CRP PO/MT-XVI • Notification Out

IBPS PO 2026

The complete, notification-accurate guide to the 16th edition of the Common Recruitment Process: 6,715 Probationary Officer and Management Trainee vacancies across 11 public sector banks. Everything you need on dates, eligibility, exam pattern, salary, and a modern preparation strategy.

Updated for 2026 cycle • Based on the official IBPS notification (01.07.2026) • Source: ibps.in

6,715VacanciesIndicative, FY 2027-28

11PSU BanksSingle common process

₹48,480Starting BasicPlus DA, HRA, perks

Aug + OctExam WindowPrelims and Mains 2026

IBPS PO 2026 at a glance

Exam: IBPS CRP PO/MT-XVI, the 16th Common Recruitment Process, conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection.
Vacancies: 6,715 indicative posts (roughly 1,507 more than last cycle, close to a 29 percent jump), for the vacancy year 2027-28.
Registration: 01 July 2026 to 21 July 2026, online only at ibps.in.
Selection: Preliminary Exam, Main Exam (objective plus descriptive), Personality Test, and Common Interview.
Eligibility: Graduation in any discipline, age 20 to 30 years as on 01.07.2026.

On this page

What this guide covers

Section 01

IBPS PO 2026 Notification Overview

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) has released the detailed notification for CRP PO/MT-XVI, the recruitment cycle popularly known as IBPS PO 2026. First held in 2011, this is the 16th edition of the common process that hires Probationary Officers and Management Trainees for the country's public sector banks.

The headline this year is scale. IBPS has announced 6,715 indicative vacancies, an increase of roughly 1,507 posts over the previous cycle. That is close to a 29 percent jump, which makes 2026 one of the more generous banking recruitment years in recent memory. These vacancies are meant for the financial year 2027-28 and are spread across 11 participating public sector banks.

Why one exam, many banks IBPS runs a single Common Recruitment Process on behalf of all participating banks. You apply once, sit one Prelims and one Mains, and are provisionally allotted to one bank on a merit-cum-preference basis. IBPS coordinates the process up to provisional allotment. After that, the allotted bank handles the offer, joining, and posting.

A Probationary Officer is the entry-level officer cadre in a public sector bank. It offers a stable government-sector salary, a clear promotion ladder from Scale I officer up to General Manager, an all-India posting, and the social standing of a banking career. For lakhs of graduates, cracking IBPS PO is the first solid step toward financial independence.

Section 02

IBPS PO 2026 Important Dates

All dates below are tentative as stated in the notification. IBPS can revise any date, so keep checking ibps.in and your registered email.

Activity	Tentative Schedule
Online registration and edit or modification	01 July 2026 to 21 July 2026
Payment of application fees (online)	01 July 2026 to 21 July 2026
Edit or correction window	2 days after close of registration
Pre-Examination Training (PET)	August 2026
Download of Prelims call letters	August 2026
Online Preliminary Examination	August 2026
Result of Preliminary Examination	September 2026
Download of Mains call letters	September or October 2026
Online Main Examination	October 2026
Declaration of Mains result	November 2026
Personality Test	November or December 2026
Conduct of Interview	December 2026 or January 2027
Provisional Allotment	January or February 2027

Mark your calendar Based on the announced schedule and past trends, Prelims are expected in August 2026 and Mains in October 2026. Plan your revision so that your Prelims peak lands in early August and your Mains push begins right after the Prelims result.

Section 03

IBPS PO 2026 Vacancies

The 6,715 vacancies are distributed across 11 public sector banks. The biggest share goes to Bank of Baroda, followed by Canara Bank and Bank of Maharashtra. Note that Indian Bank, UCO Bank, and Union Bank of India had not reported their vacancies at the time of the notification, so the final count may rise once these banks submit their numbers.

Participating Bank	SC	ST	OBC	EWS	UR	Total
Bank of Baroda	285	142	513	190	770	1,900
Bank of India	75	37	135	50	203	500
Bank of Maharashtra	165	82	297	110	446	1,100
Canara Bank	225	112	405	150	608	1,500
Central Bank of India	75	37	135	50	203	500
Indian Bank	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Indian Overseas Bank	84	41	148	54	223	550
Punjab National Bank	76	38	136	50	204	504
Punjab and Sind Bank	24	13	47	15	62	161
UCO Bank	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Union Bank of India	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Total	1,009	502	1,816	669	2,719	6,715

PwBD vacancies (out of the total)

Hearing Impaired (HI)	Orthopedically Challenged (OC)	Visually Impaired (VI)	Intellectual Disability (ID)
73	70	67	77

Read this carefully Vacancies are indicative. Provisional allotment is done on the basis of the actual vacancies reported by the banks. Do not treat the indicative numbers as final while choosing your bank preferences.

