IBPS PO Mains Cutoff 2026: Last 5 Years, 63.00-80.75

The IBPS PO Mains cutoff 2026 determines whether your Main exam score translates into a Personality Test and interview call, and ultimately, a Probationary Officer posting. IBPS has indicated 7,565 vacancies for CRP PO/MT-XVI as on 27 August 2026 (indicative; up from 6,715 in the original 1 July 2026 notification), against 5,208 in the 2025 cycle. The Main is scheduled for 4 October 2026; as of 21 September 2026, the official PO/MT-XVI page lists no Main call letter yet, the notification's window for it is September 2026. The notification's tentative schedule puts the Main result and Personality Test in November 2026, interviews in November/December 2026, and provisional allotment in January 2027; IBPS can change these dates.

What Is the IBPS PO Mains Cutoff and How It Works

The IBPS PO Mains cutoff is the minimum score (sectional + overall) that IBPS sets after the Main examination to shortlist candidates for the Personality Test and interview. It is not the same as the Preliminary cutoff, that only gates entry to the Main. The Main cutoff gates entry to the final merit list, and only Main marks count for shortlisting and for final merit, your Preliminary score plays no further part once you clear it.

IBPS sets two layers of cutoffs for the Main:

1. Sectional cutoff, a minimum score in each test of the Main. The notification's Main table lists five tests: Reasoning, General/Economy/Banking/Digital/Financial Awareness, English Language, Data Analysis & Interpretation, and the Descriptive Paper. Past scorecards reported a descriptive minimum too (see the sectional tables below).
2. Overall cutoff, a minimum total score.

Both must be cleared simultaneously; clearing the overall but missing one sectional still means rejection. If the Main is held across more than one session, IBPS normalises scores using the equi-percentile method before applying these cutoffs.

Candidates who clear the Main cutoff must also appear for a mandatory, non-qualifying Personality Test (self-report) before the interview; your Personality Profile is placed before the interview panel. IBPS does not share your Main exam score with you before the interview process is complete.

The final merit list is drawn from: (Main Score × 80%) + (Interview Score × 20%). The minimum qualifying mark in the interview is 40% (35% for SC/ST/OBC/PwBD candidates). So the Main cutoff is the harder gate, you cannot reach the interview at all without clearing it first.

IBPS PO Mains Cutoff Trend: 2021-2025

IBPS shows these figures inside the score login, not in a public document; they come from candidates' individual scorecards, and we print a figure only where independent preparation-site trackers agree on it. PapersAdda is not publishing a 2026 projection: this cycle's Main uses a different marks split from every year in the table below (see the exam pattern section further down), so extrapolating the trend would not be reliable.

Out of 225 (200 objective + 25 descriptive; the descriptive paper counts toward this total). Every row is printed identically by Oliveboard, which keeps its own table, and by at least two of BankersAdda, PracticeMock and SATHEE (IIT Kanpur), re-checked on 21 September 2026; IBPS itself shows cut-offs only inside the candidate score login.

What the trend tells you: The General category cutoff has swung by 17.75 marks across these five cycles, from a low of 63.00 in 2023 to a high of 80.75 in 2021, tracking vacancy count and paper difficulty rather than climbing steadily. The gap between General and OBC has narrowed sharply, from 5.00 marks in 2021 to zero in 2025, when both categories cleared at the same 75.75. The ST cutoff has stayed 18 to 24 marks below General throughout, with no clear narrowing trend.

Sectional Cutoff Breakdown (Mains, 2024-2025)

Sectional cutoffs are also reported from candidate scorecards and confirmed across the same trackers as the table above. The two years are shown separately because the section-wise marks were different in each.

2024 (XIV) Main, sectional minimum marks (out of 225 total)

2025 (XV) Main, sectional minimum marks (out of 225 total)

Figures confirmed across at least two of BankersAdda, PracticeMock and CareerPower, except the one cell marked "not independently confirmed", where the two sources that reported a 2025 Data Analysis & Interpretation figure for this category group did not agree.

These are not 2026 targets. Both years above were scored on section weights that no longer apply. English Language was worth 40 marks through 2025; for the 4 October 2026 Main it is worth only 20. General/Economy/Banking/Digital/Financial Awareness and Data Analysis & Interpretation are both worth 60 marks each in 2026, higher than in any year above. A past English sectional minimum, in particular, cannot be read across to the new 20-mark section.

