IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2026: Shift-Wise Review
The IBPS SO Exam Analysis 2026 will be available after the Preliminary Examination scheduled for 29 August 2026. It will provide a detailed review of the paper, including the difficulty level, good attempts, topic-wise question distribution and overall assessment of each shift. Candidates can use the analysis after the examination to evaluate their performance and understand how their attempts compare with the reported difficulty level.
The IBPS SO Prelims examination is conducted for different Specialist Officer posts, and the section combination varies according to the post. For IT Officer, Agriculture Field Officer, HR/Personnel Officer and Marketing Officer, Quantitative Aptitude is included, whereas Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari have General Awareness with special reference to the Banking Industry. Professional Knowledge is also an important part of the revised 2026 pattern.
The IBPS SO Prelims Exam 2026 is scheduled to be held on 29 August 2026. The shift-wise difficulty level and good attempts will be updated after each shift is completed, based on candidate feedback and detailed paper analysis. Candidates should use these figures as indicative benchmarks rather than official cut-offs.
| Section | Shift 1: Difficulty | Shift 1: Good Attempts | Shift 2: Difficulty | Shift 2: Good Attempts |
| English Language | To Be Updated | To Be Updated | To Be Updated | To Be Updated |
| Reasoning Ability | To Be Updated | To Be Updated | To Be Updated | To Be Updated |
| Quantitative Aptitude / General Awareness | To Be Updated | To Be Updated | To Be Updated | To Be Updated |
| Overall | To Be Updated | To Be Updated | To Be Updated | To Be Updated |
Note: Good attempts will be updated after the examination. These figures are indicative and should not be treated as official cut-off marks. A good-attempt range also depends on accuracy, question selection and the difficulty level of the particular shift.
The IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2026 will include a detailed section-wise review after the examination. It will cover the number of questions asked, topic-wise distribution, difficulty level, question types and the overall time required to attempt each section.
The final analysis will also help candidates compare the two shifts and understand whether one shift was relatively easier or more time-consuming than the other. For posts with Quantitative Aptitude, the analysis will focus on numerical topics, while Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari candidates will receive a General Awareness-based analysis.
| Section | What the 2026 Analysis Will Cover |
| English Language | RC, Error Detection, Fillers, Cloze Test, Para Jumbles, Vocabulary and other topics |
| Reasoning Ability | Puzzles, Seating Arrangement, Syllogism, Inequality, Blood Relation and other topics |
| Quantitative Aptitude | Arithmetic, DI, Number Series, Approximation, Quadratic Equations and other topics |
| General Awareness | Current Affairs, Banking Awareness, RBI, Financial Awareness and Government Schemes |
| Professional Knowledge | Post-specific domain questions |
The detailed IBPS SO Prelims Reasoning Ability topic-wise analysis, including questions asked from puzzles, seating arrangements, syllogism, inequality, blood relations, direction sense, coding-decoding, input-output, and other topics, will be updated once the exam is over.
| Topic | Shift 1 |
| Puzzles & Seating Arrangement | To Be Updated |
| Syllogism | To Be Updated |
| Inequality | To Be Updated |
| Blood Relation | To Be Updated |
| Direction & Distance | To Be Updated |
| Input-Output | To Be Updated |
| Data Sufficiency | To Be Updated |
| Coding-Decoding | To Be Updated |
| Miscellaneous | To Be Updated |
| Total | 25 |
Once the examination is conducted, this section can be expanded with the exact number of questions, puzzle types and shift-wise difficulty.
The detailed IBPS SO Prelims English Language analysis of Reading Comprehension, Error Detection, Cloze Test, Para Jumbles, Fillers, Word Swap, Phrase Replacement, and other topics will be updated once the examination is over.
| Topic | Shift 1 |
| Reading Comprehension | To Be Updated |
| Error Detection | To Be Updated |
| Cloze Test | To Be Updated |
| Fillers | To Be Updated |
| Para Jumble/Sentence Rearrangement | To Be Updated |
| Word Swap | To Be Updated |
| Phrase Replacement | To Be Updated |
| Sentence Improvement | To Be Updated |
| Other Topics | To Be Updated |
| Total | 25 |
The actual number of questions from each topic will be updated after candidates’ responses and paper review are available.
