IBPS SO 2020: The IBPS SO 2020 application form is now available on ibps.in. Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) has also released the notification for Specialist Officer (SO) cadre recruitment. Also known as the Common Recruitment Process of Special Officer (CRP-SPL), IBPS SO prelims are scheduled to be held on December 26, and 27, 2020. The Mains exam is scheduled to be held on January 24, 2021. This year, IBPS has announced 647 vacancies for IBPS SO 2020 exam. Know about the recruitment exam and its complete details and get the latest news of IBPS SO 2020 such as exam date, notification, how to apply online, exam pattern, etc. in this article
Latest: IBPS SO 2020 application form is now available. Click here to apply
IBPS SO 2020
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection conducts the IBPS SO 2020 recruitment exam through three stages. Know the key exam dates for all the recruitment events of IBPS SO 2020 below.
| IBPS SO Recruitment 2020 | Important Dates |
| Release of notice | 01 Nov 2020 |
| Start of Registration | 02 Nov 2020 |
| End of registration | 23 Nov 2020 |
| Release of call letter for prelims | December 2020 |
| IBPS SO 2020 Prelims exam date | 26, 27 Dec 2020 |
| Declaration of prelims Result | January 2021 |
| Release of call letter for mains | January 2021 |
| IBPS SO 2020 Mains exam date | 24 Jan 2021 |
| Declaration of mains Result | February 2021 |
| Download call letter for interview | February 2021 |
| Conduct of Interview | February 2021 |
| Provisional Allotment | April 2021 |
Quick Links
Overview of IBPS SO 2020
The main purpose of the IBPS SO 2020 recruitment exam is to select and appoint eligible candidates at Specialist Officer cadre posts of different participating organisations. Qualifying candidates are appointed into the Scale-I posts as indicated through the official notification. The complete details of the exam can be found on this page. But before going through more intricate details, here is a brief overview of the exam below.
| Name of Exam | Common Recruitment Process for Specialist Officer Cadre |
| Conducting Body | Institute of Banking and Personnel Selection |
| Year | 2020 |
| Frequency | Once a year |
| Last Conducted in | 2019 |
| Minimum Eligibility | Graduation |
| Key Stages | Preliminary Main Personal Interview |
| Exam Fees | Rs 850/- |
| Mode of application | Online |
| Mode of exam | Online |
| Official Website | ibps.in |
IBPs SO Notification 2020
The official notification for IBPS SO is now available. Candidates can download IBPS SO notification below.
Posts Offered under IBPS SO 2020
Candidates are recruited in Specialist Officers cadre in the various participating organization. Check the posts that are offered under the IBPS SO.
- IT Officer
- Agricultural Field Officer
- Rajbhasha Adhikari
- Law Officer
- HR/ Personnel Officer
- Marketing Officer
Participating Organizations
- 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
- Union Bank of India
IBPS SO 2020 Eligibility Criteria
Candidates who are willing to apply for the IBPS SO 2020 must check and ensure that they meet the minimum eligibility criteria as specified by the Institute through the official notification. Check out the minimum conditions to be eligible to apply for the CRP-SPL X exam here below.
Nationality:
- A person must be the citizen of India, the subject of Nepal, Bhutan, Tibetan Refugee (who came India for permanent settlement.
- A person who is from India and migrated from East African countries of Kenya, Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Zambia, Ethiopia, and Vietnam intending to permanently live in India.
Age( as on November 01, 2020):
- The minimum age of candidates is 20 years
- The maximum age is 30 years.
Relaxation in upper age limit:
| Category | Relaxation |
| SC/ST | 5 years |
| OBC(NCL) | 3 years |
| PWD | 10 years |
| ESM | 5 years |
| Persons affected by 1984 riots | 5 years |
Educational Qualifications:
- For IT Officer (Scale): A person must have 4 year graduate degree or post graduate degree in Engineering/ Information Technology/ Electronics/ Electronics & Telecommunications/ Technology Degree in Computer Science/ Computer Applications/ Electronics & Communication/ Electronics & Instrumentation.
- For Agricultural Field Officer (Scale I): A person must have 4 years graduation degree in Marketing & Cooperation/ Co-operation & Banking/ Agro-Forestry/Forestry/ Agricultural Biotechnology/ Food Science/ Agriculture Business Management/ Food Technology/ Dairy Technology/ Agricultural Engineering/ Sericulture / Agriculture/ Horticulture/Animal Husbandry/ Veterinary Science/ Dairy Science/ Fishery Science/ Pisciculture/.
