IBPS Clerk syllabus

Almost every IBPS Clerk resource prints the negative marking as a flat 0.25. That is correct in prelims, where every question carries one mark. In mains it is wrong. IBPS deducts one quarter of the marks assigned to that question, and mains questions are worth different amounts in different sections, so a wrong Reasoning answer costs 0.375 and a wrong Quantitative Aptitude answer costs 0.3125.

The second thing to settle early is that there is no interview. Your mains score is the merit list, subject to clearing a Language Proficiency Test that carries no marks and can still end your candidature.

The syllabus below separates the two stages and follows the revised CRP CSA-XVI pattern. Browse the available IBPS Clerk practice papers.

Syllabus by section

IBPS Clerk at a glance

Exam pattern

Prelims (100 marks, 60 minutes, each section separately timed)

Mains (200 marks, 125 minutes, each section separately timed)

Prelims marks do not carry forward. They decide who sits mains and nothing else.

Because mains sections carry different marks for the same number of questions, a wrong answer costs a different amount depending on where you are in the paper. The arithmetic is below, and it changes how aggressively you should guess in each section.

Reasoning is the section where a wrong answer hurts most and a right answer pays most. It is also the only mains section where 40 questions are worth 60 marks.

Candidates who clear mains sit a Language Proficiency Test in the official language of the state or union territory they applied for. It adds nothing to the score. Failing it removes you from the process after you have already made the merit list, which is why the state you apply to matters as much as the marks you score.

How the pattern has changed

The mains paper was revised for the CRP CSA-XVI cycle. Prelims was left alone.

The extra five minutes almost exactly covers the extra five questions. Under the old paper you had about 46 seconds per question and now you have about 47, so anyone expecting the longer window to ease the pace will be disappointed.

The section to look at is General and Financial Awareness, which gives you 40 questions in 20 minutes. That is 30 seconds each, half the time you get in every other mains section. It is a recall section by design, and candidates who try to reason their way through it run out of clock.

Mock papers built on the 155 question pattern are still circulating. Check the question count before you sit one.

Prelims syllabus

English Language

• Reading comprehension: passages of roughly 300 to 500 words with main idea, inference, vocabulary in context and tone questions

• Cloze test: a short passage with blanks testing grammar and word choice

• Error spotting and sentence correction: subject verb agreement, tenses, prepositions, articles, parallel structure

• Para jumbles and sentence rearrangement

• Fill in the blanks: single and double blank items

• Phrase replacement and word usage

The full English Language breakdown covers the mains only formats and how the 20 minute prelims clock changes what you attempt.

Numerical Ability

• Simplification and approximation: BODMAS, decimals, fractions, surds

• Number series: missing and wrong number series

• Arithmetic: percentages, ratio and proportion, averages, profit and loss, simple and compound interest, time and work, time speed and distance, mixtures, partnership

• Data interpretation: tables, bar graphs, line graphs and pie charts, usually one or two sets

• Quadratic equations and comparison of quantities

• Mensuration and probability at a basic level

The full quantitative aptitude breakdown covers mains level data interpretation and the calculation speed the 35 second prelims pace demands.

Reasoning Ability

• Puzzles and seating arrangement: linear, circular, floor and box based puzzles, scheduling by day or month

• Syllogism: all, some and no statements with conclusions

• Inequalities: direct and coded

• Coding and decoding, blood relations, direction sense

• Order and ranking, alphanumeric series, number series

• Data sufficiency and basic logical reasoning

The full reasoning breakdown covers mains puzzles, input output and why this is the costliest section to guess in.

Mains syllabus

General and Financial Awareness

• Banking awareness: RBI structure and functions, monetary policy tools, types of banks, NBFCs, payment and settlement systems, UPI and digital banking, priority sector lending, financial inclusion schemes

• Financial awareness: budget terms, inflation measures, GDP and growth indicators, capital and money markets, SEBI and IRDAI, international bodies such as the IMF and World Bank

• Current affairs: appointments, awards, summits, government schemes, new RBI and SEBI measures, roughly the last six to eight months before the paper

• Static awareness: national and international headquarters, capitals and currencies, important days, books and authors, sports events

This section appears only in mains and has no page of its own, because the topic list above is the whole of it. The work is in the recall speed, not the coverage.

