IBPS SO Mains Exam Date 2026: Admit Card | 1035 Vacancies | Complete info

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) has released the IBPS SO Mains Exam Date & Admit card details for CRP SPL XVI. Candidates can Check the exam date, which is schedule on 01 November 2026. In this article you can find all details like Mains Exam date, Admit card, syllabus, exam pattern, eligibility and important details.

IBPS SO Mains Admit Card 2026

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) will be released the admit card 3-4 days before the exam, the IBPS Specialist Officer admit card for 2026 under CRP SPL-XVI. Candidates who applied online for the 1,035 Specialist Officer post can download the admit card. Candidates must bring a printout of their admit card and valid ID to their exam centers; otherwise, they will be denied entry.

IBPS SO Admit Card 2026 Download Link

IBPS SO Mains Exam Date 2026

The IBPS SO 2026 Mains Examination is scheduled for on 01 November 2026. As per the official notice the mains admit card will be released 3-4 days before the exam. You can obtain your Mains call letters directly from the official IBPS website or the link given below. 

IBPS SO Notification 2026

The IBPS SO Notification 2026 was released on the IBPS official website, aiming to select candidates for Specialist Officer positions in various Public Sector Banks. IBPS Specialist Officer SO Recruitment 2026 Application process was started from 1st to 21st July 2026. The IBPS SO Exam 2026 Pre will be conducted in August 2026, and the Mains Exam Date will be conducted in November 2026. Candidates can access information on eligibility, age limit, selection procedure, and syllabus from the official notification PDF. The previous year's IBPS SO Notification 2025 is also available for reference.

IBPS SO Notification PDF 2026

IBPS SO Recruitment 2026: Overview

The IBPS SO exam 2026 details are provided for government job candidates, with an overview table providing all the highlights.

Organization	Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)
Post	Specialist Officer (SO)
Exam Level	National
Participating Banks	11
Vacancy	1035
Registration Dates	1st July 2026
Last Date for Apply Online	21st July 2026
Exam Mode	Online
IBPS SO Recruitment Process	Prelims, Main Exams, Interview
Educational Qualification	Graduates or relevant degree
Age Limit	20 years to 28 years
Application Fee	General / OBC / EWS: 850/- SC / ST / PH: 175/-
Best Books for Bank Exams	View
IBPS Official Website	www.ibps.in

IBPS SO Important Dates 2026

Important dates for the IBPS SO Notification 2026 and the IBPS Specialist Officer recruitment drive have been updated in the table. Check out all the important dates before applying for the IBPS SO Recruitment 2026.

Event	IBPS SO 2026 Dates	IBPS SO 2025 Dates
IBPS SO Notification	30 June 2026	30th June 2025
Online Registration Start	01 July 2026	1st July 2025
Last Date for Apply Online	21 July 2026	1st July 2025
Last Date Fee Payment	21 July 2026	21st July 2025
Prelim Exam Admit Card Available	20 August 2026	August
IBPS SO Preliminary Exam Date	29 August 2026	30th August 2025
Prelim Exam Result	Oct 2026	17 October 2025
IBPS SO Mains Exam Date	November 2026	9th November 2025
Admit Card Available	Before the Exam	Before Exam
Main Results Available	-	10 December 2025
Final Result & Provisional Allotment	-	15 January 2026
Reserve List Release	-	15 May 2026

IBPS SO Vacancy 2026

The IBPS SO Vacancy 2026 was announced, focusing on Specialist Officer positions like IT Officer, Agricultural Field Officer, Rajbhasha Adhikari, Law Officer, HR/Personnel Officer, and Marketing Officer. The exam is designed for highly skilled individuals with a strong will and dedication. A total of 1035 vacancies have been released for the IBPS Specialist Officer recruitment. Previously, there were 1007 vacancies, but this year, according to the official IBPS notification 2026, the number has small increase to 1035.

Post	Previous Vacancies	Now Revised Vacancy
IT Officer	301	376
Agriculture Field Officer	190	370
Law Officer	105	125
Rajbhasha Adhikari	89	94
HR/Personnel Officer	60	60
Marketing Officer	0	10
Total	745	1035

IBPS SO Vacancy PDF 2026

IBPS SO Salary 2026

The basic salary for IBPS SO is: ₹ 48480-2000/7-62480-2340/2-67160-2680/7-85920 varies depending on the position and grade level. The following table shows the IBPS SO Salary scale:

Allowances	Values
In hand Salary	₹55,000 and ₹60,000
Pay Scale	₹48,480-₹85,920

IBPS SO Recruitment 2026 Application Fee

A candidate must pay Rs. 850/- (General and OBC) as an application fee for the IBPS SO 2026 exam. The same amount is reduced to Rs. 175/- for candidates from the SC/ST/PWD categories.

