IBPS PO 2018: Detailed Guide
A] Introduction to IBPS CWE PO/MT
What is IBPS PO?
The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) conducts annual examination for selection of personnel for the post of Probationary Officer/ Management Trainee in the Participating Organisations. The list of Participating Organisations in IBPS CWE (PO/MT) 2017 is as follows:
Allahabad Bank | Canara Bank | Syndicate Bank | United Bank of India |
Andhra Bank | Oriental Bank of Commerce | Indian Overseas Bank | Bank of Maharashtra |
Bank of Baroda | Central Bank of India | Corporation Bank | IDBI Bank |
Indian Bank | Union Bank of India | UCO Bank | Vijaya Bank |
Bank of India | Dena Bank | Punjab National Bank | Punjab & Sind Bank |
Brief Information about IBPS CWE PO/MT -VII
The Common Written Examination (CWE) for recruiting Probationary Officers/Management Trainees was started by IBPS in 2011 and it is currently in its 8th annual edition so it is suffixed by VII. IBPS has notified that this year the prelim for PO/MT will tentatively be scheduled on 13th, 14th, 20th and 21st October 2018 while the PO/MT Main Examination will be tentatively on 18th November 2018.
B] IBPS PO/MT Important Dates (as per notification)
The important dates for IBPS PO/MT CWE VIII 2018 are notified as follows:
Activity 2019 | Tentative Dates |
On-line registration including Edit/Modification of Application by candidates | 14.08.2018 to 04.09.2018 |
Payment of Application Fees/Intimation Charges (Online) | 14.08.2018 to 04.09.2018 |
Download of call letters for Pre- Exam Training September 2018 Conduct of Pre-Exam Training | 01.10.2018 to 07.10.2018 |
Download of call letters for Online examination – Preliminary | October 2018 |
Online Examination – Preliminary | 13.10.2018, 14.10.2018, 20.10.2018 and 21.10.2018 |
Result of Online exam – Preliminary | October/ November 2018 |
Download of Call letter for Online exam – Main | November 2018 |
Online Examination – Main | 18.11.2018 |
Declaration of Result – Main | December 2018 |
Download of call letters for interview | January 2019 |
Conduct of interview | January / February 2019 |
Provisional Allotment | April 2019 |
Refer to Official IBPS Notice: Tentative Calendar of Online CWE for RRBs & PSBs
C] IBPS PO Notification 2018
Application and Registration
IBPS CWE PO/MT 2018 Official Notification has been released. The registration process starts on 14th August 2018. Registration will be through online mode only and there will be a single registration for both Preliminary and Main examination
Vacancy
Eligibility (as per 2017 notification)
I. Nationality / Citizenship:
A candidate must be either –
(i) a Citizen of India or
(ii) a subject of Nepal or
(iii) a subject of Bhutan or
(iv) a Tibetan Refugee who came over to India before 1st January 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India or
(v) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika and Zanzibar), Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India, provided that a candidate belonging to categories (ii), (iii), (iv) & (v) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.
II. Age (As on 01.08.2018)
Minimum: 20 years Maximum: 30 years i.e. A candidate must have been born not earlier than 02.08.1988 and not later than 01.08.1998 (both dates inclusive)
Relaxation of Upper age limit:
Sr. No. | Category | Relaxation |
1. | Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe* | 5 years |
2. | Other Backward Classes (Non-Creamy Layer)* | 3 years |
3. | Persons With Benchmark Disabilities as defined under “The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016”* | 10 years |
4. | Ex-Servicemen, Commissioned Officers including Emergency Commissioned Officers (ECOs)/ Short Service Commissioned Officers (SSCOs) who have rendered at least 5 years military service and have been released on completion of assignment.** | 5 years |
5. | Persons ordinarily domiciled in the state of Jammu & Kashmir during the period 01.01.1980 to 31.12.1989 | 5 years |
6. | Persons affected by 1984 riots | 5 years |
*Form of Certificate for SC/ST/OBC Claim will be updated here
**Please refer to exact details in the official notification which will be updated here
III. Educational Qualifications (As on 05.09.2017):
A Degree (Graduation) in any discipline from a University recognised by the Govt. Of India or any equivalent qualification recognized as such by the Central Government.
(Candidate must possess valid Mark-sheet / Degree Certificate that he/ she is a graduate on the day he / she registers and indicate the percentage of marks obtained in Graduation while registering online.)
