IBPS PO Syllabus 2026: Prelims and Mains Topic-Wise Guide

The IBPS PO syllabus covers three subjects in the Prelims and four objective sections plus a descriptive paper in the Mains. For the 2026 cycle (CRP PO/MT-XVI), the subjects are familiar, but the weight of each section has shifted, and that changes what you should study first.

One point should be clear from the start. IBPS names the tests in its notification, but it does not publish a topic-wise syllabus. The topic lists below are built from the test names in the official notification and from the questions asked in previous years' papers. Use them as a working checklist, not as an official list.

This guide gives you the section-wise topics for both stages and shows which chapters to start with. It also marks the areas common to Prelims and Mains, so that you study them only once.

IBPS PO Syllabus at a Glance

Every objective section has its own timer and its own cut-off. For a wrong answer, one-fourth of the marks assigned to that question is deducted. For the stage-wise structure, see our IBPS PO exam pattern guide.

IBPS PO Syllabus 2026: Key Changes to Know

Some of these came in with the previous cycle and some are new this year, but many websites have not caught up with all of them.

• Reasoning outweighs quant in the Prelims. It carries 40 marks against 30 for Quantitative Aptitude, with 35 questions in each.

• The Mains objective paper has 170 questions, up from 145, for the same 200 marks.

• The awareness section is bigger. It has 50 questions for 60 marks, and its title now covers Digital and Financial Awareness and RBI circulars.

• English objective is lighter. Forty questions for only 20 marks in the Mains.

• The descriptive paper is Essay and Comprehension. Letter writing is not part of the current pattern, although some pages still list it.

• The Mains reasoning test is listed simply as "Reasoning". "Reasoning and Computer Aptitude" is the older name.

IBPS PO Prelims Syllabus

The Prelims checks speed and accuracy on standard question types. The level is moderate, but you get only about 35 to 40 seconds per question.

Puzzles and seating arrangement usually form the largest share of reasoning, and data interpretation with arithmetic does the same in quant. English is where many candidates miss the sectional cut-off, so do not leave it for the end.

IBPS PO Mains Syllabus

The Mains decides your merit. Questions are longer, sets have more layers, and awareness and writing are tested for the first time.

Reasoning

• Multi-variable puzzles and seating arrangements, including uncertain number of persons, double rows, and sets mixed with blood relations or directions

• Machine input-output, coded syllogism, coded inequality and new-pattern coding-decoding

• Data sufficiency with two or three statements

• Critical reasoning: assumption, inference, cause and effect, course of action, strength of argument

Since computer aptitude is not named in the test title, heavy computer theory is a low priority. Basic digital knowledge is better covered under awareness.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

• Table, bar, line, pie and radar sets, and mixed charts

• Caselets with missing data and arithmetic-based sets

• Data sufficiency and quantity comparison

• Probability, permutation and combination

Your Prelims arithmetic is the base here. The difference is that one set often needs several steps before the first answer appears.

General, Economy, Banking, Digital and Financial Awareness

English Language

Reading comprehension on economy and business themes, cloze test, para jumbles, error detection, phrase and word replacement, sentence connectors, match the column, and vocabulary in context. Because the section is now worth 20 marks, aim for steady accuracy rather than long study hours.

Descriptive Paper: Essay and Comprehension

Prelims and Mains Overlap: What You Study Only Once

In short, only awareness and the descriptive paper are fully new in the Mains. Everything else is a harder version of what you already study for the Prelims.

Personality Test and Interview: Is There a Syllabus?

How to Cover the IBPS PO Syllabus

1. Weeks 1 to 8: Finish the concepts of arithmetic, basic reasoning types and grammar. Read one editorial daily.

2. From week 3: Give awareness 30 to 40 minutes a day and keep monthly notes.

3. From week 6: Add topic tests and 20-minute sectional tests to build speed.

4. From week 10: Move to Mains-level puzzles and data interpretation sets, and type one essay a week.

5. Final phase: Take full-length mocks in the current pattern and revise from your error notes.

Topic-wise and sectional tests are the quickest way to find out which chapters are actually weak. You can practise them through IBPS PO online tests on Testkart, and pair them with IBPS PO previous year papers to see how each topic is really asked.