General English

• Reading comprehension with longer passages than prelims, often with vocabulary and inference sub questions

• Cloze test, usually in the newer connector based format

• Error spotting, sentence correction and phrase replacement

• Para jumbles, para completion and sentence connectors

• Word swap, column based fillers and idiom usage

Reasoning Ability

• All prelims reasoning topics at higher difficulty, with multi variable and multi layered puzzles

• Input output and machine input

• Logical reasoning: statement and assumption, statement and conclusion, cause and effect, course of action

• Verbal reasoning and critical reasoning items

• Data sufficiency in two and three statement formats

• Coded inequalities and coded blood relations

Quantitative Aptitude

• Data interpretation at mains level: caselet, missing data, mixed and multi graph sets

• Arithmetic word problems across the full prelims topic list at greater depth

• Number series, simplification and approximation under tighter time

• Quadratic equations and quantity comparison

• Permutation, combination and probability

• Mensuration, both two and three dimensional

• Data sufficiency applied to arithmetic

What is not in the syllabus

• No descriptive or essay paper. Every question in both stages is multiple choice

• No interview at any stage

• No General Awareness in prelims

• No trigonometry, calculus, coordinate geometry or matrices

• No optional or subject choice paper

• No banking law or accountancy at professional exam depth

• No programming or coding questions

How to spend the time

Prelims is a speed test on school level material. Numerical Ability and Reasoning each give you 35 questions in 20 minutes, which is about 34 seconds per question, so the constraint is calculation speed rather than topic knowledge. Build that first.

Puzzles and seating arrangements are where prelims attempts go to die. A five variable puzzle can swallow eight minutes of a 20 minute section. Practise them untimed until the method is automatic, then practise choosing which one to skip.

Start General and Financial Awareness the day you start preparing. It is the one mains section that cannot be built in a fortnight, because the current affairs window runs six to eight months deep. A monthly digest plus a financial newspaper habit covers it.

Once your prelims accuracy is stable, move to full mains papers. Sectional strength does not survive a locked 20 minute awareness section, and most candidates find that out in the hall rather than in practice. Browse the available IBPS Clerk practice papers.

Common mistakes

• Assuming negative marking is 0.25 across the board and guessing freely in Reasoning, where it is 0.375

• Preparing from a 155 question mains paper

• Treating prelims marks as part of the final merit

• Leaving General and Financial Awareness until after prelims results, then meeting 40 questions in 20 minutes cold

• Applying to a state whose official language you cannot clear a proficiency test in

• Using current affairs compilations older than the exam cycle

• Practising mains Quantitative Aptitude at prelims difficulty, where the data interpretation sets are far lighter

• Skipping the mains Reasoning section plan despite it carrying the highest marks of the four

IBPS Clerk against IBPS PO and SBI Clerk

The three exams share a prelims shape and diverge after it. The IBPS PO syllabus covers the officer cadre paper in full.

Frequently asked questions

Is the IBPS Clerk prelims score added to the final merit?

No. Prelims decides who is shortlisted for mains. The merit list is drawn from the mains score alone.

How many questions are in IBPS Clerk mains now?

160 questions for 200 marks in 125 minutes, under the revised CRP CSA-XVI pattern. The previous cycle had 155 questions in 120 minutes.

Is there negative marking in IBPS Clerk?

Yes, in both stages. One quarter of the marks assigned to that question is deducted for a wrong answer. In prelims that is 0.25 throughout. In mains it ranges from 0.25 in General English to 0.375 in Reasoning Ability.

Is there an interview in IBPS Clerk?

No. Selection runs prelims, mains, then a Language Proficiency Test.

What is the Language Proficiency Test?

A test of the official language of the state or union territory you applied for, held after mains. It carries no marks. Candidates who fail it are removed from the process regardless of their mains score.

Which mains section carries the most marks?

Reasoning Ability, at 60 marks for 40 questions. Every other mains section carries 50 marks or fewer.

Is General Awareness asked in prelims?

No. General and Financial Awareness appears only in mains.

What is the eligibility for IBPS Clerk?

A graduate degree in any discipline, computer literacy and proficiency in the official language of the state or union territory applied for. The age range is 20 to 28 years, with relaxation for reserved categories.

Is the post still called clerk?

IBPS now recruits for the post of Customer Service Associate. The exam is still widely searched as IBPS Clerk and the syllabus is the same thing under both names.

How much time do I get per question in mains?

About 47 seconds on average. The split is uneven: General and Financial Awareness gives you 30 seconds per question, and the other three sections give you around 52 seconds.

Does sectional timing mean I can go back to an earlier section?

No. Each section closes when its own clock runs out and unused minutes do not transfer.

Is the IBPS Clerk syllabus the same as IBPS PO?

The topic lists overlap heavily. The papers differ in structure: IBPS PO adds a descriptive test and an interview, and its mains runs to 170 objective questions against 160 for Clerk.