For the October 2026 Main, three of the four sections, Reasoning, General/Economy/Banking/Digital/Financial Awareness, and Data Analysis & Interpretation, are worth 60 marks each; only English Language is smaller, at 20. Do not let a strong English score carry your overall total the way it could when English was worth 40.

IBPS PO 2026 Exam Pattern, Mains

Before benchmarking against the cutoff, know exactly what you are attempting. This is the official CRP PO/MT-XVI Main pattern.

What changed from the 2025 (XV) Main: the objective paper grew from 145 to 170 questions in the same 160 minutes. English Language fell from 40 marks to 20. General/Economy/Banking/Digital/Financial Awareness rose from 35 questions/50 marks to 50 questions/60 marks. Data Analysis & Interpretation rose from 35 questions/50 marks to 40 questions/60 marks. Reasoning stayed at 40 questions/60 marks, though its time fell from 50 to 45 minutes.

Sections are individually timed, you cannot transfer time across sections, which is the most common source of sectional cutoff misses.

The Descriptive Paper (English) may be evaluated using an automated scoring mechanism that checks writing proficiency, in addition to the objective sections.

Negative marking: 0.25 marks per wrong answer in the objective paper. There is no negative marking in the descriptive paper.

Preparation Strategy to Clear IBPS PO Mains Cutoff 2026

Phase 1: Diagnose Before You Drill (Weeks 1-2)

Take one full-length Main mock under timed, sectional conditions, built to the new 170-question, 225-mark pattern above. Score yourself section-by-section. The gap between your score and last year's confirmed cutoff per section is your actual problem statement, not a generic "I need to improve."

The 2025 (XV) General/UR Main cutoff was 75.75 out of 225, about 34%. Treat that as a reference point from the last cycle, not a target for this one: this year's paper carries a different marks split (English down to 20, General Awareness and Data Analysis up to 60 each), and IBPS has not published, and PapersAdda is not projecting, a 2026 cutoff. Many candidates lose several marks to negative marking on guessed attempts, budget for that rather than assuming every attempt counts.

Phase 2: DI and Reasoning First (Weeks 3-8)

These two sections together comprise 120 of 200 objective marks, more than half, and English is now worth only 20, so a strong DI and Reasoning score matters even more than before. A 70th-percentile score in both effectively covers the overall cutoff even with a modest English and GA performance. Focus areas:

• DI: Caselet, mixed graphs, data sufficiency, missing data tables. Candidates report these formats regularly in recent Main papers.
• Reasoning: Puzzle sets (seating arrangement, scheduling, floor-based), syllogisms with negation, blood relation + direction combos.

For additional practice sets aligned with the Mains pattern, refer to the IBPS PO placement papers 2026.

Phase 3: English and GA as Score Protectors (Weeks 9-12)

You do not need to top English or GA, you need to not fail them. For English, reading comprehension and error detection remain the highest-return topics, spend your time there. The section is now worth only 20 marks (down from 40), so treat it as a section to protect, not a section to chase for gains. Avoid spending more than 35 minutes on the English section in the exam.

For General/Economy/Banking/Digital/Financial Awareness, now worth 60 marks and explicitly including RBI circulars, the last 6 months of banking and economy news is a starting point, not the whole syllabus. Focus specifically on: RBI policy decisions and circulars, new bank schemes, GDP/inflation data, international summits, and appointments in financial institutions.

Phase 4: Descriptive Paper (Weeks 10-12, parallel)

Most candidates ignore the descriptive paper until the last week, a mistake when the cutoff is tight. The CRP PO/MT-XVI paper is "Essay and Comprehension": 2 questions, 25 marks, 30 minutes, in English, broadly on economic and social issues, banking and technology trends, current events and ethics. Practice one essay and one comprehension exercise a week under 30-minute conditions, typed. The notification says the paper may be scored by an automated mechanism that looks at writing proficiency, so structure, grammar and relevance matter more than elaborate vocabulary.

Score vs. Cutoff: Where Most Candidates Fall Short

PapersAdda does not have sourced data on how many 2025 candidates missed a sectional cutoff after clearing the Prelims, so we are not printing a percentage here. What is confirmed: the objective paper is now 170 questions (up from 145 in 2025) in the same 160 minutes, so attempting every question is even less realistic than before. Aim for high accuracy on a well-chosen subset of questions rather than attempting all 170; on a paper with 0.25 negative marking, guessed attempts on unfamiliar questions cost more than they can gain.

Practice Questions, IBPS PO Mains Pattern