Section 04

IBPS PO 2026 Eligibility Criteria

Educational qualification (as on 21.07.2026)

A degree (graduation) in any discipline from a University recognised by the Government of India, or an equivalent qualification recognised by the Central Government. The final result must have been declared on or before 21 July 2026. Where CGPA or OGPA is awarded, convert it to a percentage using your University's own formula and carry documentary proof to the interview.

Rounding-off rule Fractions of a percentage are ignored. So 59.99 percent is treated as less than 60 percent, and 54.99 percent is treated as less than 55 percent. This matters when a bank sets a minimum percentage bar.

Age limit (as on 01.07.2026)

Minimum 20 years and maximum 30 years, that is, born not earlier than 02 July 1996 and not later than 01 July 2006 (both dates inclusive).

Category	Upper age relaxation
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe	5 years
Other Backward Classes (Non-Creamy Layer)	3 years
Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (RPwD Act 2016)	10 years
Ex-Servicemen (with at least 5 years of service)	5 years

SC, ST, and OBC (NCL) relaxation can be combined with only one of the other permitted categories.
The OBC certificate must carry a non-creamy-layer clause and be issued on or after 01.04.2026 up to the interview date.
The EWS income and asset certificate must be valid for the relevant year as specified in the notification.

Nationality and credit history

You must be a citizen of India, or a subject of Nepal or Bhutan, or a Tibetan refugee who came to India before 01 January 1962, or a person of Indian origin who migrated from specified countries with intent to settle permanently. Categories other than Indian citizens need an eligibility certificate from the Government of India. Separately, candidates are advised to maintain a healthy credit history at the time of joining, since the minimum credit score is set by each bank's policy.

Section 05

Application Fee and How to Apply

Category	Fee (inclusive of GST)
SC / ST / PwBD	₹175
General / EWS / OBC and all others	₹850
Edit window correction fee (all categories)	₹200

Payment is online only, through Debit Card, Credit Card, Net Banking, IMPS, mobile wallets, or UPI. The fee is non-refundable, so apply carefully.

Step-by-step application process

Go to ibps.in

Open the CRP PO/MT link and click the apply-online option for CRP-PO/MT-XVI to open the application form.

New registration

Enter your basic details to generate a Provisional Registration Number and Password, which are also sent by email and SMS. Note them down.

Upload documents

Upload your photograph, a live webcam or mobile photo, signature, left thumb impression, handwritten declaration, and 10th standard certificate as per the exact specifications.

Fill and verify the form

Use Save and Next to check every section. Set your order of preference for the banks here. Click Complete Registration only after verifying all details, since no change is allowed later.

Pay the fee

Complete the online payment. An e-receipt is generated on success.

Save your printout

Take a printout of the system-generated form and the e-receipt for your records. Do not post anything to IBPS or the banks.

Document upload specifications

Document	Format	Dimensions	File size
Photograph	JPEG	200 x 230 px	20 to 50 KB
Signature	JPEG	140 x 60 px	10 to 20 KB
Left thumb impression	JPEG	240 x 240 px	20 to 50 KB
Handwritten declaration	JPEG	800 x 400 px	50 to 100 KB
10th standard certificate	PDF (A4)	-	Max 500 KB

Edit window A correction window opens for about 2 days after registration closes (fee ₹200). Fields like Name, Email, Mobile Number, State, Permanent Address, Post, and Nationality cannot be changed even in this window, so get them right the first time. The signature and handwritten declaration must not be in capital letters, or the form is rejected.

Section 06

IBPS PO 2026 Exam Pattern

The written exam is two-tier and fully online. You must clear the Preliminary Exam to reach the Main Exam, and clear the Main Exam to reach the Personality Test and Interview.

Preliminary Examination (objective)

Test	Questions	Marks	Medium	Time
English Language	30	30	English	20 min
Quantitative Aptitude	35	30	English and Hindi	20 min
Reasoning Ability	35	40	English and Hindi	20 min
Total	100	100		60 min

Each section is separately timed at 20 minutes. You must clear the sectional cut-off in each of the three tests to qualify for the Mains.

Main Examination (objective)

Test	Questions	Marks	Medium	Time
Reasoning	40	60	English and Hindi	50 min
General, Economy and Banking Awareness (incl. RBI circulars)	35	50	English and Hindi	25 min
English Language	35	40	English	40 min
Data Analysis and Interpretation	35	50	English and Hindi	45 min
Total (objective)	145	200		160 min

Main Examination (descriptive) Updated

Paper	Questions	Marks	Medium	Time
Essay and Comprehension	2	25	English only	30 min

Big change to note The descriptive paper is now Essay plus Comprehension, typed on the computer. The old letter-writing task has been dropped. In the 2025 Mains, the essay carried the larger weight (around 15 marks) and comprehension the rest (around 10 marks). The marks add to your Mains score, so this small paper can decide your final rank. More on how to prepare for it is in the strategy section below.

