IBPS RRB Officer Exam Pattern & Syllabus
Last verified 31 Jul 2026
The IBPS RRB Officer exam pattern is set out below. Yes — one fourth of the marks assigned to a question is deducted for each wrong answer.
IBPS RRB Officer exam pattern
| Section | Questions | Marks | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scale I Prelims — Reasoning | 40 | 40 | 25 minutes |
| Scale I Prelims — Quantitative Aptitude | 40 | 40 | 20 minutes |
| Scale I Prelims total | 80 | 80 | 45 minutes |
| Scale I Mains — Reasoning | 40 | 50 | 30 minutes |
| Scale I Mains — Computer Knowledge | 40 | 20 | 15 minutes |
| Scale I Mains — General Awareness | 40 | 40 | 15 minutes |
| Scale I Mains — English or Hindi Language | 40 | 40 | 30 minutes |
| Scale I Mains — Quantitative Aptitude | 40 | 50 | 30 minutes |
| Scale I Mains total | 200 | 200 | 120 minutes |
| Scale II and III — Single Online Examination | As notified | As notified | As notified |
What counts towards the final merit
For Scale I, only the Main Examination and Interview count. For Scale II and III the Single Online Examination and Interview count. Merit is drawn separately for each Regional Rural Bank.
One application per cadre, one post within the officer cadre
IBPS states that not more than one application may be made for any cadre, and that candidates should apply for only one post among Scale I, II and III. You may apply once as an Office Assistant and once as an Officer — those are separate cadres with separate applications and separate fees — but you cannot spread applications across the three officer scales.
Every section is separately timed
Bank examinations lock each section to its own clock. You cannot carry unused minutes from an easy section into a hard one, and once a section closes you cannot return to it. Practising a full paper without sectional timers trains the wrong habit entirely.
Syllabus
Reasoning Ability
Puzzles and seating arrangement, syllogism, inequality, blood relations, direction sense, coding and decoding, order and ranking, input-output, data sufficiency, and statement and assumption. Puzzles and seating arrangement dominate the section.
Quantitative Aptitude / Numerical Ability
Data interpretation, number series, simplification and approximation, quadratic equations, and arithmetic — percentage, ratio and proportion, profit and loss, simple and compound interest, time and work, time speed and distance, mixture and alligation, and probability.
English Language
Reading comprehension, cloze test, error spotting, sentence improvement, para jumbles, fillers, word usage and vocabulary in context.
General / Financial / Banking Awareness
Current affairs of the last six months with a banking and economic slant, RBI circulars and monetary policy, banking terminology and abbreviations, financial institutions and their headquarters, government schemes, budget and economic survey highlights, and static awareness.
Computer Aptitude
Fundamentals of computers, hardware and software, operating systems, MS Office, internet and networking basics, database basics, computer abbreviations and security.