D] IBPS PO Exam Structure
The IBPS PO exam is conducted in 3 stages i.e. preliminary, mains and interview. Each stage must be qualified to proceed to the next. Here are some details about each stage:
1) IBPS PO Preliminary Examination:
Mode: Online
Type: Objective
Certain number of candidates are shortlisted based on cutoff which depends on requirements of participating organisations.
2) IBPS PO Mains Examination:
Mode: Online
Type: Objective + Descriptive
Note: Sectional cutoff as well as overall cutoff must be cleared to qualify for interview.
3) IBPS PO Interview:
Candidates who have been shortlisted in the Main examination for CWE PO/MT-VII will subsequently be called for an Interview to be conducted by the Participating Organisations and coordinated by the Nodal Bank in each State/ UT with the help of IBPS.
•Final Result:
Mains score and interview score will be added up to arrive at final score which will determine the result
•Provisional Allotment:
The provisional allotment of the qualified candidate is released on the official website. Candidates shortlisted will be provisionally allotted to one of the Participating Organisations, based on merit-cum-preference.
E] IBPS PO/MT Application
Application Link will be updated here
Documents Required for Bank PO Application with Guidelines
Document | Dimensions (2017) | File Size Specifications (2018) | Other Information |
Photograph of the Applicant (4.5cm × 3.5cm) | 200 x 230 pixels (preferred) | 20kb–50 kb | Image file should be JPG or JPEG format |
Signature of the Applicant | 140 x 60 pixels (preferred) | 10kb – 20kb | CAPITAL LETTERS NOT accepted |
Thumb impression of the Applicant | New – To be updated | 10kb – 20kb | |
Scanned copy of handwritten declaration | New – To be updated | 10kb – 20kb | Exact text will be updated |
It would be useful to keep the above documents scanned and handy when applying online.
Scanning the photograph & signature:
- Set the scanner resolution to a minimum of 200 dpi (dots per inch)
- Set Color to True Color
- File Size as specified above
- Crop the image in the scanner to the edge of the photograph/signature, then use the upload editor to crop the image to the
final size (as specified above). - Candidates using MS Windows/MSOffice can easily obtain photo and signature in .jpeg format not exceeding 50kb & 20kb respectively by using MS Paint or MSOffice Picture Manager.
- Scanned photograph and signature in any format can be saved in .jpg format by using ‘Save As’ option in the File menu and size can be reduced below 50 kb (photograph) & 20 kb(signature) by using crop and then resize option (Please see point (i) & (ii) above for the pixel size) in the ‘Image’ menu. Similar options are available in other photo editor.
F] IBPS PO Examination and Preparatory Information
IBPS PO Prelims Exam Pattern
Duration: 1 hour
Mode: Online
Sections: 3
Total marks: 100 marks.
Negative marking: Yes, 0.25 marks deducted for each wrong answer.
Cutoff: Sectional as well as Overall cutoff needs to be cleared.
Prelim section-wise details are given below:
S.No. | Name of Tests(Objective | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks | Duration |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | English Language | 30 | 30 | Composite time of 1 Hour |
2 | Numerical Ability | 35 | 35 | |
3 | Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 | |
Total | 100 | 100 |
IBPS PO Mains Exam Pattern
Duration: 180+30 minutes (Total 3 and 1/2 hrs)
Mode: Online
Type: Objective + Descriptive
Total Marks: 200+25 marks (Total marks 225)
Negative Marking: Yes, 0.25 marks deducted for each wrong answer in objective questions.
Detailed breakdown of Mains Examination is as follows:
S.No. | Name of Tests(Objective | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks | Duration |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Reasoning & Computer Aptitude | 45 | 60 | 60 minutes |
2 | English Language | 35 | 40 | 40 minutes |
3 | Data Analysis & Interpretation | 35 | 60 | 45 minutes |
4 | General Economy & Banking Awareness | 40 | 40 | 35 minutes |
Total | 155 | 200 | 3 Hours | |
5 | English Language (Letter Writing & Essay) | 2 | 25 | 30 minutes |
IBPS PO Interview
The candidates qualifying the mains exam are called for an in-person interview. The total marks allotted for Interview are 100. The minimum qualifying marks in interview will not be less than 40% (35% for SC/ST/OBC/PWD candidates).
Interview Duration: ~ 20 mins.
Conducted by: Panel consisting bank officials
Area of focus: Questions about candidate, banking sector, current affairs, general awareness, etc.
