Does IBPS publish an official topic-wise syllabus for RRB PO?

No. The CRP RRBs XV notification lists only the test names, questions, marks and time for each stage. Topic lists on this page are built from the notification and from questions in recent RRB officer papers, so use them as a checklist and keep checking recent papers for new question types.

Is English compulsory in the IBPS RRB PO Mains?

No. In the Officer Scale I Main exam you choose either the English Language test or the Hindi Language test. Both carry 40 questions and 40 marks with 30 minutes. Pick the one where your mock scores are higher, and decide early so your practice stays focused.

Which subjects are asked in the IBPS RRB PO Prelims?

Only two: Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude, with 40 questions each. General Awareness, Computer Knowledge and the language test appear only in the Main exam. Because Prelims is qualifying, you need to clear the minimum in both sections and rank high enough in your state and category.

How important is rural banking for the General Awareness section?

Very important. The exam recruits officers for Regional Rural Banks, so questions on NABARD, priority sector lending, Kisan Credit Card, self-help groups and financial inclusion appear regularly. These topics also come up in the interview, so notes made for the Mains are useful twice.

How long does it take to cover the RRB PO syllabus?

Most candidates need about three to four months for a first full pass if they study daily. Reasoning and Quant take the longest. Start General Awareness and computers early, because the gap between Prelims and Mains is about four weeks in the tentative calendar.

Banking Exams

IBPS RRB PO Syllabus 2026: Prelims and Mains Guide

The IBPS RRB PO syllabus covers five subjects across two online exams for Officer Scale I in Regional Rural Banks. Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude appear in both the Preliminary and Main exams, while General Awareness, Computer Knowledge and a language test (English or Hindi) are added in the Mains. The current cycle is CRP RRBs XV, notified by IBPS on 01.09.2026.

IBPS names the tests in its notification but does not publish a topic-wise syllabus. The topic lists below are built from the official notification and from questions asked in recent RRB officer papers. Use them as a working checklist, not as an official list. This page tells you what to cover in each test, what to start with, which topics serve both stages and how to plan the weeks before the exam.

IBPS RRB PO Syllabus

Stage	Section	Questions	Marks	Time
Prelims	Reasoning	40	40	25 minutes
Prelims	Quantitative Aptitude	40	40	20 minutes
Mains	Reasoning	40	50	30 minutes
Mains	Computer Knowledge	40	20	15 minutes
Mains	General Awareness	40	40	15 minutes
Mains	English Language or Hindi Language	40	40	30 minutes
Mains	Quantitative Aptitude	40	50	30 minutes

Marks, timing and negative marking are explained on the IBPS RRB PO exam pattern page. This page stays with what to study.

Key Changes to Know

No change in tests for 2026: The CRP RRBs XV notification keeps the same five Mains tests and the same two Prelims tests as the previous cycle.
Language test is a choice: In the Mains you take either English Language or Hindi Language, not both. Some older pages still describe English as compulsory, which is wrong for RRB officers.
General Awareness, not Financial Awareness: The Scale I paper is titled General Awareness. Financial Awareness is the title used in the Scale II and III single exam, so do not follow a syllabus built for those posts.
Separate Prelims timing: The notification lists 25 minutes for Reasoning and 20 for Quant. Practise each section on its own timer.

Prelims Syllabus

Section	Topics to cover	Start with
Reasoning	Puzzles (floor, box, month and day based), linear and circular seating arrangement, syllogism, inequality (direct and coded), blood relations, direction sense, coding-decoding, order and ranking, alphanumeric series, word and number pairs	Inequality, syllogism, then one easy puzzle type
Quantitative Aptitude	Simplification and approximation, number series (missing and wrong), quadratic equations, data interpretation (table, bar, line, pie), percentage, ratio and proportion, average, profit and loss, simple and compound interest, time and work, speed, time and distance, boats and streams, mixture and alligation, ages, partnership, mensuration basics, probability	Simplification, quadratic equations, number series

In Prelims, puzzles and seating arrangement usually carry the largest share of reasoning questions, so they decide your section score. In Quant, simplification, series and quadratic equations are fast scoring blocks, and data interpretation sets often carry five questions each. Master these first, then add arithmetic word problems.

Mains Syllabus

Reasoning

Mains reasoning tests the same families at a higher difficulty, with longer puzzles and more conditions.

Puzzles and arrangements: Multi-variable floor and flat puzzles, scheduling, square and rectangular seating, comparison puzzles.
Logical reasoning: Syllogism with possibility cases, coded inequality, statement and assumption, cause and effect, course of action, strengthening and weakening arguments.
Data sufficiency: Two and three statement questions on arrangement, blood relation and direction.
Other topics: Input-output, coding-decoding with new patterns, blood relation sets and direction puzzles.

Quantitative Aptitude

Data interpretation: Table, bar, line, pie, caselet and missing-data DI. Expect several sets.
Arithmetic: All Prelims arithmetic topics at higher difficulty, plus problems on pipes and cisterns, and permutation and combination.
Comparison questions: Quantity I and Quantity II, quadratic equations and data sufficiency.
Series: Missing and wrong number series with mixed logic.

