IBPS Probationary Officer ( PO ) Examination
Introduction to IBPS PO
IBPS, an autonomous body registered under Societies Registration Act 1860 and a Public Trust under Bombay Public Trust Act 1950, has been authorized by IBA and has received a mandate from the 19 Public Sector Banks listed below to conduct the Common Written Examination.
A Common Written Examination (CWE) is conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) as a pre-requisite for selection of personnel for Probationary Officer/ Management Trainee posts in the Public Sector Bank.
This examination is conducted by at an interval of 6 months and Score obtained in this examination remains valid for one years from the issue of score card.
This system of Common Examination for recruitment of Probationary Officers/ Management Trainees has been approved by each of the 19 participating Public Sector Banks and the Managing Committee of the Indian Bank's Association (IBA) with the consent of the Government of India.
Participating Public Sector Banks
There are 19 Banks who recruit Probationary Officer through IBPS PO exam. They are listed below
- Allahabad Bank
- Andhra Bank
- Bank of Baroda
- Bank of India
- Bank of Maharashtra
- Canara Bank
- Central Bank of India
- Corporation Bank
- Dena Bank
- Indian Bank
- Indian Overseas Bank
- Oriental Bank of Commerce
- Punjab National Bank
- Punjab & Sind Bank
- Syndicate Bank
- Union Bank of India
- United Bank of India
- UCO Bank
- Vijaya Bank
Eligibility Criteria : Educational Qualification
Eligibility for IBPS-PO CWE is same that for recruitment as PO in public sectors commercial banks. Which can be summarized as below.
A degree in any discipline from a recognized University or any equivalent qualification recognized as such by the Central Government.
Eligibility Criteria : Age Limit
Candidate must have minimum age of 20 years and maximum age of 30 years(General Category candidates). There is relaxation in upper age limit in case of reserved category candidates as below
- For Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe relaxation of 5 years
- For Other Backward Classes (Non-Creamy Layer) relaxation of 3 years
| Category | Relaxation |
|---|---|
| Persons With Disabilities | 10 years |
| 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 (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within the stipulated time) otherwise than by way of dismissal or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency or physical disability attributable to military service or invalidment | 5 years |
| Persons ordinarily domiciled in the Kashmir Division of the State of Jammu & Kashmir during the period 01.01.1980 to 31.12.1989 | 5 years |
| Persons affected by 1984 riots | 5 years |
| Persons who have completed 5 years of service in RRBs | 5 years |
Recruitment Process
An individual who aspires to join any of the above Public Sector Banks as a Probationary Officer/ Management Trainee will necessarily be required to take the CWE.
After the examination, successful candidates are issued their mark sheets, which remains valid for one year.
Each participating Public Sector Bank will independently issue a separate recruitment notification, specifying their vacancies and stipulating the eligibility criteria in terms of
- age
- educational qualification
- experience (if any)
- minimum required level of IBPS score in each component test plus Total Weighted Score (if any) etc
Successful candidates in the CWE who have been issued scorecards and who meet the stipulated eligibility criteria are then required to apply to any of the participating banks they wish to, quoting their personal details and their CWE scores
Each bank will then individually shortlist candidates and carry out their own selection processes such as Group Discussions and/ or Interviews etc. for final selection.
Exam Pattern for IBPS PO
Common Written examination is a single examination for 2.5hours+1hour duration. This examination comprises questions from following sections.
- Reasoning
- English Language
- Quantitative Aptitude
- General Awareness (with special reference to Banking Industry)
- Computer Knowledge and
- Descriptive Paper on English Composition (Essay, Précis, Letter Writing etc)
Total Marks = 225 (Objective) + 25 (subjective) = 250
Total Time = 150 mins (Objective) + 60 mins (Subjective) = 250 mins
Composition of Objective Paper :
This Paper consist of 5 sections. All sections are of objective type
| Sl. No. | Subject | No. of Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reasoning | 50 | 50 |
| 2 | English Language | 25 | 25 |
| 3 | Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 50 |
| 4 | General Awareness(with special reference to Banking Industry) | 50 | 50 |
| 5 | Computer Knowledge | 50 | 50 |
NOTE : A composite time of 150 minutes will be alloted for all 5 sections.After the Objective paper you will face the Descriptive Paper.
Descriptive Paper :
Total Marks :25, Time Allotted : 60 minutes
Descriptive Paper will be on English Composition and consists of Essay, Precis, Letter Writing etc. For Descriptive Paper an extra time of 60 minutes (1 hr) will be provided you.
NOTE : The above tests except the Test of English Language and Descriptive Paper on English Composition will be printed bilingually, i.e. English and Hindi.
NOTE : The Descriptive Papers of only those candidates who secure minimum qualifying marks in each of the objective tests will be evaluated.
Some More Information
PENALTY FOR WRONG ANSWERS :
There will be penalty for wrong answers marked in the Objective Test. For eachquestion for which a wrong answer has been given bythe candidate one fourth or 0.25 of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty to arrive at corrected score. If the total of the penalty for a test is in fraction, the marks obtained will be rounded off to the nearest integer, i.e. if fraction exceeds by 0.50 or more, it will be rounded off to next higher integer. If for any question a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated as wrong even if one of the given answers happens to be right and there will be the same penalty of 0.25 of the marks assigned to that question deducted as penalty. If a question is left blank, i.e. no answer is given by the candidate, there will be no penalty for that question.
STANDARDIZED SCORES :
The corrected scores obtained by each of the candidates will further be converted into standardized scores following Linear Conversion Method.
CUT OFF SCORE :
Each candidate will have to secure a minimum standardized score in each of the tests to qualify in the written examination and to be considered for vacancies in the participating banks. The cut-off points will be decided based on the average (Average – ¼ Standard Deviation for General category candidates and Average – ¾ Standard Deviation for Reserved Category candidates).
CWE SCORE CARD and VALIDITY :
IBPS will print the Score Cards for each of the qualifying candidates and will send the same by Registered/ Speed post to each candidate at the correspondence address specified in his/ her online application.
Score Cards issued by IBPS will be valid for one year from the date of issue of the Score Card.
Candidates can appear in subsequent examination(s) to enhance their scores if they so desire.