Negative marking For every wrong answer in the objective tests (both Prelims and Mains), 0.25 marks (one-fourth of that question's marks) are deducted. There is no penalty for a blank. Attempt smartly and avoid blind guessing.

Section 07

IBPS PO 2026 Syllabus

Reasoning Ability

Puzzles and seating arrangement, syllogism, coding-decoding, blood relations, inequalities, data sufficiency, input-output, direction and order-ranking, alphanumeric series.

Quantitative Aptitude

Simplification and approximation, number series, quadratic equations, arithmetic (percentage, ratio, time and work, speed, profit and loss), and data interpretation in tables, bar, line, caselet, and mixed sets.

English Language

Reading comprehension, cloze test, para-jumbles, error spotting, sentence improvement, fillers, word usage and vocabulary.

Data Analysis and Interpretation (Mains)

Advanced and multi-step DI, caselet DI, data sufficiency, quantity comparison, and application-based arithmetic sets.

General, Banking and Economy Awareness

Current affairs of the last 6 to 10 months, RBI and SEBI updates and circulars, banking and financial terms, government schemes, committees, budget and economy, static banking awareness.

Descriptive (Essay and Comprehension)

Essays on economy, social issues, banking and technology, sustainability, and ethics. A comprehension passage that tests analysis, not just facts.

Section 08

Selection Process

Online Preliminary Examination

Qualifying stage. Clear the sectional and overall cut-off to be shortlisted for the Mains. Prelims marks do not count toward the final merit.

Online Main Examination

Objective (200 marks) plus a descriptive paper (25 marks). This is the score that decides your final merit.

Personality Test

A self-report that is non-qualifying, but appearing for it is mandatory to be eligible for the interview.

Common Interview

100 marks. Minimum qualifying is 40 percent for General and EWS, and 35 percent for SC, ST, OBC, and PwBD candidates.

Final merit maths The final score combines Mains and Interview in an 80:20 ratio. Prelims are only a gateway. This means your Mains performance carries the real weight, so build your entire strategy around peaking in the Main Examination.

Section 09

IBPS PO 2026 Salary and Career

The basic pay scale for a PO or MT is ₹48,480-2000/7-62,480-2340/2-67,160-2680/7-85,920. In plain terms, the pay grows in three stages:

Stage	Pay at start	Annual increment	Duration	Pay at end
Stage I	₹48,480	₹2,000	7 years	₹62,480
Stage II	₹62,480	₹2,340	2 years	₹67,160
Stage III	₹67,160	₹2,680	7 years	₹85,920

On top of the basic pay, an officer receives Dearness Allowance (DA), House Rent Allowance (HRA), City Compensatory Allowance (CCA), medical benefits, and other perquisites as per each bank's rules. The approximate in-hand salary at the start works out to around ₹74,000 to ₹76,000 per month, though the exact figure varies by city and bank.

Growth path A PO joins as a Scale I officer and can rise through Scale II (Manager), Scale III (Senior Manager), and further up to Chief Manager, Assistant General Manager, Deputy General Manager, and General Manager, based on performance and internal promotion exams. The posting is all-India.

Section 10

Preparation Strategy for IBPS PO 2026

The competition is high, so a clean, phase-wise plan beats scattered effort. Here is how serious aspirants break it down.

Phase 1: Clear the Prelims first

Speed with accuracy. With only 20 minutes per section, your job is to pick the easy questions first and skip the traps. Sectional cut-offs mean you cannot ignore any of the three subjects.
Quant and Reasoning reward daily practice. Master simplification, arithmetic, and DI in Quant, and puzzles, seating, and inequalities in Reasoning. Aim for 25 to 30 quality attempts per section.
English is where many candidates lose the sectional cut-off. Reading comprehension, cloze test, and error spotting are the reliable scoring areas.

Phase 2: Win the Mains, because that is the merit

Since the final list is built from Mains and Interview in an 80:20 ratio, the Mains is where selection is actually decided. Recent Mains papers have raised the bar:

Data Analysis and Interpretation has become multi-step and calculation-heavy, often with hidden clues that unlock several questions at once. Start with the cleanest set and keep your approximations ready.
Reasoning leans on complex puzzles and machine input-output. Practice a wide variety so no puzzle type surprises you on exam day.
English mixes inference-based RC, meaningful para-jumbles, grammar error-spotting, and cloze tests. Do not overthink the RC.
General and Banking Awareness covers the last 6 to 10 months of current affairs, RBI and SEBI updates, banking terms, committees, schemes, and market facts. This section is a scoring goldmine if your current affairs are strong.

Phase 3: Do not treat the descriptive paper lightly

The 2025 Mains confirmed a real shift in the descriptive paper. It is now an essay plus a comprehension passage, typed on the computer, and it has moved from a pure writing test to a thinking-and-writing test. The essay topics are issue-based and analytical rather than generic. For reference, the 2025 Mains essay themes included biodiversity and the balance between the Right to Information and government protection, while the comprehension explored artificial intelligence in India compared with other countries.

