IBPS PO Exam 2016 will be held in three sessions: preliminary exam, main exam, followed by an interview. According to the official notification, the online registrations will start from July 26, 2016 and the last date to submit application is August 13, 2016 on www.ibpsexam.org.
IBPS will conduct, evaluate and publish the results for the all India common test to facilitate filling of a total of 8822 bank jobs in the year 2017-18 across 20 public sector banks.
Selection process
Age limit for the exam is 20 to 30 years of age (age relaxation for OBC candidate is 3 year and for SC/ST candidate is 5 years) as on July 1, 2016. Candidates should have graduation degree from a recognized university as on August 13, 2016. IBPS has not mentioned a specific percentage required to apply for these exams.
All the interested candidates would need to go through a selection process. Candidates who clear the preliminary test will be eligible for the mains. The select candidates who clear the mains would shortlisted for an interview conducted by the participating organisations and coordinated by the nodal bank in each State/ UT with the help of IBPS at select centres.
After the interview is conducted, candidates will have to register their order of preference for recruitment in the participating banks and institutions.
Important dates:
| Online registrations | July 26, 2016 to August 13, 2016 |
| Download invite letter (for training) | July 26, 2016 to August 03, 2016 |
| Pre-exam training | August 03 to August 08, 2016 |
| Preliminary exam | October 16, 22 and 23, 2016 |
| Download admit card (for mains) | November 2016 |
| Main examination | November 20, 2016 |
| Result | December 2016 |
| Download call letter (for interview) | January 2017 |
| Interview | January/February 2017 |
| Final / provisional allotment | April 2017 |
In the qualifier examination, candidates will have to answer questions based on English language, quantitative aptitude and reasoning ability. The exam comprising a total of 100 questions should be answered within an hour. Candidates have to qualify in each of the three tests by securing cut-off marks as decided by IBPS.
| Test | No of questions | Maximum marks | Duration |
| English language | 30 | 30 | Composite time of 1 hour |
| Quantitative aptitude | 35 | 35 | |
| Reasoning ability | 35 | 35 | |
| Total | 100 | 100 |
For the main exam, the candidates will be quizzed on the basis of reasoning, English language, quantitative aptitude, general awareness with special emphasis on banking, and computer knowledge. The exam will include a total of 200 questions to be answered with in 2 hour and 20 minutes time period. Each section must be completed within the specified time limit. IBPS will determine the cutoff scores (section-wise and total) to be called for common interviews.
| Test | No of questions | Maximum marks | Medium of exam | Time (Seperately timed) |
| Reasoning | 50 | 50 | English & Hindi | 40 minutes |
| English language | 40 | 40 | English | 30 minutes |
| Quantitative aptitude | 50 | 50 | English & Hindi | 40 minutes |
| General awareness | 40 | 40 | English & Hindi | 20 minutes |
| Computer Knowledge | 20 | 20 | English & Hindi | 10 minutes |
| Total | 200 | 200 | 140 minutes | |
