The IBPS PO Preliminary Examination 2026 is under way today. The exam runs across 22 and 23 August in four shifts each day under CRP PO/MT-XVI, and the first shift of Day 1 has finished. Early feedback from candidates puts the paper at a moderate level, with good attempts landing in the mid-sixties to low-seventies.
If you have already written your shift, this page tells you how to read your performance sensibly. If your shift is later today or on 23 August, it tells you what to expect and what to do tonight. And on the expected cut off, we will be straight with you about something most sites will not admit today: nobody has a real number yet, and we will explain exactly why.
IBPS PO Prelims 2026 at a glance
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Conducting body | Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) |
| Recruitment cycle | CRP PO/MT-XVI |
| Prelims exam dates | 22 and 23 August 2026 |
| Shifts | Four per day, eight in total |
| Total questions | 100 |
| Total marks | 100 |
| Duration | 60 minutes, sectional timing of 20 minutes each |
| Negative marking | 0.25 per wrong answer |
| Nature of Prelims | Qualifying only, marks do not enter the final merit |
| Mains exam date | 4 October 2026 |
Shift timings for 22 and 23 August
| Shift | Timing |
|---|---|
| Shift 1 | 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM |
| Shift 2 | 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Shift 3 | 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM |
| Shift 4 | 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM |
These are the shift windows being followed across both days. Your own reporting time and centre are printed on your call letter, and the reporting time is always well before the exam start, so go by the admit card rather than this table.
Exam pattern you are facing
| Section | Questions | Time |
|---|---|---|
| English Language | 30 | 20 minutes |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 20 minutes |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | 20 minutes |
| Total | 100 | 60 minutes |
Sectional timing is the defining feature. Each section locks after 20 minutes and you cannot carry saved time forward, which is why question selection inside a section matters more than raw speed. You also have to clear both the sectional cut-off and the overall cut-off; clearing one and failing the other still ends your attempt.
One honest note on the marks split. Different coaching sources are describing the 2026 marking differently, some reporting equal marking across sections and others reporting a revised split with Reasoning weighted higher. Go by the instruction screen you saw in your own shift and by the official notification, not by a blog table, including ours.
Shift 1 analysis, 22 August 2026
| Aspect | Day 1, Shift 1 |
|---|---|
| Overall difficulty | Moderate |
| Good attempts, overall | Roughly 65 to 71 |
| Sectional character | Reasoning and Quant more time-consuming, English comparatively manageable |
The broad pattern reported after the first shift matches what IBPS PO Prelims has looked like across recent cycles: an easy-to-moderate to moderate paper overall, with puzzles in Reasoning and calculation-heavy sets in Quant eating the clock, while English stays approachable for candidates with steady reading and grammar. Estimates vary slightly by source, with some placing good attempts a few marks higher, which is normal because these figures come from candidate feedback rather than any official release.
We are not reproducing questions from the paper. What is useful and lawful to share is the shape of the paper: Reading Comprehension continues to anchor English alongside grammar, sentence arrangement, fillers and vocabulary; Quant leans on data interpretation and arithmetic; Reasoning leans on puzzles and seating arrangement. Prepare Day 2 around those shapes, not around any leaked question list.
What "good attempts" actually means
This is the number candidates misread most on exam day. Good attempts is an indicative range of how many questions a well-prepared candidate could reasonably attempt at that difficulty level with solid accuracy. It is not a cut-off, not an official figure, and not a pass mark.
Two candidates with the same attempt count can end up far apart. Because of the 0.25 penalty, 66 attempts at 90% accuracy beats 80 attempts at 65% accuracy comfortably. If you attempted fewer than the reported range but your accuracy was high, you are in better shape than the raw comparison suggests. Judge yourself on estimated correct answers, not on how many you touched.
Expected cut off: read this before you trust any number
You will see confident category-wise cut-off figures published today. Treat them with suspicion, and here is the mechanism that explains why.
| How the IBPS PO Prelims cut off works |
|---|
| It is decided state-wise and category-wise, not as a single national number |
| You must clear sectional cut-offs as well as the overall cut-off |
| It depends on vacancies in your state, candidates who appeared, and the shortlisting ratio for Mains |
| Scores are normalised across shifts, so your raw score is not what is finally compared |
| IBPS publishes the actual cut off only with the result, never before |
Put those together and the problem with a "predicted cut off" becomes obvious. On 22 August, with eight shifts not yet complete, no one knows the final difficulty spread, no one has the normalisation output, and no one has state-wise candidate counts. Any precise number circulating today is a guess dressed up as data.
