The dream of many young people is to ace bank examinations. Bank jobs provide the required stability and good remuneration. A number of bank tests are conducted by the private sector and public sector banks to select candidates for posts such as clerks, probationary officers, specialist officers, etc.

Candidates who wish to take bank tests should go through the syllabus and past year question papers before starting their preparation. For instance, if candidates want to prepare for the IBPS RRB exam, they should visit the official website and go through the IBPS RRB syllabus and previous years’ question papers to get a sense of the exam pattern. This will benefit candidates in organising their studies more effectively.

IBPS RRB Exam Pattern

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) conducts exams to find qualified applicants for various Regional Rural Banks in the country. It holds the Common Recruitment Process for RRBs (CRP RRB) to hire candidates for the posts of Group “A”-Officers (Scale-I, II & III) and Group “B”-Office Assistant (Multipurpose). The exam is conducted in various phases based on the post. The IBPS RRB exam pattern for several Group A and Group B posts is given below.

Officers Scale I and Office Assistant (Multi-purpose)

For the posts of Officers Scale I and Office Assistant (Multi-purpose), the IBPS conducts the preliminary and main examinations. Applicants who pass the main exam become eligible to attend the interview. There is a negative marking in preliminary and main exams, and 1/4th of marks assigned to the question will be deducted for every wrong answer. Only the marks scored in the main examination and interview will be used for the final merit listing for the positions of Office Assistants (Multipurpose) and Officer Scale I.

The preliminary and main examination pattern for the posts of Officers Scale I and Office Assistant (Multi-purpose) is given below. 

Online Preliminary Exam Pattern for Officers Scale I and Office Assistant (Multi-purpose)

Online Main Exam Pattern for Officers Scale I and Office Assistant (Multi-purpose)

In the main examination for Officers Scale I and Office Assistant (Multi-purpose), candidates can either choose the English language or Hindi language. Other sections, like reasoning, computer knowledge, etc., are compulsory.

Officers Scale II (Generalist and Specialists) and Scale III

There is only a single online examination for the posts of Officers Scale II (Generalist and Specialists). The applicants who pass the online test will be chosen for a common interview. Candidates will be ranked based on the marks scored in the online test and interview. The examination pattern for the General banking officer (Scale II) and Specialist cadre (Scale II) is given below. 

Online (Single) Test Pattern for Officer Scale II (General Banking Officer) 

Candidates who apply for the post of General Banking Officer can opt for either English language or Hindi language for the Officer scale II test. Candidates will be penalised for wrong answers.

Online (Single) Examination Pattern for Officer Scale II (Specialist Cadre) 

Online (Single) Test Pattern for Officer Scale III

For the position of Officer Scale III, there is just one online test. A common interview will be held for the candidates who successfully pass the online test. There is negative marking, and a quarter of the marks allotted for the question will be deducted for wrong answers. The final merit listing will only take into account the results of the online test and interview. The exam pattern of the online test for Officer Scale III is given in the table below:

Candidates can refer to the official website of the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection to know more about the exam pattern, cut-off marks, results etc. The IBPS website provides information on IBPS notification, IBPS RRB clerk result, IBPS admit cards, IBPS PO cut-off marks etc.

Every aspirant should thoroughly understand the requirements of the exam before starting their preparation. Analysis of the exam notification, syllabus, past question papers, etc., play a vital role in streamlining the preparation of aspirants.