The IBPS SO Prelims Quantitative Aptitude topic-wise analysis covering Arithmetic, Data Interpretation, Number Series, Approximation, Quadratic Equations, Data Sufficiency, and other topics will be updated once the exam is over.
| Topic | Shift 1 |
| Arithmetic | To Be Updated |
| Data Interpretation | To Be Updated |
| Approximation | To Be Updated |
| Number Series | To Be Updated |
| Quadratic Equations | To Be Updated |
| Data Sufficiency | To Be Updated |
| Quantity Comparison | To Be Updated |
| Miscellaneous | To Be Updated |
| Total | 25 |
Different DI formats such as Table, Line Graph, Bar Graph, Pie Chart and Caselet DI have appeared in previous cycles, so the 2026 analysis should identify not only the number of DI questions but also the format and calculation level.
The IBPS SO Prelims General Awareness Analysis 2026 applies to Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari, for whom General Awareness with special reference to the Banking Industry is included in the Preliminary Examination. The detailed topic-wise analysis will be updated after the exam.
| Area | Shift 1 |
| Current Affairs | To Be Updated |
| Banking Awareness | To Be Updated |
| RBI/Financial Awareness | To Be Updated |
| Government Schemes | To Be Updated |
| Other Topics | To Be Updated |
| Total | 25 |
The revised IBPS SO Prelims 2026 pattern includes Professional Knowledge as a separate section carrying 25 questions for 50 marks. The section receives 20 minutes and is based on the professional discipline of the post for which the candidate has applied.
The detailed IBPS SO Professional Knowledge Analysis 2026 will be provided after the examination and should be read post-wise because the topics differ according to the Specialist Officer stream.
| Post | Professional Knowledge Area |
| IT Officer | Information Technology / Computer Science |
| Agriculture Field Officer | Agriculture |
| Law Officer | Law |
| HR/Personnel Officer | Human Resource Management |
| Marketing Officer | Marketing |
| Rajbhasha Adhikari | Professional language-related knowledge |
Candidates should not compare the difficulty of Professional Knowledge across different posts because every stream has a separate domain syllabus.
The IBPS SO Previous Year Prelims Trends help candidates understand recurring topics, section-wise weightage and the broad difficulty level of the examination. The previous-year pattern has remained broadly consistent in the aptitude sections, although the number of questions from individual topics has changed from one year to another.
For IT Officer, Agriculture Field Officer, HR/Personnel Officer and Marketing Officer, English Language, Reasoning Ability and Quantitative Aptitude have formed the main common aptitude areas. For Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari, General Awareness with Special Reference to Banking Industry is asked instead of Quantitative Aptitude.
The 2026 recruitment should be analysed separately because the revised pattern gives Professional Knowledge substantial importance.
The IBPS SO Prelims Good Attempts Trend helps candidates understand the approximate number of questions that could be attempted accurately in previous examinations. Good attempts vary according to paper difficulty, question distribution and individual accuracy, so they should never be treated as official qualifying marks.
| Year | English | Reasoning Ability | Quantitative Aptitude | Overall Good Attempts |
| 2025 | 31–34 | 28–30 | 25–28 | 84–95 |
| 2024 | 30–33 | 29–31 | 25–28 | 87–99 |
| 2023 | 32–36 | 28–33 | 29–34 | 89–103 |
| 2022 | 22–24 | 32–36 | 32–34 | 87–95 |
| 2021 | 22–24 | 33–37 | 32–34 | 88–96 |
Note: These good-attempt figures are indicative and can vary across shifts. Candidates should consider both attempts and accuracy while evaluating their performance.
The historical figures above should be used as a trend reference only. The revised 2026 structure changes the section composition and includes Professional Knowledge as a major component.
The IBPS SO Prelims Overall Difficulty Trend has generally remained around the Moderate level in previous years, although the difficulty of individual sections can vary. Reasoning has frequently been time-consuming because of puzzles and seating arrangements, while Quantitative Aptitude can require considerable calculation. English has generally included a mix of comprehension, grammar and vocabulary-based questions.
| Year | English Language | Reasoning Ability | Quantitative Aptitude | Overall Difficulty |
| 2025 | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
| 2024 | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
| 2023 | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
| 2022 | Easy to Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
| 2021 | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
The final 2026 difficulty rating should be assigned after analysing the actual questions from each shift.