What you can do instead is position yourself sensibly. A moderate paper with good attempts around 65 to 71 means a candidate with roughly that many attempts at high accuracy is in a competitive zone, and someone comfortably above it with clean accuracy is in a strong zone. States with fewer vacancies typically settle higher, which is why an identical score can clear in one state and miss in another. Use that as orientation, not as a verdict, and wait for the official cut off with the result.
Remember what the Prelims is worth
Your Prelims score does not enter the final merit list at all. It only shortlists you for the Mains on 4 October 2026. The final selection is built from the Mains and the Interview in an 80:20 ratio, after the Personality Test stage.
That has a practical consequence people miss on exam day. Whether you scraped through or sailed through, the marks reset. The candidate who cleared Prelims by a whisker and started Mains preparation on 23 August is in a better position than the one who topped their shift and waited three weeks for the result. Our IBPS PO 2026 notification guide covers the vacancy position and the full selection structure if you want to see how the stages stack up.
If your exam is on 23 August: what to do tonight
Day 2 candidates have one advantage: you know the paper is sitting at a moderate level, so there is no case for panic and no case for changing your whole approach the night before.
Do not attempt new topics tonight. Revise what is already strong, take at most one short sectional drill to keep your rhythm, and stop early enough to sleep properly, because a 60-minute sectional-timed paper punishes tiredness more than a gap in preparation. Check your call letter details, keep the printed admit card and original photo ID together with a photocopy, and plan your travel against the reporting time rather than the exam time.
In the hall, protect your accuracy. Give each section its first pass on the questions you can finish quickly, leave the heavy puzzle or the long DI set for the second pass, and remember that with a 0.25 penalty a wild guess is not free. If you can eliminate two or three options, attempting is usually worth it; if you are entirely blank, moving on costs you nothing.
What happens after the exam
| Stage | Status |
|---|---|
| Prelims exam | 22 and 23 August 2026 |
| Prelims result | Date not announced; typically follows within a few weeks |
| Official Prelims cut off | Released with the result, state-wise and category-wise |
| Mains exam | 4 October 2026 |
| Final selection | Mains and Interview in an 80:20 ratio |
The gap between today and 4 October is about six weeks, and it is the single most valuable stretch in this entire cycle. Mains brings a different beast: an objective paper plus a descriptive test, with Banking and Economy awareness and advanced data interpretation carrying real weight. If you think you have cleared, start that shift in preparation now rather than after the result. If you think you have missed, the banking calendar has not closed for the year, and the SBI Clerk 2026 notification is still open for applications this month.
Frequently asked questions
What was the difficulty level of IBPS PO Prelims on 22 August 2026?
Candidate feedback after the first shift placed the paper at a moderate level overall, with Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude more time-consuming and English comparatively manageable.
What were the good attempts in IBPS PO Prelims Shift 1?
Reported ranges centre on roughly 65 to 71 attempts overall, with some sources placing it slightly higher. These are indicative estimates from candidate feedback, not official figures.
What is the expected cut off for IBPS PO Prelims 2026?
No reliable number exists yet. The cut off is decided state-wise and category-wise after normalisation across all eight shifts, and IBPS publishes it only along with the result. Any exact figure circulating on exam day is an estimate.
Do IBPS PO Prelims marks count in the final selection?
No. Prelims is only a shortlisting stage. The final merit is prepared from the Mains and the Interview in an 80:20 ratio.
Is there sectional cut off in IBPS PO Prelims?
Yes. You must clear the cut off in each of the three sections as well as the overall cut off to qualify for the Mains.
When is the IBPS PO Mains exam 2026?
4 October 2026. It has an objective paper along with a descriptive test, and it carries the weight that decides your selection.
Final word
Exam day breeds two mistakes. The first is scoring yourself against a number somebody invented this morning. The second is losing six weeks waiting for a result that only decides whether you sit the paper that actually counts.
Estimate your correct answers honestly, note them down, and then let the score go. If your shift is still ahead, sleep well and protect your accuracy. Either way, the Mains on 4 October is where this recruitment is genuinely won, and the preparation for it can start tonight. Verify every date and figure from ibps.in before you act on it.