The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) is an administrative body which conducts national-level exams every year, to recruit young graduates for the post of Probationary Officers (PO) and Management Trainees in the public sector banks in India. Lakh of candidates, who aspire to join the banking sector, appear for this exam. The exam is conducted in three stages - Prelims, Mains, and Interview. The selection of the candidates is based on their merit scores after which they will be placed in the participating banks.
IBPS PO 2018: Important dates
| Event | Date |
| Online registration and Payment by candidates | 14th August 2018 |
| Last Date to Apply | 4th September 2018 |
| Preliminary Exam Date | 13th, 14th, 20th and 21st October 2018 |
| Declaration of IBPS PO Preliminary Exam Result | October 2018 |
| IBPS PO Mains Exam Date | 18th November 2018 |
| Declaration of IBPS PO Mains Exam Result | December 2018 |
| IBPS PO Interview Call Letter | January 2019 |
| Date of IBPS PO Interview | January/ February 2019 |
| Provisional Allotment Date | April 2019 |
- A candidate should possess a graduate degree in any discipline from a government recognized University. Candidates in the final year of graduation can also apply. They should mention the percentage of marks obtained in graduation at the time of registration.
- Candidates must have a good computer operations knowledge.
- Candidate must have verbal and written proficiency in the official language of the State/UT.
| Category | Relaxation of Age |
| SC/ST | 5 years |
| OBC (Non-Creamy Layer) | 3 years |
| Persons with Disabilities | 10 years |
| Ex-Servicemen | 5 years |
| Widows or Divorced Women | 9 years |
| Persons with Domicile of J&K from 1/1/1980 to 31/12/1989 | 5 years |
| Persons afflicted by 1984 riots | 5 years |
| Retrenched from service (for MP state Only) | 5 years |
| S. No. | Subjects | No. of questions | Marks |
| 1 | Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 |
| 2 | English Language | 30 | 30 |
| 3 | Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 35 |
| Total | 100 | 100 |
| S. No. | Subjects | No. of questions | Marks | Time allotted |
| 1 | Reasoning and Computer Aptitude | 45 | 60 | 60 minutes |
| 2 | General/Economy/Banking Awareness | 40 | 40 | 35 minutes |
| 3 | English Language | 35 | 40 | 40 minutes |
| 4 | Data Analysis and Interpretation | 35 | 60 | 45 minutes |
| Total | 155 | 200 | 180 minutes | |
| English Language (Letter Writing & Essay) | 2 | 25 | 30 minutes |
- Reasoning: Logical Reasoning, ranking/direction/ alphabet, Alphanumeric series, data sufficiency, Seating Arrangement, Coded Inequalities, Tabulation, Seating Arrangement, Puzzle, Syllogism, input-output, blood relations, coding and decoding, etc.
- Quantitive Aptitude: Simplification, time & work, profit & loss, ratio & proportion, percentage, simple interest and compound interest, mixture and allegations, time & distance, mensuration, sequence and series, data interpretation, number system, permutation & Combination, etc.
- English Language: Reading comprehension, cloze test, spotting errors, fill in the blanks, paragraph completion, para jumbles, etc.
- Reasoning & Computer Aptitude Reasoning: Verbal Reasoning, data sufficiency, Circular Seating Arrangement, Order and Ranking, direction and distances, coding and decoding, Coded Inequalities, Double Line Up, input-output, Linear Seating Arrangement, Scheduling, Syllogism, blood relations, etc. Computer Aptitude: Keyboard shortcuts, Memory, Internet, Microsoft office, computer abbreviations, computer software, networking, computer hardware, operating system, and computer fundamentals/technologies
- General Awareness: Banking & Financial awareness, general knowledge, and current affairs
- Quantitative Aptitude: Simplification, profit & loss, percentage, average, time & work, simple interest and compound interest, number system, time & distance, mensuration and geometry, data interpretation, mixture and allegations, ratio & proportion, sequence and series, quadratic equation, age problems, permutation & Combination, linear equation, probability, etc.
- English language: Reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and verbal ability
- Descriptive Paper: Letter & Essay writing
- Quantitative Aptitude by R.S. Aggarwal
- Logical Reasoning by R.S. Aggarwal
- Comprehensive Guide to IBPS – Disha Publications
- Objective Computer Knowledge & Literacy by Kiran Publication
- English Language by Wren & Martin
- Bank PO Solved papers for PO & MT – Kiran Publication
- General Awareness category – Mahindra Financial and Banking Awareness