The IBPS SO Prelims English Language Trend shows that Reading Comprehension has consistently carried significant weightage. Error Detection and vocabulary or word-based questions have also appeared regularly, while recent papers have included several formats such as Word Swap, Connectors, Sentence Improvement, Fillers and Match the Column.
| Topic | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Reading Comprehension | 14–16 | 20 | 20 | – | 20 |
| Error Detection/Spotting Error | 5 | 5 | 5 | – | 5 |
| Cloze Test | 6 | – | 5 | – | – |
| Sentence Rearrangement | 5 | 5 | – | – | – |
| Para Jumble | 5 | – | – | – | – |
| Word Swap | 4–5 | – | 5 | 2 | 5 |
| Fillers | 5 | – | 5 | – | – |
| Phrase Replacement | 5 | – | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Word Usage | 2 | – | 5 | – | – |
| Word Rearrangement | 4 | – | – | – | 5 |
| Connectors | 5 | – | – | – | – |
| Sentence Improvement | 5 | – | – | – | – |
| Match the Column | 5 | 5 | – | – | 3–4 |
| Total Questions | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
The trend indicates that candidates should not prepare English around only one question type. A balanced preparation covering comprehension, grammar and vocabulary is more appropriate.
The IBPS SO Prelims Quantitative Aptitude Trend shows consistent importance of Arithmetic and Data Interpretation. Number Series and Approximation have also appeared repeatedly, while the exact DI format has varied across years.
| Topic | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Approximation | 5–6 | – | – | 5 | 5 |
| Quadratic Equation | 5 | – | 5 | – | – |
| Missing/Wrong Number Series | 6 | 4–5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Arithmetic | 11–20 | 15 | 25 | 14 | 20 |
| Table DI | 5–6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Line Graph DI | – | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Bar Graph DI | 5 | – | – | – | – |
| Pie Chart DI | 5–6 | 5 | – | 5 | 5 |
| Caselet DI | 5–6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Data Sufficiency | 3 | – | – | 3 | – |
| Quantity Comparison | – | 4–5 | – | – | – |
| Total Questions | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
Candidates should practise multiple DI formats rather than assuming that the same graph or table format will appear every year.
The IBPS SO Prelims Reasoning Ability Trend has consistently been dominated by puzzles and seating arrangements. Floor-based, linear, circular, variable-based, box and row-based arrangements have appeared across different years, while shorter topics such as Syllogism, Inequality, Direction, Blood Relation and Input-Output have remained important scoring areas.
| Topic | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Seating Arrangement & Puzzles | 20 | 20 | 20 | 23 | 20 |
| Floor-Based Puzzle | 5 | – | – | – | – |
| Variable-Based Puzzle | 5 | – | 5 | – | – |
| Linear/Parallel Row Seating | 5–10 | 10 | 5 | 5 | – |
| Circular/Square Seating | 5 | – | 5 | 5 | – |
| Input-Output/Machine Input | 4–5 | 4 | – | – | 5 |
| Syllogism | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3–4 |
| Inequality | 3–5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3–4 |
| Direction & Distance | 3–4 | – | 4 | 3 | 2–3 |
| Blood Relation | 3–5 | 2–3 | – | 3 | 3 |
| Data Sufficiency | 2–4 | – | 5 | 3 | 4–5 |
| Logical/Critical Reasoning | 3–4 | 4–5 | – | 5 | 3–4 |
| Coding-Decoding/Chinese Coding | 2–3 | – | 6 | 5 | – |
| Pair Formation | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | – |
| Meaningful Word | – | 1 | – | 1 | 1 |
| Odd One Out | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| Miscellaneous | 5–7 | 7–8 | 6 | – | – |
| Total Questions | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
The data makes one point particularly clear: puzzles and seating arrangements remain the dominant part of Reasoning. Candidates should therefore practise different arrangements instead of preparing only one puzzle type. Shorter topics such as Syllogism and Inequality should also be prepared because they can provide comparatively quicker scoring opportunities.
The IBPS SO Prelims Exam Pattern 2026 consists of 100 questions for 125 marks, with a total duration of 80 minutes and separate 20-minute timings for each section. The Professional Knowledge section carries 25 questions for 50 marks.
| Section | Questions | Marks | Duration |
| English Language | 25 | 25 | 20 Minutes |
| Reasoning Ability | 25 | 25 | 20 Minutes |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 25 | 25 | 20 Minutes |
| Professional Knowledge | 25 | 50 | 20 Minutes |
| Total | 100 | 125 | 80 Minutes |
| Section | Questions | Marks | Duration |
| English Language | 25 | 25 | 20 Minutes |
| Reasoning Ability | 25 | 25 | 20 Minutes |
| General Awareness with Special Reference to Banking Industry | 25 | 25 | 20 Minutes |
| Professional Knowledge | 25 | 50 | 20 Minutes |
| Total | 100 | 125 | 80 Minutes |
The revised pattern is important while interpreting historical trends. Previous-year papers can help identify recurring concepts, but the 2026 pattern should be treated as the primary reference for preparation.
