IBPS PO Exam Pattern 2018

The IBPS PO 2018 Exam Pattern has been announced by the exam conducting authority. Candidates preparing for the IBPS PO 2018 can check the detailed information on examination pattern for Preliminary as well as Main Examination on the official website of Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). The exam pattern will help candidates to understand the style and structure of the question paper that they are about to face.

Checking the Exam Pattern of IBPS PO 2018 will also help candidates in preparation of the examination. As it defines the mode of examination, number questions, marks allotted to each question and total marks along with the duration of the examination, it helps candidates to frame their preparation based on these parameters. Since the Mains of IBPS PO 2018 is about to be conducted on 18th November 2018, candidates must start their preparation by understanding the exam pattern prescribed for the Mains. Few important pointers must be kept in mind while preparing for the examination. Enlisted below are these pointers that must not be missed by the Mains applicants. 

• There will be two online exams, Preliminary and Mains. A candidate has to pass the Prelims to take the Main Examination.

• The result of the Main examination determines the participant’s eligibility for attending interviews and later stages of the recruitment.

• Both Preliminary and Main Exams are in objective mode except the English Language (Letter Writing & Essay) in the Mains of IBPS PO 2018, which is to be answered subjectively.

• All tests except the part 'English Language both Objective and Subjective' can be attempted in Hindi medium.

IBPS PO 2018 Pattern Highlights

Highlights	Details
Mode of Examination	Online
Test Duration for Prelims	1 hour
Test Duration for Mains	3 hours + 30 minutes
Number of Sections in Prelims	3
Number of Sections in Mains	4 + 1
Total number of questions in the exam in Prelims	100
Total number of questions in the exam in Mains	155 + 2
Question Type	MCQ + 1 Descriptive Type in Mains
Each question carries	1 mark
Marks deducted for each incorrect question	0.25

Details of IBPS PO Exam Pattern

Main Examination:

Main Examination will have 200 marks for Objective Tests and 25 marks for Descriptive Test. Both the Objective and Descriptive Tests will be online. Candidates will have to answer Descriptive Test by typing on the computer. Immediately after the completion of the Objective Test, Descriptive Test will be conducted.

• Objective Test: The Objective Test is of 3 hours duration. The Objective Test will have different times for every section. The candidates need to qualify for each of the tests by obtaining the passing marks, to be decided by the Bank.

Name of Section/Subject	Number of Questions	Marks (per section)	Medium of Exam	Total Duration (Separately timed)
Reasoning & Computer Aptitude	45	60	English & Hindi	60 Minutes
Data Analysis and Interpretation	35	60	English & Hindi	45 Minutes
General / Economy / Banking Awareness	40	40	English & Hindi	35 Minutes
English Language	35	40	English	40 Minutes
Total	155	200

• English Language (Letter Writing & Essay): The Duration of Descriptive Test is 30 minutes (25 marks) and it will be a test of English Language such as Letter Writing and  Essay writing. The candidates need to qualify for the Descriptive Test by obtaining passing marks, to be decided by the Bank.

Note:  Marks obtained by the candidates in the Main examination will be considered for shortlisting for Interview and preparation of final merit list.

Preliminary Examination:

This test would be of one-hour duration consisting of three sections as follows:

Name of Section/Subject	Number of Questions	Number of Marks(per section)
English Language	30	30
Quantitative Aptitude	35	35
Reasoning Ability	35	35
Total	100	100

Note: Candidates have to qualify in each of the three tests by securing cut-off marks to be decided by IBPS. An adequate number of candidates in each category as decided by IBPS depending upon requirements will be shortlisted for Online Main Examination.

IBPS PO Marking Scheme

• There will be negative marks for wrong answers marked in the Objective Tests.  

• For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate one-fourth or 0.25 of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty to arrive at corrected score.  

• If a question is left blank, i.e. no answer is marked by the candidate, there will be no negative marking for that question.