The final merit list is prepared on the basis of marks obtained in mains examination and interview. The final score is calculated by IBPS with weightage of main examination and interview in the ratio of 80:20 respectively.
Final Score Calculation
• Preliminary Exam score is only qualifying in nature and will not be considered in the final score.
• Candidates must qualify Phase-2 and Interview separately to be eligible for final merit.
• The weightage (ratio) of CWE Main exam and interview for final merit list will be 80:20 respectively.
• The aggregate score out of 100 is used for the final merit list for each category.
IBPS Pre-Exam Training
Pre-Examination Training may be arranged by the Nodal Banks/ Participating Organisations to a limited number of candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribes/ Minority Communities at certain centres. All eligible candidates who opt for and wish to avail of Pre-Examination Training should fill in the relevant column in the ON-LINE APPLICATION.
Training will be free of cost. All other expenses regarding travelling, boarding, lodging etc. will have to be borne by the candidate for attending the pre-examination training programme at the designated Centres.
G] IBPS PO Syllabus 2018
The exam syllabus for IBPS PO is no different from any other bank exam. Here, the broad subjects which have been subdivided into individual topics, based on the questions that have appeared in the exams over the past few years.
IBPS PO/MT Prelims Exam Syllabus 2018
This comprises of Reasoning Ability, Quantitative Aptitude and English Language.
Reasoning | Quantitative Aptitude | English Language |
---|---|---|
Logical Reasoning | Simplification | Reading Comprehension |
Alphanumeric Series | Profit & Loss | Cloze Test |
Ranking/Direction/Alphabet Test | Mixtures and Alligations | Para jumbles |
Data Sufficiency | Simple Interest & Compound Interest & Surds & Indices | Multiple Meaning / Error Spotting |
Coded Inequalities | Work & Time | Fill in the blanks |
Seating Arrangement | Time & Distance | Miscellaneous |
Puzzle | Mensuration – Cylinder, Cone, Sphere | Paragraph Completion |
Tabulation | Data Interpretation | |
Syllogism | Ratio & Proportion, Percentage | |
Blood Relations | Number Systems | |
Input Output | Sequence & Series | |
Coding Decoding | Permutation, Combination &Probability |
IBPS PO/MT Mains Exam Syllabus 2018
This comprises of 5 sections: Reasoning, English Language, Quantitative, Aptitude, General Awareness, Computer Aptitude.
Quantitative Aptitude | General Awareness | Reasoning & Computer Aptitude | English Language | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Simplification | Financial Awareness | Verbal Reasoning | Internet | Reading Comprehension |
Average | Current Affairs | Syllogism | Memory | Vocabulary – Homonyms, Synonyms, Antonyms |
Percentage | General Awareness | Circular Seating Arrangement | Keyboard Shortcuts | Grammar |
Ratio and Percentage | Linear Seating Arrangement | Computer Abbreviation | Verbal Ability | |
Data Interpretation | Double Lineup | Microsoft Office | ||
Mensuration and Geometry | Scheduling | Computer Hardware | ||
Quadratic Equation | Input Output | Computer Software | ||
Interest | Blood Relations | Operating System | ||
Age Problems | Directions and Distances | Networking | ||
Profit and Loss | Ordering and Ranking | Computer Fundamentals /Terminologies | ||
Number Series | Data Sufficiency | |||
Speed, Distance and Time | Coding and Decoding | |||
Time and Work | Code Inequalities | |||
Number System | ||||
Data Sufficiency | ||||
Linear Equation | ||||
Permutation and Combination | ||||
Probability | ||||
Mixtures |
The cutoff for IBPS PO Preliminary Exam 2017-18 is shown below for reference:
Subjects | English Language | Quantitative Aptitude | Reasoning Ability | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Maximum Score | 30 | 35 | 35 | 100 |
Cutoff Score | 05.00 | 07.75 | 10.00 | 42.75 |
IBPS PO Prelims 2017-18 Category-wise Cut-Off
Category | Cut off |
---|---|
Scheduled Caste (SC) | 36.00 |
Scheduled Tribe (ST) | 28.50 |
Other Backward Classes (OBC) | 42.25 |
General (Gen) | 42.75 |
Hearing Impaired | 15.75 |
Orthopaedically Challenged | 28.75 |
Visually Impaired | 23.25 |
Intellectual Disability | 17.75 |
IBPS PO Questions Asked in 2017 Prelim
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