IBPS PO | 2025
IBPS PO Prelims 2025: topic weightage and difficulty analysis
100 questions across 3 sections. Overall difficulty: moderate.
IBPS conducts the PO preliminary examination across several shifts, and each shift gets a different paper. The section structure, marks and timing below are taken from the official notification and are identical in every shift. The topic-level counts are our own compilation from candidate reports across shifts, so treat them as the typical shape of the paper rather than an exact record of any one sitting. IBPS does not publish a topic-wise breakdown of its papers, and no question text is reproduced anywhere on this page.
Where the questions came from
Sorted by weightage, so the topics worth the most preparation time are at the top of each section.
English Language
English Language
A realistic target for a strong candidate: 22 to 25 attempts. This is our own guidance, not an official figure.
| Topic | Questions | Share of the section |
|---|---|---|
| Reading comprehension Usually one passage of 8 to 10 questions, commonly on economics or social policy, with two of those questions on vocabulary from the passage. | 30%9 Moderate | |
| Cloze test Typically 5 blanks in a single short passage. | 17%5 Easy | |
| Error detection and sentence improvement Appears as either error spotting or phrase replacement, rarely both in the same shift. | 17%5 Moderate | |
| Para jumbles Usually 4 to 5 questions on one jumbled paragraph. | 13%4 Easy | |
| Sentence and phrase fillers | 13%4 Easy | |
| Word usage and vocabulary Word swap and word usage questions have become more common than plain synonym and antonym questions. | 10%3 Moderate |
Quantitative Aptitude
Quantitative Aptitude
A realistic target for a strong candidate: 22 to 26 attempts. This is our own guidance, not an official figure.
| Topic | Questions | Share of the section |
|---|---|---|
| Data interpretation Two or three sets, usually a table and a bar or line graph. This is the single largest block in the section and the one worth practising most. | 34%12 Moderate | |
| Arithmetic word problems Spread across percentage, profit and loss, ratio, ages, time and work, time speed and distance, simple and compound interest, and mixtures. | 26%9 Moderate | |
| Simplification and approximation Pure calculation speed. These are the cheapest marks in the section. | 17%6 Easy | |
| Number series Missing number or wrong number series. | 14%5 Easy | |
| Quadratic equations or quantity comparison Some shifts replace this set with a quantity one versus quantity two comparison. | 9%3 Easy |
Reasoning Ability
Reasoning Ability
A realistic target for a strong candidate: 23 to 27 attempts. This is our own guidance, not an official figure.
| Topic | Questions | Share of the section |
|---|---|---|
| Puzzles and seating arrangement Three or four sets, typically a linear arrangement, a circular arrangement, a floor or box puzzle, and a scheduling puzzle on months or days. Nearly half the section sits here. | 46%16 Hard | |
| Inequality | 11%4 Easy | |
| Coding and decoding | 11%4 Moderate | |
| Syllogism | 9%3 Easy | |
| Blood relations | 9%3 Easy | |
| Order, ranking and direction sense | 9%3 Easy | |
| Alphanumeric series and miscellaneous Word formation, pairing and odd-one-out questions appear here. | 6%2 Easy |
What this means for your preparation
Reasoning is where prelims is won or lost. Roughly sixteen of its thirty-five questions come from puzzles and seating arrangement, so the ability to pick the two solvable sets and leave the third is worth more than raw speed.
Do not open the hardest puzzle first. The sectional clock is twenty minutes, and one badly chosen set can consume eight of them for nothing.
Data interpretation is a third of the quantitative section. Practising two sets a day against a clock moves the score more than covering another arithmetic chapter.
English is the most attemptable section for most candidates and the one where accuracy is highest. Clearing its sectional cutoff comfortably buys time to spend elsewhere.
There is a quarter-mark penalty for a wrong answer, so a genuine guess between four options loses money on average. Guess only after eliminating two options.
Prelims marks do not carry into the final merit list. Only the mains and interview count, so the goal here is to qualify with margin, not to maximise.
See the real paper, officially
- IBPS official website
During the objection window after each stage, IBPS publishes a link here to view your own question paper, your recorded responses and the answer key. The window is usually open for only a few days, so check it as soon as it opens.
- IBPS online application and candidate portal
Scorecards and response sheets are accessed with your registration number and password or date of birth.
Common questions
- Can I download the IBPS PO Preliminary Examination 2025 question paper?
- Not from this site. In India an exam question paper is a copyright work owned by the conducting body, and reproducing it commercially is infringement. What you can do is view your own paper and responses through the official portal during the objection window after the exam, and the links to do that are on this page.
- Are these topic counts exact?
- No, and we would rather say so. The exam runs across multiple shifts with a different paper in each, and the conducting body does not publish a topic-wise breakdown. The section structure, marks and timing are official. The topic counts are our compilation from candidate reports and describe the typical shape of the paper.
- How should I use a weightage analysis?
- To decide what to study next and what to skip. If one block is a third of a section, practising it has several times the payoff of a topic that carries two questions. It also tells you which questions to leave in the exam itself, which matters more than most candidates think.