S No.	Category	Application Fee
1	SC/ST/PWD	Rs. 175/- (Intimation Charges only)
2	General and Others	Rs. 850/- (App. Fee including intimation charges)

How to apply online for IBPS SO 2026?

The steps to apply online for IBPS SO are given below:

• Step 1: Firstly, visit the official website https://www.ibps.in/ , On the top right corner of the home page, click the NEW REGISTRATION button.
• Step 2: Start your application process by providing basic information such as your name, contact number, email address, and so on, and then click the save and next button.
• Step 3: Upload your photo and signature in the appropriate format. The maximum permissible size of the photograph is 4.5 cm * 3.5 cm, and it must be passport size. The photograph and signature must both be clear and legible. The photograph must have a minimum file size of 20 KB and a maximum file size of 50 KB, and the signature must have a minimum file size of 10 KB and a maximum file size of 20 KB.
• Step 4: Enter your academic information and professional qualifications. After filling in the details, click the save and next buttons.
• Step 5: Review your application form one last time because you will not be able to make any changes. After previewing your Application Form, click the save and next buttons.
• Step 6: Pay your application fee using an online payment option, such as a credit card, debit card, or net banking.
• Step 7: Press the Final Submit Button. Your application form has been successfully submitted. IBPS will send you an email and a text message with your registration ID and password to enable you to access the official website.

IBPS SO Recruitment Exam 2026: Eligibility Criteria

The eligibility criteria are different for all posts. There are three parameters (citizenship, age limit, and educational qualification) that a candidate needs to fulfill to be eligible for the IBPS SO Exam 2026.

IBPS SO 2026: Citizenship

• A resident of India
• A subject of Nepal
• Tibetan refugees who came to India before 1st January 1962 and have planned to settle in India permanently
• A subject of Indian Origin migrated from Burma, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Uganda, Kenya, 
United Republic of Tanzania, Namibia, Ethiopia, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Vietnam

IBPS SO 2026: Age Limit

To be eligible for the IBPS SO exam, candidates must check the age limit given below.

• The maximum age is 20 years old.
• The maximum age is 30 years old.

S. No.	Category	Age Relaxation
1.	Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST)	5 years
2.	Other Backward Class (OBC)	3 years
3.	Person with Disability (PWD)	10 years
4.	Ex-Servicemen/Commissioned Officers including ECOS (Emergency Commissioned Officers)/ SSCOs (Short Service Commissioned Officers) who have rendered at least 5 years military service and have been released on completion of Assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within 1 year from last date of receipt of application) otherwise than by the way of dismissal/discharge on the account of misconduct/inefficiency/physical disability attributable to military service	5 years
5.	Person ordinarily domiciled in the Jammu and Kashmir province during the period 1.01.1980 and 31.12.1989	5 years
6.	Person affected by 1984 riots	5 years

IBPS SO Exam 2026 Education Qualification

S No.	Name of the Post	Educational Qualification
1.	I.T. Officer (Scale I)	Bachelor's Degree with B Level Certificate or Engineering Degree Computer  Science/  Computer Applications/     Information Technology /     Electronics / Electronics & Telecommunications/Electronics    & Communication/ Electronics & Instrumentation or  Master's Degree.
2.	Agricultural Field Officer (Scale-I)	Bachelor's Degree in Engineering with Agriculture or Equivalent Subject.
3.	Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale I)	Master's Degree in Hindi with English as a Subject in Degree Level or Master's Degree in Sanskrit with Hindi and English as a Subject in Degree Level.
4.	Law Office (Scale I)	Bachelor's Degree in Law 3 Year or 5 Year. Enrolled with Bar Council.
5.	HR/Personnel Officer (Scale I)	Master's Degree / PG Diploma in Personnel Management / Industrial Relations/ HR / HRD/ Social Work / Labour Law.
6.	Marketing Officer (Scale I)	Master's Degree / PG Diploma in Marketing / PGDBA / PGDBM/ PGPM/ PGDM

IBPS SO Recruitment 2026 Selection Process

The IBPS SO 2026 selection procedure comprises two stages: the preliminary exam conducted by IBPS, followed by the main exam.

