What Is Confirmed So Far
IBPS runs the Clerk recruitment on a fixed annual rhythm: the preliminary exam falls in September and the main exam in October. As of 1 September 2026, the exact date-wise and shift-wise schedule for your centre comes only from your call letter, and IBPS does not announce a call letter release date in advance — the download link simply goes live on ibps.in under the CRP Clerical section. Check there directly rather than relying on forwarded messages about release dates.
IBPS Clerk 2026 at a Glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Post | Junior Associate (Customer Sales & Support) |
| Prelims | September |
| Mains | October |
| Age limit | 20 to 28 years, with the usual category relaxations |
| Interview stage | None — selection is on written performance alone |
| Starting salary | ₹19,900 basic, roughly ₹28,000+ gross with allowances |
Prelims Pattern: 100 Questions, 100 Marks, 60 Minutes
Every question carries one mark and 0.25 is deducted for a wrong answer. The three sections are not equally sized, which matters when you plan your attempt order:
| Section | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| English Language | 30 | 30 |
| Numerical Ability | 35 | 35 |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 |
| Total | 100 | 100 |
Confirm the Sectional Timing on Your Call Letter
IBPS papers are commonly run with a fixed time per section rather than one open 60-minute block, which removes the option of borrowing time from an easy section to rescue a hard one. The arrangement that applies to your cycle is stated in the official notification and repeated on your call letter, so confirm it there and set your mock tests to match instead of assuming.
The Mains Is a Different Paper
Clearing prelims only qualifies you for the main exam, and Mains is substantially bigger: 190 questions for 200 marks in 160 minutes, adding General and Financial Awareness alongside a Reasoning and Computer section. Because there is no interview stage in IBPS Clerk, your Mains score effectively is your selection — which makes it the paper worth the larger share of your preparation.
Why Clerk Is the Highest-Volume Banking Exam
IBPS Clerk consistently carries the largest vacancy count in banking recruitment, running into several thousand posts across eleven public sector banks in a typical year. It is also generally considered less difficult than the PO exams — the syllabus is much the same, but the questions sit at a lower difficulty level and there is no interview to clear. For a candidate already preparing for IBPS PO or SBI PO, the additional work needed to sit Clerk is close to zero.
Downloading the Call Letter
Once the link is live on ibps.in, open the CRP Clerical section, choose the online preliminary exam call letter, and log in with your registration number and password or date of birth. Download the PDF and print two copies the same day. Check your name, photograph, exam date, shift, reporting time and centre address immediately — reporting time is well before the shift starts and late entry is not permitted. If any detail is wrong, contact the IBPS helpdesk through ibps.in straight away rather than waiting for exam week.
Where to Put the Remaining Weeks
With prelims this month, new topics have very little expected value. Speed and accuracy on the question types you already know have a great deal — simplification and approximation, number series, puzzles and seating arrangement, and reading comprehension. Sit full-length mocks at your real slot time and treat any section where you ran out of time as a pacing problem rather than a knowledge gap.