General Awareness

Area	Topics to cover
Banking awareness	RBI functions and monetary policy terms, repo and reverse repo, CRR and SLR, types of banks, NPAs, payment systems (UPI, NEFT, RTGS), banking regulation basics
Rural and agricultural banking	Role of RRBs and their sponsor banks, NABARD, priority sector lending, Kisan Credit Card, self-help groups, microfinance, financial inclusion schemes
Current affairs	Last six months of national and state news, appointments, awards, sports, summits, reports and indices, economy and budget headlines
Government schemes	Central schemes for farmers, rural employment, housing, insurance and pension
Static GK	Bank headquarters and taglines, national parks, dams, currencies and capitals, important days

For banking and rural finance topics, the RBI and NABARD websites publish press releases, annual report highlights and scheme circulars in plain language. Read them with a monthly current affairs compilation and note only facts likely to be asked: names, numbers, dates and the purpose of each scheme. Give extra attention to news about Regional Rural Banks, such as amalgamations into one RRB per state, because the exam is set for these banks.

English Language

Reading comprehension: One or two passages with inference, vocabulary and tone questions.
Cloze test and fillers: Single and double blanks, word usage.
Error detection and sentence improvement: Grammar of tenses, subject-verb agreement, prepositions, articles.
Para jumbles and sentence rearrangement: Including odd-sentence-out variants.
Vocabulary: Synonyms, antonyms and phrase replacement.

Hindi Language

Vyakaran: Sandhi, samas, karak, ling, vachan, kaal and vakya shuddhi.
Shabd gyan: Paryayvachi, vilom, muhavare and lokoktiyan.
Apathit gadyansh: Comprehension passages with inference questions.
Rikt sthan and vakya kram: Fillers, cloze and sentence order questions.

Choosing Between English and Hindi

Both options carry 40 questions, 40 marks and 30 minutes, so the choice is purely about where you score higher. Take two sectional tests in each language early in your preparation, compare accuracy and time used, and commit to one. Switching late wastes weeks. If you studied in a Hindi-medium school and read Hindi newspapers, the Hindi test is often the safer option. If you read English daily and handle comprehension well, stay with English. The test medium for other sections is a separate choice made in the application form.

Computer Knowledge

Area	Topics to cover
Fundamentals	History and generations, hardware, input and output devices, memory types, number systems
Software and operating systems	System and application software, Windows basics, file types and extensions
MS Office	Word, Excel and PowerPoint features, common shortcut keys
Networking and internet	LAN, WAN, topologies, protocols, IP addresses, web browsers, email
Security and databases	Virus, malware, phishing, firewall, DBMS basics and keys

Overlap Between Prelims and Mains

Area	Prelims	Mains	How to plan
Puzzles and seating	Easy to moderate	Moderate to hard, more variables	Learn the method once, then add harder sets after Prelims
Syllogism and inequality	Direct questions	Possibility and coded forms	Study possibility cases from the start
Arithmetic	Single-step problems	Multi-step and caselet based	Build concepts for Mains depth, drill speed for Prelims
Data interpretation	One or two simple sets	Several sets, including caselet DI	Practise one set daily throughout
General Awareness, language, computers	Not tested	120 of 200 questions	Start before Prelims, as the gap to Mains is about four weeks

The last row is where many candidates lose the Mains. The tentative IBPS calendar places Prelims on 21 and 22 November 2026 and Mains on 20 December 2026, which leaves no room to start General Awareness from zero after Prelims.

Which Topics to Prioritise

With limited weeks, sequence matters more than coverage. The table ranks topics by how often they appear and how much they decide your score.

Priority	Topics	Why
High	Puzzles and seating, data interpretation, arithmetic, banking and rural banking awareness, reading comprehension	Appear in large sets in both stages and carry the most marks in the Mains
Medium	Syllogism, inequality, number series, quadratic equations, current affairs, MS Office and networking	Steady presence, quick to learn, good for accuracy
Low	Input-output, rare puzzle types, deep static GK lists, computer history	Appear occasionally; cover after the high and medium topics are secure

Common Syllabus Mistakes

Treating Computer Knowledge as minor: It has only 20 marks, but 40 questions in 15 minutes reward recall, and it carries its own minimum score.
Using a generic bank syllabus: Rural banking, NABARD and agriculture finance matter more here than in public sector bank exams.
Ignoring sectional minimums: Each Mains test has a minimum score, so a strong Quant score cannot rescue a weak General Awareness score.

Is There a Syllabus for the Interview?

No. IBPS does not prescribe a syllabus for the Common Interview, which carries 100 marks and 20 per cent of the final merit. Questions usually cover your background, graduation subject, the role of RRBs, rural banking, agriculture in your chosen state and current banking news. Your General Awareness preparation for the Mains doubles as interview preparation, so keep those notes.

How to Cover the IBPS RRB PO Syllabus

Weeks 1 to 4, foundation: Reasoning basics (inequality, syllogism, direction, blood relation) and Quant basics (simplification, percentage, ratio, average). Begin a daily 30-minute General Awareness habit with banking terms and current affairs.
Weeks 5 to 8, core topics: Puzzles and seating every day, arithmetic chapters, number series and quadratic equations. Add computer fundamentals twice a week and start your language practice.
Weeks 9 to 10, Prelims focus: Sectional tests at Prelims timing, two or three full Prelims mocks a week, and a written error log.
After Prelims, Mains focus: Hard puzzles, caselet DI, data sufficiency, rural banking and six months of current affairs. Take full Mains mocks and revise your error log before each one.

The test names and structure on this page follow the official CRP RRBs XV notification.

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