A highly competitive, uniform, and centralized hiring procedure, the IBPS PO (Probationary Officer)/MT (Management Trainee) exam is intended for officer-level positions (Scale-I) in India's national Public Sector Banks.

IBPS PO's Background and History

Founder

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), a former organization, administers the IBPS PO test.

• IBPS's origins: To provide a uniform selection testing procedure following the nationalization of banks in 1969, the National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) established the Personnel Selection Service (PSS) Unit.
• Establishment Date: In 1984, the PSS Unit was renamed IBPS after gaining independence.
• Important Figures: Dr. A. S. Deshpande, the professor in charge of the PSS Unit, went on to become the IBPS's founding director. The first Chairman of the Governing Board was Dr. Manmohan Singh, who was formerly the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

Date and Frequency of Exam Start

• The Common Written Examination (CWE) for the Probationary Officer (PO) position, which is currently known as CRP PO/MT, was first administered in 2011.
• Exams Per Year (Frequency): A single IBPS PO test is typically administered annually.
• Approximately 13 to 15 exam cycles have been held since the Common Recruitment Process began in 2011 and will continue until 2025. For example, the CRP PO/MT-XIV announcement is used to recruit Probationary Officers/Management Trainees for the 2025–2026 positions.

Qualifying Standards

There are particular age and educational requirements for the IBPS PO test, which are usually determined as of a given date (for example, 01.08.2024 for CRP PO/MT-XIV).

Age Limit for CRP PO/MT-XIV (as of August 1, 2024)

• Minimum Age: 20 years.
• Maximum Age: 30 years.
  • Calculation Detail: A candidate must have been born between August 2, 1994, and August 1, 2004 (both inclusive).

Category	Age Relaxation (Upper Limit)	Maximum Age Limit (General + Relaxation)
Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST)	5 years	35 years
Other Backward Classes (OBC - Non-Creamy Layer)	3 years	33 years
Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD)	10 years	40 years
Ex-Servicemen	5 years	-
Persons affected by 1984 riots	5 years	-

Only one of the remaining categories is permitted to have the upper age restriction for SC/ST/OBC applicants relaxed on a cumulative basis. Candidates in the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and General Categories are subject to the maximum age limit of thirty years.

Education Requirement (as of August 21, 2024 for CRP PO/MT-XIV)

• A Bachelor's degree (graduation) in any field from an Indian government-approved university or an equivalent degree approved by the central government is a prerequisite.
• The candidate must mention the percentage of marks they received in graduation while registering online, and they must provide a valid mark sheet or degree certificate proving they are a graduate on the day of registration.
• Last Year/Semester: According to the specified notification date, the final result must have been announced by August 21, 2024, at the latest. At the time of the interview, appropriate documents pertaining to the date of death must be presented.
• Calculation of Percentage Marks: The percentage marks are determined by dividing the total number of marks earned across all topics or semesters by the maximum number of marks (multiplied by 100). It disregards any fraction of a percentage (for example, 59.99% is considered less than 60%).

Application fee

Probationary Officers/Management Trainees (PO/MT-XIV) Common Recruitment Process (CRP) application and notification costs are determined by the candidate's category.

The following are the fees, which include GST:

• SC (Scheduled Caste), ST (Scheduled Tribe), and PwBD (Persons with Benchmark Disabilities) applicants must pay Rs. 175 (including GST).
• For all others, Rs. 850 /-(GST included).

This payment needs to be made online, usually during the designated registration window (for CRP-PO/MT-XIV).

Important information about payment:

• The online payment of application fees and notification charges is subject to the Bank Transaction charges for candidates.
• Once paid, fees and notification charges are not refundable and cannot be retained against future exams.

Structure and Scoring of Exams

The hiring procedure is divided into three separate stages:

The interview, the main exam, and the preliminary exam. Online tests are used for both the preliminary and main exams.

I. Objective Test for Preliminary Exam

Although the preliminary exam is a qualifying exam, its results are not taken into account when creating the final merit list.

Name of Test	No. of Questions	Maximum Marks	Medium of Exam	Time Allotted (Separately Timed)
English Language	30	30	English	20 minutes
Quantitative Aptitude	35	35	English and Hindi	20 minutes
Reasoning Ability	35	35	English and Hindi	20 minutes
Total	100	100	-	60 Minutes (1 hour)

Candidates who want to be shortlisted for the Main Examination must pass each of the three examinations with a minimum score determined by IBPS.

II.  Main Examination (Objective and Descriptive)

When selecting candidates for the interview and final merit listing, the main criterion is their scores on the online main exam.

Name of Test	No. of Questions	Maximum Marks	Medium of Exam	Time Allotted (Separately Timed)
Objective Test				3 hours (180 minutes)
Reasoning & Computer Aptitude	45	60	English & Hindi	60 minutes
General/Economy/Banking Awareness	40	40	English & Hindi	35 minutes
English Language	35	40	English	40 minutes
Data Analysis & Interpretation	35	60	English & Hindi	45 minutes
Total (Objective)	155	200	-	3 hours
Descriptive Test				30 minutes
English Language (Letter Writing & Essay)	2	25	English	30 minutes
Grand Total	157	225	-	3 hours 30 minutes

A minimum score in each of the Online Main Examination's tests as well as a minimum overall score are required for candidates to be selected for the interview shortlist.

Interview

• Total Score: There are 100 points available for the interview.
• For applicants in the general category, the minimum qualifying score is 40% (40 marks), whereas for those in the SC, ST, OBC, and PwBD categories, it is 35% (35 points).

Final Merit Evaluation

The scores from the online main exam and the interview are combined to determine the final score. There is an 80:20 ratio for this combo (Main Exam: Interview). Both the Main Exam and the Interview must be passed by candidates, and their merits must be high enough for a subsequent provisional allocation.

Negative Marking and Marks Per Question

Negative Marking

Yes, the online preliminary and main objective exams both have negative marking, or penalties for incorrect answers.

• One-fourth (0.25) of the marks allotted to a question will be subtracted as a penalty for each question for which an incorrect response was provided.
• Unattempted (or blank) questions do not carry any penalties.

Marks for Each Question

Not every section has the same number of marks given for each question.

• Preliminary Exam: Typically, thirty questions are worth thirty marks in the preliminary exam.
• Objective of the Main Exam: The questions on the Main Exam are given different weights.
  • General awareness sections consist of 40 questions for 40 marks, with one mark awarded for each question.
  • Data Analysis & Interpretation has 35 questions for 60 points, whereas Reasoning & Computer Aptitude includes 45 questions for 60 marks. Because of this arrangement, several of the questions in these sections are worth more than one mark.
• Main Test (Descriptive): The descriptive test consists of two questions (essay and letter writing) and is worth 25 marks overall. Since the questions are not multiple-choice, the idea of negative marking (0.25 deduction) does not apply here.