• Online Preliminary Exam
• Online Mains Exam
• Interview Process

The IBPS SO Prelims exam is a qualifying test, with marks from both the main exam and interview added for final selection performance in both exams and interviews is crucial for final selection.

IBPS SO 2026 Exam Pattern

Before applying to IBPS SO 2026, candidates must know the exam pattern of Selection Officers:

• The exam will be conducted in three phases: Preliminary, Mains, and Interview Process. IBPS has introduced separate sectional timing for each section in the prelims exam.
• The IBPS SO preliminary examination has a total duration of 2 Hours and 40 minutes for each section.
• A candidate must appear for the Prelims first and the selected students after the Preliminary Exam will be eligible to take the Mains Exam.
• The Preliminary Exam score will not be considered for final allotment. The main exam and the Interview process will be used to make the final decision
• There will be a penalty of 0.5 marks for wrong answers.

IBPS SO 2026 Prelims Exam Pattern

The post-wise preliminary exam pattern is mentioned below:

For the posts of IT Officer, Agriculture Field Officer, HR/Personnel Officer, and Marketing Officer:

Name of Tests	No. of Questions	Maximum Marks	Duration
English Language	50	25	40 minutes
Reasoning	50	50	40 minutes
Quantitative Aptitude	50	50	40 minutes
Total	150	125	120 minutes

For the post of Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari:

Subject	No. of Questions	Maximum Marks	Time Given
Reasoning	50	50	40 minutes
English Language	50	25	40 minutes
General Awareness with Special Reference to Banking Industry	50	50	40 minutes
Total	150	125	120 minutes

Candidates have to qualify in each of the three tests by securing minimum cut-off marks to be decided by IBPS. An adequate number of candidates in each category, as decided by IBPS, depending upon requirements, will be shortlisted for the Online Main Examination.

IBPS SO Mains Exam Pattern 2026

The post-wise mains exam pattern is mentioned below:

For the post of IT Officer, Agriculture Field Officer, HR/Personnel Officer, and Marketing Officer:

Test	No. of Questions	Maximum Marks	Language	Time Given
Professional Knowledge	60	60	English & Hindi	45 minutes

For the post of Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari:

Name of Test	Number of Questions	Maximum Marks	Medium of Exam	Duration
Professional Knowledge (Objective)	45	60	English & Hindi	30 minutes
Professional Knowledge (Descriptive)	2	60	English & Hindi	30 minutes

IBPS SO Exam Syllabus 2026

The IBPS SO 2026 Preliminary Exam has three major sections: Reasoning, English Language, and Quantitative Aptitude / General Awareness with Special Reference to the Banking Industry (For the post of Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari).

Reasoning Syllabus

1. Seating Arrangements
2. Puzzles
3. Inequalities
4. Syllogism
5. Input-Output
6. Data Sufficiency
7. Blood Relations
8. Order and Ranking
9. Alphanumeric Series
10. Distance and Direction
11. Verbal Reasoning

English Language Syllabus

1. Cloze Test
2. Reading Comprehension
3. Spotting Errors
4. Sentence Improvement
5. Sentence Correction
6. Para Jumbles
7. Fill in the Blanks
8. Para/Sentence Completion

Quantitative Aptitude Syllabus

1. Number Series
2. Data Interpretation
3. Simplification/Approximation
4. Quadratic Equation
5. Data Sufficiency
6. Mensuration
7. Average
8. Profit and Loss
9. Ratio and Proportion
10. Work, Time, and Energy
11. Time and Distance
12. Probability
13. Relations
14. Simple and Compound Interest
15. Permutation and Combination

General Knowledge Syllabus

1. Current Affairs
2. Banking Awareness
3. GK Updates
4. Currencies
5. Important Places
6. Books and Authors
7. Awards
8. Headquarters
9. Prime Minister Schemes
10. Important Days

IBPS SO Mains Exam Syllabus 2026

Apart from the subjective knowledge, candidates should have professional knowledge in their respective fields. The post-wise syllabus is given below:

IT Officer (Scale-I)

1. Database Management System
2. Data Communication and Networking
3. Operating System
4. Software Engineering
5. Data Structure
6. Computer Organization and Microprocessor
7. Object-Oriented Programming

Agricultural Field Officer (Scale-I)