Spend the first 2 to 3 minutes planning, write a crisp introduction, keep body paragraphs focused, and close with a clear conclusion.
Keep the tone formal, balanced, and neutral. Avoid emotional or one-sided writing in both the essay and the comprehension answers.
Practise typing under a 30-minute clock so you can plan, write, and proof-read without running out of time.

Reference material for strategy Beyond self-study, use full-length mock tests to fix your section order and time budget, and go through previous-year Mains papers to feel the real difficulty. For the two areas that most often decide selection, current affairs and the descriptive paper, structured practice with model answers pays off fast. Two focused resources for exactly this are linked at the end of this guide.

Section 11

Cut-off Reference (Previous Cycle)

Cut-offs change every year with difficulty and vacancies, so treat the figures below as a rough benchmark, not a target guarantee. These are the previous cycle's Prelims cut-offs (out of 100).

Category	Prelims cut-off (approx.)
General / EWS / OBC-NCL	around 49
SC	around 46
ST	around 41
PwBD (varies by type)	around 20 to 34

How to read this A safe Prelims target for a General candidate is comfortably above the expected cut-off, so aim for the mid-to-high 50s to be secure. Because more vacancies this year can slightly ease cut-offs, but higher applications can push them up, do not plan for a bare pass.

Section 12

Frequently Asked Questions

How many vacancies are there in IBPS PO 2026?

IBPS PO 2026 (CRP PO/MT-XVI) has 6,715 indicative vacancies across 11 participating public sector banks for the financial year 2027-28. Category-wise, that is SC 1,009, ST 502, OBC 1,816, EWS 669, and UR 2,719. Indian Bank, UCO Bank, and Union Bank of India had not reported their vacancies at the time of the notification, so the total may rise.

What are the IBPS PO 2026 registration dates?

Online registration is open from 01 July 2026 to 21 July 2026. The application fee is paid in the same window, online only, at ibps.in.

What is the age limit for IBPS PO 2026?

As on 01.07.2026, you must be between 20 and 30 years, that is, born not earlier than 02 July 1996 and not later than 01 July 2006. Relaxations apply: SC and ST get 5 years, OBC-NCL gets 3 years, PwBD gets 10 years, and Ex-Servicemen get 5 years.

What is the educational qualification required?

A graduation degree in any discipline from a Government-recognised University, with the final result declared on or before 21 July 2026. CGPA must be converted to a percentage using your University's own formula.

What is the IBPS PO 2026 exam pattern?

Prelims: 100 questions, 100 marks, 60 minutes, with three sections each timed at 20 minutes. Mains: 145 objective questions for 200 marks in 160 minutes, plus a descriptive paper (Essay and Comprehension) of 2 questions for 25 marks in 30 minutes. This is followed by a Personality Test and Interview.

Is there negative marking?

Yes. In the objective tests of both Prelims and Mains, 0.25 marks are deducted for each wrong answer. There is no penalty for questions left blank.

What is the application fee?

SC, ST, and PwBD candidates pay ₹175. All others (General, EWS, OBC) pay ₹850. Both are inclusive of GST and non-refundable. The edit window correction fee is ₹200.

What is the salary of an IBPS PO?

The basic pay starts at ₹48,480 per month on the scale 48,480-2000/7-62,480-2340/2-67,160-2680/7-85,920. With DA, HRA, and other allowances, the approximate starting in-hand salary is around ₹74,000 to ₹76,000, varying by city and bank.

What is the selection process and how is the final merit decided?

The stages are Preliminary Exam, Main Exam, Personality Test, and Interview. Prelims are only qualifying. The final merit is based on the Mains and Interview in an 80:20 ratio, so your Mains score carries the real weight.

Which banks participate in IBPS PO 2026?

Eleven public sector banks: Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab National Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, UCO Bank, and Union Bank of India.

Level up your prep

Courses to crack the two decisive areas

Current affairs and the descriptive paper decide the Mains merit for most aspirants. These two focused programs by Brajesh Mohan are built for exactly that, with model answers, monthly magazines, and live evaluation.

All in One Current Affairs Course

Monthly current affairs magazine, PIB and RBI or SEBI circulars digest, top 100 MCQs, printable revision PDFs, and 10-plus e-book compendiums. The number one pick for the General and Banking Awareness section.

₹1,199 Validity: Jan to Dec 2026

Enroll Now

English Descriptive Writing Program

Five descriptive tests with detailed evaluation, live and recorded classes on essays, precis and RC, plus a compendium with 50-plus model essays, precis, and RC on the latest topics. Built to score the descriptive paper.

₹699 Essay, Precis, RC and more