IBPS PO Exam Pattern 2025: The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) is all set to conduct the online preliminary exam for the Probationary Officer/ Management Trainee (PO/MT) posts from tomorrow, i.e. August 17, 2025, to fill 5208 vacancies. All the registered and eligible candidates can download the admit card for the same till August 24, 2025, only from the official website. With less than 24 hours left, candidates should review the paper pattern to avoid any silly mistakes in the exam. It will also help them plan their test-taking strategy and manage time efficiently across all the sections. Further details about the IBPS PO Exam Pattern and Marking Scheme are shared on this page.
IBPS PO Exam Pattern 2025
The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) has invited online applications to fill 5208 vacancies for the Probationary Officer/ Management Trainee (PO/MT) posts in the Participating Public Sector Banks. The recruitment process includes three stages such as Online Preliminary, Online Main Examination and Personality Test. As per the official calendar, the prelims exam will take place on August 17, 23rd, and 24th, 2025. Thus, candidates should review the IBPS PO syllabus and exam pattern to gain insights into question format, exam duration, marking scheme, and other parameters. The IBPS PO Prelims exam features 100 multiple-choice questions for 100 marks. Candidates will get 20 minutes to solve each section in the exam. Each wrong response will also attract a penalty in the form of negative marking.
IBPS PO Prelims Exam Pattern
A clear understanding of the IBPS PO Prelims exam pattern can help you plan your exam day better and boost your chances of success. The prelims exam is a computer-based test and comprises objective-type questions for 100 marks. The language of the question paper will be English and Hindi, except for the English Language section. The overall duration of this test is 60 minutes. Candidates will have to clear the cutoff marks of each section to be declared successful. They will have to secure minimum qualifying marks in each section as well as the total in order to get shortlisted for the mains examination. Given below is the latest IBPS PO exam pattern for the preliminary exam.
| Subject | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks | Exam Duration (Separately timed) |
| English Language | 30 | 30 | 20 minutes |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 30 | 20 minutes |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | 40 | 20 minutes |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 60 Minutes |
Also, check:
IBPS PO Marking Scheme
The IBPS PO marking scheme is quite simple and straightforward. Candidates should carefully understand the marking system to learn about the marks allocated per question and the penalty for each wrong answer. It is advised to avoid random guessing in order to maintain accuracy and improve performance. Check the IBPS PO marking scheme for the prelims given below.
| Subject | No. of Questions | Marks Per Question | Maximum Marks |
| English Language | 30 | +1 mark | 30 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | +0.86 mark (approx) | 30 |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | +1.14 mark (approx) | 40 |
What is IBPS PO Negative Marking?
There shall be a negative marking/penalty for every incorrect answer in the objective-type questions of the IBPS PO exam. For every wrong answer, 1/4th or 0.25 marks will be deducted as a penalty to compute the corrected score. If a question is unanswered, there shall be no penalty for that question. Given below is the IBPS PO Negative Marking for the prelims exam:
| Subject | No. of Questions | Negative Marking Per Incorrect Answer |
| English Language | 30 | - 1/4th or 0.25 mark |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | - 1/4th or 0.25 mark |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | - 1/4th or 0.25 mark |
IBPS PO Mains Exam Pattern
The IBPS PO mains exam pattern has been announced in the official notification. It consists of 145 (objective)+ 2 (Descriptive) type questions. Candidates will get 160 minutes for the objective test and 30 minutes for the descriptive test. There shall be a penalty of 1/4th or 0.25 mark for every wrong answer in the objective test. Learn about the revised IBPS PO exam pattern for the mains in the table below.
| Subject (NOT BY SEQUENCE) | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks | Medium of Exam | Time allotted for each test |
| Reasoning | 40 | 60 | English & Hindi | 50 minutes |
| General/ Economy/ Banking Awareness / Digital/ Financial Awareness including RBI circulars | 35 | 50 | English & Hindi | 25 minutes |
| English Language | 35 | 40 | Englishi | 40 minutes |
| Data Analysis & Interpretation | 35 | 50 | English & Hindi | 45 minutes |
| Total | 145 | 200 | - | 160 minutes |
| Descriptive Paper* (Essay and Comprehension) | 02 | 25 | English | 30 minutes |
Latest Changes Made in IBPS PO Paper Pattern
The IBPS PO paper pattern has been revised in terms of the number of questions, marks, and other aspects. Check the latest changes in the exam pattern shared below:
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The maximum marks for Quant in the prelims have been reduced from 35 to 30. The marks for Reasoning Ability have been raised to 40 from 35.
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The Computer Aptitude section is not included in the mains exam pattern. The number of questions in the Reasoning section has been reduced from 45 to 40. The sectional time limit has been reduced from 60 minutes to 50 minutes.
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The General/Economy/Banking Awareness section in the Mains exam has also changed, with questions reduced to 35 from 40 and the allotted time cut down to 25 minutes from 35 minutes.
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The Data Analysis & Interpretation section in the Mains exam now carries 50 marks instead of 60. But the number of questions and the allotted time is still the same
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