1. Basics of Crop Production
2. Horticulture
3. Seed Science
4. Agronomy and Irrigation
5. Agricultural Economics
6. Agricultural Practices
7. Soil resource
8. Animal Husbandry
9. Agroforestry
10. Ecology
11. Government Schemes

Marketing Officer (Scale-I)

1. Basics of Marketing Management
2. Brand Management
3. Advertising
4. PR
5. Sales
6. Retail
7. Business Ethics
8. Market Segmentation
9. Market research and forecasting demand
10. Product Life Cycle
11. Corporate Social Responsibility
12. Service Marketing
13. Marketing Strategies

Law Officer (Scale-I)

1. Banking Regulations
2. Compliance and Legal Aspects
3. Relevant Laws and Orders related to negotiable instruments, securities, foreign exchange
4. Prevention of Money-Laundering, Limitation Act
5. Consumer Protection Act
6. SURFACES
7. Banking Ombudsman Scheme
8. Laws and Actions in the Direct Link to Banking Sector
9. Bankers' Book Evidence Act
10. DRT Act

HR/Personnel Officer (Scale-I)

1. Human Resource Development
2. Business policy and strategic analysis
3. Transnational Analysis
4. Training and Development
5. Recruitment and Selection
6. Rewards and Recognition
7. Industrial Relations
8. Business Policy and Strategic Analysis
9. Grievance and Conflict Management
10. Performance Management and Appraisal

IBPS SO Prelims Cutoff 2025 (Previous year)

The cut-off for IBPS SO will be released after the result for the same stage has been announced by IBPS. The Cut-Off for Preliminary Exam will be declared first, followed by the cut-off for Mains Exam. Check out the previous year's IBPS SO cutoff from below.

IBPS SO Prelims Cutoff 2025
Posts	SC	ST	OBC	EWS	UR	HI	OC	VI	ID
I.T. OFFICER	58.25	48.63	58.25	55	58.25	21.63	46.38	42.63	36.13
AGRICULTURAL FIELD OFFICER	50.13	45.63	50.13	50.13	50.13	25.88	37.75	39.63	23.88
HR/PERSONNEL	62.63	62.63	62.63	62.63	62.63	31.38	19.75	25.13	NA
MARKETING OFFICER	21.75	17.25	18.13	27.63	27.63	21.75	20.50	23.38	35.18
RAJBHASHA ADHIKARI	16.63	11	16.63	16.63	16.63	25.75	18.88	42.25	13.75
LAW OFFICER	42.63	34.75	43.25	44.63	46.88	20.25	25	23.13	23

IBPS SO Mains Cutoff 2025 Category-wise (Previous year)

Category	Cut Off Marks
Scheduled Caste (SC)	14.75
Schedule Tribe (ST)	15.25
Other Backward Classes (OBC NCL)	21.50
Economically Weaker Section (EWS)	21.00
General (Gen)	23.25
(HI)	13.50
Orthopaedically Challenged (OC)	14.00
Visually Impaired (VI)	27.25
Intellectual Disability (ID)	30.50

IBPS SO Recruitment 2026 Interview

According to the IBPS SO 2026, the IBPS invites candidates who will pass the mains exam to the Interview process. Candidates must perform well in the Interview process because a candidate’s final selection is based on how well Male or Female performs in this final round of the IBPS SO Recruitment Process. Candidates will able to check their interview letter from below.

IBPS SO Final Result 2026

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) will officially release the IBPS SO Final Result 2026 on its official website. Candidates will be able to download their IBPS SO Final Result PDF by the link given below. The IBPS SO Pre exam will be conducted in August 2026 and the mains exam will be conducted in November 2026. the results will be accessible on the official website after the exam.

Best Books for IBPS SO 2026

Subject Name	Book Type	Book Link (In Hindi)	Book Link (In English)
Complete General English For All Government & Competitive Exams	Textbook	-	View Book
Competitive Reasoning Shortcut Secrets book for All Government Exams (NRA CET, SSC, Bank, Railway, Defence, Police, and all other exams)	Textbook	View Book	View Book
Sankhyatmak Abhiyogyata (Quantitative Aptitude) book for all Government Exams	Textbook	View Book	View Book
Static GK book by Varun Awasthi Sir for (SSC, Bank, Railway, Police, Defence, TET, State PCS) Exams	Textbook	View Book	View Book

IBPS SO 2026 Frequently Asked Questions