Once the examination is over, the most useful IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2026 should combine four types of information rather than providing only a score estimate.
Candidates should be told whether each shift was Easy, Easy to Moderate, Moderate, Moderate to Difficult or Difficult. The analysis should also explain which sections contributed most to the overall difficulty and whether any particular section was noticeably more time-consuming.
Good attempts should be given section-wise and overall, with a clear note that accuracy matters. The article should explain that a higher attempt count is useful only when candidates can maintain reasonable accuracy and avoid excessive negative marking.
The article should identify the exact number of questions asked from major topics such as puzzles, Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Arithmetic. This helps candidates understand which topics carried greater weight and where most of the questions were concentrated.
The analysis should explain whether the two shifts differed significantly in difficulty or question distribution. It should highlight any major differences in Reasoning puzzles, English question types, Quantitative Aptitude calculations or overall good attempts, rather than simply listing both shifts separately.
Each section should be analysed separately so candidates can understand the difficulty, major topics and number of questions asked. This makes the overall exam review more useful for both candidates who appeared and those preparing for upcoming shifts.
The analysis should conclude with the broader trend observed across shifts, including the overall difficulty, important recurring topics and whether the paper was more calculation-heavy, puzzle-heavy or balanced. This gives candidates a clearer understanding of the examination level.
This format gives candidates a clearer picture than a single overall label.
Candidates who appear in the examination can use the analysis to evaluate whether their attempts were reasonable for their shift. Instead of looking only at the total number of questions attempted, compare your attempts with the difficulty, accuracy and section-wise performance.
For future aspirants, the analysis can be used to identify high-frequency topics and emerging question patterns. A good analysis should therefore be treated as a preparation resource, not just an after-exam score discussion.
The IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2026 will become available after the examination scheduled for 29 August 2026. Until then, the most useful way to prepare is to understand the previous-year trends, the latest examination structure and the topics that have repeatedly appeared in Reasoning, English and Quantitative Aptitude.
The 2026 examination requires particular attention because the revised structure includes Professional Knowledge as a 50-mark section, while the third section differs according to the Specialist Officer post. This makes it important for candidates to compare the eventual 2026 paper with the correct post-specific pattern rather than relying entirely on older exam analyses.
After each shift on 29 August, this page can be updated with the actual IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2026, including shift-wise difficulty, good attempts, topic-wise question distribution and section-level reviews. The historical tables below the current analysis provide additional context for understanding how the examination has varied across previous years.
| Article | Article |
|---|---|
| IBPS SO Salary | IBPS SO Cut Off |
| IBPS SO Exam Pattern | IBPS SO Study Plan |
| IBPS SO Syllabus | IBPS SO Previous Year Question Papers |
| IBPS SO Notification 2026 | IBPS SO Study Plan |
The IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2026 will be updated after the Preliminary Examination scheduled for 29 August 2026. It will include shift-wise difficulty, good attempts, section-wise questions and topic-level analysis based on the actual paper and candidate feedback.
The previous-year IBPS SO Prelims papers have generally been Moderate overall, although individual sections can vary in difficulty. Reasoning has often been time-consuming because of puzzle sets, while Quantitative Aptitude can require considerable calculation. The actual 2026 difficulty level will be confirmed only after the exam.
Good attempts indicate the approximate number of questions a well-prepared candidate can attempt with good accuracy. Previous-year overall good attempts have generally fallen in the broad range of 84–103, depending on the year and difficulty. These figures should not be used as official cut-offs or directly applied to the revised 2026 pattern.
For Reasoning, prioritise Puzzles, Seating Arrangement, Syllogism, Inequality, Blood Relation and Input-Output. For English, focus on Reading Comprehension, Error Detection, Fillers, Cloze Test and vocabulary-based questions. For Quantitative Aptitude, Arithmetic, Data Interpretation, Number Series and Approximation are important based on previous trends.
Yes. IT Officer, Agriculture Field Officer, HR/Personnel Officer and Marketing Officer have Quantitative Aptitude as the third section. Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari have General Awareness with Special Reference to Banking Industry instead. Professional Knowledge is included as a separate 50-mark section in the revised 2026 pattern.
The IBPS SO Prelims Exam Pattern 2026 contains 100 questions for 125 marks, with four sections and a total duration of 80 minutes. Each section gets a separate 20-minute window, and Professional Knowledge contains 25 questions carrying 50 marks.
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