- For Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale I): A person must have a post-graduate degree in Hindi and Sanskrit with English as a subject at graduation level.
- For Law Officer (Scale I): A candidate must have a bachelor’s degree in law and must have enrolled as an advocate with Bar Council.
- For HR/Personnel Officer (Scale I): A person must be a graduate and a 2-year postgraduate degree in Personnel Management / Industrial Relations/ HR / HRD/ Social Work / Labour Law.
- For Marketing Officer (Scale I): A person must have a graduate degree and 2 years MMS (Marketing)/ 2 years MBA (Marketing)/ 2 years PGDBA / PGDBM/ PGPM/ PGDM with specialization in Marketing subject.
IBPS SO 2020 Online Application Form
Interested and eligible candidates can apply for the IBPS SO 2020 recruitment through the official website of the Institute. The online application form is released at the official website i.e. ibps.in as per schedule. Follow the steps given below to fill IBPS SO application form.
- Visit the official website of IBPS, ibps.in
- Thereafter, navigate to the CRP Specialist Officer link present on the left side of the home screen.
- Now, click on the relevant link to start the registration and application procedure for IBPS SO.
- Upload the scanned images of the photograph and signature and proceed to pay the application fee.
- Take a print out of the submitted application fee for future records.
Application fee: A specified fee as indicated in the official notification must be paid during the process of online application for the IBPS SO 2020. Candidates can check the application fee for candidates of different categories here below.
| Category | Amount (Inclusive of GST) |
| SC/ST/PWBD | Rs. 175/- |
| Except for SC/ST/PWBD (Others) | Rs 850/- |
IBPS SO 2020 Exam Pattern
The selection process consists of a two-tier exam and a final interview. The exams are referred to as the Prelims and the Mains exam. Both exams are conducted online and the Commission specifies the exam pattern of both stages of the exam in the official notification. Check out the details of the exam pattern in this section.
IBPs SO Prelims Exam Pattern
- Mode of Examination: The examination is held in online mode.
- Medium of Examination: The examination is held in both English and Hindi languages (except for the language section).
- Total Number of Question: There are 150 questions in the exam.
- Maximum Marks: The maximum marks are 125.
- Duration of Examination: 120 minutes are allotted to the candidate for the examination.
- Negative Marking: 1/4 marks are deducted for all incorrect answers.
For the post of Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari
| Subjects | Number of Questions | Maximum marks |
| English | 50 | 25 |
| Reasoning | 50 | 50 |
| General Awareness (related with banking) | 50 | 50 |
| Total | 150 | 125 |
For the Post of IT Officer, HR/Personnel Officer, Marketing Officer, and Agriculture Field Officer
| Subjects | Number of Questions | Maximum marks |
| English | 50 | 25 |
| Reasoning | 50 | 50 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 50 |
| Total | 150 | 125 |
IBPS SO Mains Exam Pattern
- Mode of Examination: The examination is held in online mode.
- Medium of Examination: The examination is held in both English and Hindi languages.
- Maximum Marks: 60
- Marking scheme: -0.25 marks
- Language: English & Hindi
For the Post of IT Officer, Agriculture Field Officer, HR/Personnel Officer, Law Officer, and Marketing Officer
| Subjects | Number of Questions | Maximum Marks |
| Professional Knowledge (45 MInutes) | 60 | 60 |
For the Post of Rajbhasha Adhikari
| Subjects | Number of Questions | Maximum marks |
| Professional Knowledge (Objective) | 45 | – |
| Professional Knowledge (Descriptive) | 2 | – |
| Total (Time 60 Minutes) | 60 |
Preparation Tips For IBPS SO 2020
One must adopt a robust preparation strategy and abide with it till the exam date to ensure that they secure above average marks to qualify in the exam. Furthermore, the success of a candidate in cracking the exam also depends on the adoption of smart study strategy. We have provided here some useful strategies to prepare for the exam and make it to the merit list in the first attempt.
At first, ensure that aspirants have and are following a study schedule. Refer to the syllabus and cover each subject/topic in the timetable. Ensure that they have enough time before the exam to finish the syllabus and then dedicate the last one or two weeks only to revisions.
Collect previous year papers, mock tests, and other learning materials in due time. Include these resources in your study time table.
Make short notes of important things to remember and memorize well. These short notes can also be referred to as revision materials during the last one or two weeks before the exam.
