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The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) conducts the IBPS Clerk Exam in two main stages: the Preliminary Exam and the Mains. Each stage has a different exam pattern with its subjects, marks, and time limit. It is important for candidates to understand the exam pattern to prepare well. The Prelims exam is only for qualifying, and its marks are not counted in the final result. The final selection is based on the marks scored in the Mains exam. There is no interview or descriptive paper. After the Mains, selected candidates also have to clear a Language Proficiency Test.
IBPS Clerk Exam Pattern 2025
The IBPS Clerk Exam Pattern 2025 is set by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection. Knowing the pattern will help candidates prepare better and plan their studies well. Each section has fixed marks, and the exam must be finished within the given time. IBPS has released the IBPS Clerk Notification 2025, and this year, the Mains exam pattern has been revised.
IBPS Clerk Prelims Exam Pattern 2025
It is to be noted that the candidates have to qualify in each of the three sections of the Prelims Exam by securing minimum cut-off marks decided by IBPS in all the sections individually. An adequate number of candidates in each category, as decided by IBPS, depending upon requirements, will be shortlisted for the Online Main Examination.
- The prelims exam is the only qualifying paper.
- There are 3 subjects as mentioned below, and candidates have to finish the section in the given duration.
- The total marks are 100, and each section carries a different number of questions and marks.
- There is a negative marking of 0.25 for each wrong answer.
IBPS Clerk Prelims Exam Pattern 2025 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Sections | No. of Questions | Total Marks | Time Duration |
English Language | 30 | 30 | 20 minutes |
Numerical Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 minutes |
Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 minutes |
Total | 100 | 100 | 60 minutes/ 1 hour |
IBPS Clerk Mains Exam Pattern 2025
Candidates who qualify for the IBPS Clerk Prelims by clearing the sectional, as well as the overall cut-off, are called for the IBPS Mains exam, which is both a qualifying as well as a scoring exam. For this year’s examination, the Mains pattern have been slightly changed and candidates can check the section-wise marks and questions in the table below. Like Prelims, there is a sectional timing and negative marking of 0.25 mark for each wrong answer.
IBPS Clerk 2025 Mains Exam Pattern | |||
Sections | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks | Duration |
General / Financial Awareness | 40 | 50 | 20 minutes |
General English | 40 | 40 | 35 minutes |
Reasoning Ability | 40 | 60 | 35 minutes |
Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 50 | 30 minutes |
Total | 155 | 200 | 120 minutes |
Negative Marking in IBPS Clerk Exam
Penalty for Wrong Answers (Applicable to both – Online Preliminary and Online Main examinations). There will be a penalty for wrong answers marked in the Objective Type Tests. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate fourth or 0.25 of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as a penalty to arrive at the corrected score. If a question is left blank, i.e. no answer is marked by the candidate, there will be no penalty for that question.
Also Check: IBPS Clerk Syllabus 2025
IBPS Clerk Language Proficiency Test
IBPS Clerk Language Proficiency Test (LPT) is the final stage of the selection process. Candidates who are provisionally selected after the Mains exam must appear for this test. The LPT is conducted to ensure that the candidate is proficient in the official language of the state or UT they have applied for.
The test may involve reading, writing, and understanding tasks in the local language. Failing to qualify in the Language Proficiency Test may lead to disqualification, even if the candidate has cleared all other stages. So, it is important to be familiar with the regional language of the state you are applying from.
IBPS Clerk 2025 Final Selection
Candidates need to qualify for both tiers, i.e., Prelims and Mains of the IBPS Clerk, to get into the Final Merit List of the IBPS Clerk. However, the Prelims are only qualifying in nature, i.e., prelims marks will not be considered in the final merit of the candidates. Whereas the Mains exam is both qualifying as well as scoring in nature i.e., the Final Selection of the candidate depends on the score of the candidate in the Mains exam. The final list will be prepared after scaling the marks of the candidates out of 100.