exact distribution can change from shift to shift, so candidates should not prepare only a narrow list of predicted chapters.

Which Topics Are Important for IBPS Clerk Mains?

For Mains, candidates should particularly strengthen:

Advanced puzzles and Reasoning
Data Interpretation
Arithmetic
Banking Awareness
Financial Awareness
Current Affairs
Reading Comprehension
Grammar and contextual English

The Main Examination should be treated as a separate preparation level rather than simply a longer Prelims paper.

What Is the IBPS Clerk Local Language Test?

The Local Language Proficiency Test (LLPT) is separate from the online Prelims and Mains syllabus.

Candidates applying for vacancies in a particular State/UT must be proficient in the selected local language in reading, writing, speaking and understanding.

Candidates who produce a Class 10 or higher certificate showing that they studied the selected language can be exempt from the language test.

LLPT Requirement: Where required, the LLPT is conducted after qualifying Mains/provisional allotment and before joining. It is qualifying in nature, and candidates who fail it are not offered appointment.

For detailed language rules, candidates should check the IBPS Clerk Eligibility Criteria 2026 page.

What Is the Medium of the IBPS Clerk Exam?

The available test language depends on the State/UT selected.

English Language is tested in English, while the other applicable objective sections can be available in English, Hindi and certain regional languages depending on the State/UT.

For example, the notification lists Kannada for Karnataka, Bengali for West Bengal, Tamil for Tamil Nadu, Odia for Odisha and Telugu for Andhra Pradesh, among the State-specific options.

Candidates select the applicable examination medium during the application process.

How to Prepare Using the IBPS Clerk Syllabus

Do not simply mark every syllabus chapter as “completed.” For each topic, track four things:

Concept Clarity → Accuracy → Speed → Performance Under Sectional Timing

Begin with concepts. Once accuracy improves, introduce a timer. Then move to sectional tests. Finally, use full mocks to learn question selection.

For General/Financial Awareness, maintain a separate revision schedule because memory-based content requires repeated recall.

Effective Preparation Cycle: Learn → Practise → Test → Analyse → Revise → Retest

Candidates can use the dedicated IBPS Clerk Preparation Strategy 2026 page for a 90-day, 60-day and 30-day preparation plan.

IBPS Clerk Selection and Final Merit

Prelims is used to shortlist candidates for Mains.

Final Merit Rule: Marks obtained in the Online Main Examination only are considered for final merit listing.

Main Examination scores are converted out of 100 for provisional allotment. Allotment subsequently considers State/UT-wise actual vacancies, merit, category and bank preference, along with other recruitment conditions.

Therefore, candidates should not interpret a high Prelims score as an advantage in final merit once they have qualified for Mains.

Subjects

IBPS Clerk Syllabus 2026: Prelims & Mains Exam Pattern