Ensure that candidates solve enough mock tests and previous year papers. In this way, the exam pattern is cleared out and candidates get an idea of how the exam paper feels to attempt. Solving mock tests help one to improve time management skills efficiently.
IBPS SO 2020 Admit Card
Applicants are issued a call letter/admit card for each stage of the IBPS SO 2020 recruitment exam. Important points to know about IBPS SO 2020 admit card are provided here.
- IBPS issues IBPS SO 2020 Admit Card in online mode through the official website only.
- Admit card is issued only to eligible applicants and they can download it from ibps.in.
- The details included in the admit card are Name of the Candidate’s, Address, Roll number, Password, Registration Number, Venue of the examination, Venue code, Date of examination, reporting time, Important instructions, etc.
- Candidates are issued different admit cards for each stage.
- It is mandatory to carry the admit card without which, the candidates are not allowed to appear in the exam.
Mandatory Items to carry to the exam center of IBPS SO 2020:
- A valid call letter
- Photo-identity proof (same as uploaded at the time of registration)
- Photocopy of photo-identity proof
IBPS SO Vacancies 2020
As per the notification, IBPS has released the indicative number of vacancies for each posts offered under SO cadre. Check out the tentative number of IBPS SO vacancies below.
| Posts | Vacancies |
| IT Officer | 20 |
| Agricultural Field Officer | 485 |
| Rajbjasha Adhikari | 25 |
| Law Officer | 50 |
| HR/ Personnel Officer | 07 |
| Marketing Officer | 60 |
IBPS SO 2020 Selection Procedure
The IBPS SO 2020 recruitment exam consist of two tiers of online examination and a final interview stage. The first stage of the online exam (prelims exam) is only qualifying in nature. The marks of the second tier exam i.e. the mains and the marks obtained in the final interview are considered for the compilation of the final results. Check out the fundamental aspects of each selection stage of IBPS SO 2020 here.
- Preliminary Examination: First of all, the candidate has to appear in prelims. This is an online examination which consists of 150 questions in a total of Multiple choice questions. The maximum marks are 125. There is 1/4 negative marking also. Candidates have to qualify this exam to get selected for the next stage.
- Mains Examination: Those candidates who have qualified the prelims now have to appear for mains examination. This is also an online examination. The Specialist Officer includes various posts and the exam pattern for that is also different. To appear in the next round, candidates have to qualify for the mains examination.
- Interview: Call letters for interview rounds are issued to those candidates who have qualified the mains examination. The final merit is prepared based on the interview round. Document verification is carried by the officials at the time of the interview.
IBPS SO 2020 Cut Offs
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection is responsible for releasing IBPS Cut off 2020. The cut off marks are decided based on the number of vacancies, the difficulty of the exam, the number of applicants, and other factors. Based on the cut off marks, candidates are shortlisted for the next stage. Candidates have to secure minimum marks (cut off) to get selected for the next round. Cut off is released by the IBPS on its official website with the result.
IBPS SO 2020 Result
The result of IBPS SO is a deciding factor for all banking job aspirants in all over India. The results are released after the conduct of each stage of the exam. The final results are released after the final interview and document verification stage. Important aspects of the IBPS SO 2020 result declaration are encapsulated in the following points.
- The IBPS SO 2020 result is announced at ibps.in only.
- First the result of prelims is announced, on the basis of which candidates are issued admit cards to appear in the mains examination.
- Then the result of mains is announced, on the basis of which candidates are issued the interview call letters.
- The final results are based on the marks obtained in the mains exam and the final interview. The preliminary exam is only qualifying in nature.
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection is an independent body that is responsible for the management of the examination related to the banking post. This body provides services to various types of banks in all over India. Now IBPS is conducting the IBPS SO exam for the recruitment of Specialist Officers (Scale I) in the national public sector banks. To get a job in national public sector banks, candidates have to qualify the prelims, mains, and interview round.
Important Download
| Official website | ibps.in |
| Notifrication | Click here |
IBPS SO 2020 Recruitment Frequently Asked Questions
Ans : Candidates with age between 20 to 30 years, can apply for SO post. It must be noted that for some categories, there is upper age relaxation is given.
Ans : No, eligible candidates can apply for IBPS SO 2020 Recruitment through online mode only. No offline application form of IBPS SO 2020 is accepted by IBPS.
Ans : The candidates have to clear the cut-off marks to qualify the preliminary exam. After that qualified candidates have to appear for the mains exam.
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