IBPS PO Selection Process 2023 - Prelims, Mains, and Interview

IBPS PO Selection Process 2023 is decided by the officials of the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection. The selection process of IBPS PO comprises three different stages which are – Preliminary Exam, Main Exam, and Interview Round. Candidates qualifying in all the selection stages of the IBPS PO exam will only be eligible for the post.

Candidates are required to fill out a single IBPS PO application form for all three stages. Thus, check out the different phases of the IBPS PO selection process along with new guidelines for IBPS PO prelims, mains, interviews, & provisional allotment 2023. This guide will keep you updated with the IBPS PO selection procedure.

IBPS PO selection process is divided into three stages - prelims, mains, and interviews. You need to qualify for all three stages for the final selection. It is crucially important for candidates to be conversant with the whole exam procedure to avoid any discomfort during the examination. Check out our detailed stagewise overview of the IBPS PO selection process for a better understanding of the candidates.

• Stage 1: The preliminary exam is of qualifying in nature, which means the marks won't be counted for the final selection. However, in the IBPS PO selection process, candidates need to secure sectional as well as overall cutoff to be shortlisted for the next stage.
• Stage 2: Mains is the second phase of selection. Candidates who qualify for the main exam will then be called for an interview. Marks obtained in the main exam will be counted in the final selection.
• Stage 3: The interview is the last round in the IBPS PO selection process and also the most important and deciding round. Candidates obtaining qualifying marks in interviews will be recruited as probationary officers in participating banks.

Note: The selection of candidates for the probationary officer posts will be in the ratio of 80:20 for mains and interview scores.

The initial stage of the selection process for the IBPS PO exam is the prelims phase. A sectional timing of 20 minutes has been allotted in each of the three sections of the preliminary exam. Prelims is an objective type of test, which will consist of 100 questions.

The following table depicts the complete pattern for the IBPS PO prelims exam.

• Candidates are required to secure the minimum cutoff marks decided by IBPS in all three sections as well as overall.
• Candidates should know that the prelims exam is only of a qualifying nature, which means marks obtained in the prelims exam will not be added anywhere else.
• Marks obtained by you in the prelims exam will not be considered in the interview or the final selection or allotment for the IBPS PO post.

The main exam is the second and crucial stage of the exam as it holds the utmost importance in the IBPS PO selection process, so be extra aware and jot down all important points to not miss out on anything. The candidates who will crack the IBPS PO prelims, i.e. who will secure sectional, as well as an overall cutoff in the mains exam, will be shortlisted for the next and final stage of the exam, i.e. IBPS PO interview round.

• IBPS also introduced a descriptive section. Immediately after the 3 hours of the objective test, the descriptive test will start on the computer screen candidates. The total time allotted to complete the descriptive test is 30 Minutes.
• The descriptive test is a test of the English language of candidates in which two questions of letter writing and essay writing will be asked.

Look at the below table carefully to get a clear idea about the IBPS PO Mains Examination.

• The candidates who will secure sectional cutoff in each section and also the overall cutoff for IBPS PO mains 2023 decided by IBPS will get entry into the next stage i.e. interview.
• It is important to perform well in the main examination because marks obtained in the main exam carry the maximum weightage in the final selection for the IBPS PO post.

Note: There will be a penalty for wrong answers marked in both stages, i.e. prelims and mains. There will be a deduction of 0.25 marks for each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate. If a question is left blank, i.e. no answer is marked by the candidate, then no marks will be deducted for that question.

This is the third and last stage of the IBPS PO selection process for candidates. Candidates who got qualified in the mains examination will be required to appear for an interview as the last step of the IBPS PO selection process. Also, it is advised our experts practice in a detailed manner for the interview as it will act as a deciding factor for a candidate’s fate.

• The total marks allotted for the interview are 100. The minimum marks which are required to qualify for this round are 40 (For general) out of 100 and 35 for OBC/SC/ST/PWD candidates.
• In stage 3, the candidates are required to face an interview with a panel of bank officials. interviews are conducted at certain places across the country. The shortlisted candidates will get all the information regarding the venue of the interview and other required information in their interview call letter.

IBPS prepares the final merit list of the selected candidates on the basis of marks obtained in the IBPS PO selection process’ mains examination and interview round. The merit list is prepared based on the combined scores of the main examination and interview round. The weightage of marks obtained in the main examination is more than the weightage of marks obtained in the interview round. The weightage of the online mains examination and interview will be 80:20, respectively, to arrive at the final score.

The final cutoff will be released by IBPS for different categories on a particular date. Those candidates who secure the final cutoff will be selected for the post of probationary officer in one of the participating banks. The final cutoff is decided on the basis of vacancies available as well as the maximum marks obtained by any candidate.

The name of the allotted bank will be mentioned in the final result of the candidate, if the candidate has secured more than or equal to the minimum final cutoff marks, they will be selected in the IBPS PO selection process for the post of probationary officer. The allocation is done based on marks obtained by the candidate. At first, the bank will be allotted to those candidates who have secured a high cutoff as compared to other candidates.

The participating banks are allotted to the candidate as per the availability of the seats in the banks and as per the preference marked by the candidate. There is an allocation software that is designed to check the availability of seats in the first preference bank marked by the candidate. If a seat is available, that bank will be allotted to that candidate otherwise, allocation software will check for the next preferences marked by the candidate respectively.