Government · Central · Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)
IBPS Clerk — Customer Service Associate
No interview. The mains score is 100% of the merit — and you compete only against people who picked the same state.
What this exam is
The clerical intake of the public sector banks, now formally titled Customer Service Associate. The 2026 cycle — CRP CSA-XVI — is the biggest thing IBPS is running this year: 11,403 posts against the 7,365 on offer for probationary officers, and applications are open from 1 to 21 August 2026. Recruitment is state-wise. You pick one state or union territory and are ranked only against the people who picked it too, which is why the general cutoff swung from about 87.75 in West Bengal down to about 41 in Sikkim.
There is no interview. Prelims only shortlists; the mains score alone builds the merit list, so a single bad morning in December is the whole story. Prelims is three sealed 20-minute rooms — English 30 questions, Numerical Ability 35, Reasoning 35 — and a quarter of a question's marks comes off for each wrong answer.
Mains tightened in 2026. It is still 200 marks, but the time was cut from 160 minutes to 120 while five more Quantitative Aptitude questions were added — 160 questions in two hours. The section clocks are uneven on purpose: 40 General and Financial Awareness questions get 20 minutes, while 40 Reasoning and Computer Aptitude questions get 35. And one gate sits outside the marks entirely — a Language Proficiency Test in the local language of the state you applied to. Fail it and the score does not save you.
Who can sit it
- A degree in any discipline from a recognised university
- Age 20–28 as on 1 August 2026
- Upper-age relaxation: OBC-NCL +3, SC/ST +5, PwBD +10
- Computer literacy — operating and working knowledge is required
- Proficiency in the official language of the state or union territory you apply to, tested separately
- Fee ₹850; ₹175 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates
- You may apply for one state or union territory only
The paper, stage by stage
| Stage | Section | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prelims | English Language | 30 | 30 | 20 min, locked |
| Prelims | Numerical Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 min, locked |
| Prelims | Reasoning Ability — shortlisting only; these marks do not reach the merit list | 35 | 35 | 20 min, locked |
| Mains | Reasoning & Computer Aptitude | 40 | 60 | 35 min |
| Mains | English Language | 40 | 40 | 35 min |
| Mains | Quantitative Aptitude — five questions were added here in 2026 | 40 | 50 | 30 min |
| Mains | General & Financial Awareness — 40 questions in 20 minutes, the tightest clock on the paper | 40 | 50 | 20 min |
| Language test | Language Proficiency Test in the local language of the state applied for — qualifying, and failing it ends the candidature | — | Qualifying only | — |
Live demo — no signup
Try IBPS Clerk questions.
Watch the AI read you.
Original items in this exam's style — a timer armed the moment you saw them. Your answer and your seconds produce the diagnosis.
The average of five numbers is 34. When one number is removed, the average of the remaining four becomes 32. What is the number that was removed?
Your diagnosis appears here
The engine is watching the clock, not just the answer.
Common questions
IBPS Clerk — frequently asked
Who conducts IBPS Clerk?
IBPS Clerk — Customer Service Associate is conducted by Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS).
When is the next IBPS Clerk exam?
The window is open right now — applications for CRP CSA-XVI close on 21 August 2026, with prelims on 10–11 October and mains on 27 December. Both exam dates come from IBPS's own calendar and carry its 'tentative' label. The yearly rhythm is settled: notification at the start of August, prelims in October, mains at the end of December, allotment early in the new year.
How many vacancies or seats does IBPS Clerk have?
11,403 Customer Service Associate posts across 11 public sector banks (2026).
What is the IBPS Clerk exam pattern?
The paper is Prelims 100; Mains 160. Timing: Prelims 60 min (3 × 20-min locked sections); Mains 120 min.
Is there negative marking in IBPS Clerk?
0.25 of that question's own marks per wrong answer; nothing lost on a blank.
What is the eligibility for IBPS Clerk?
A degree in any discipline from a recognised university Age 20–28 as on 1 August 2026 Upper-age relaxation: OBC-NCL +3, SC/ST +5, PwBD +10 Computer literacy — operating and working knowledge is required Proficiency in the official language of the state or union territory you apply to, tested separately Fee ₹850; ₹175 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates You may apply for one state or union territory only
How many candidates appear for IBPS Clerk?
Not published by IBPS.
Which languages is IBPS Clerk available in?
English, Hindi and 13 regional languages, depending on the state.
What is the IBPS Clerk syllabus?
The paper covers Simplification, approximation and number series, Data Interpretation — table, bar, line, caselet, Arithmetic: percentage, ratio, average, interest, time & work, Puzzles, seating arrangement, order and ranking, Syllogism, inequality, coding-decoding, blood relations, Reading comprehension, cloze test, error spotting, fillers, Banking and financial awareness, Current affairs of the last six months, Computer fundamentals, MS Office, networking basics, shortcuts, The state's official language for the proficiency test.
Related
Others sitting this one also prepare for
IBPS PO
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)
Prelims marks never enter the merit list. Three locked 20-minute rooms only decide whether you get to sit the exam that counts.
IBPS RRB
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), for the Regional Rural Banks
The largest banking intake of the year — and for the clerical posts the local language is not a formality but a gate.
RRB NTPC
Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs), Ministry of Railways
1.21 crore applications for 11,558 posts — and a score that is normalised against strangers who sat a different shift.
SSC CGL
Staff Selection Commission (SSC)
Tier 1 only shortlists. Selection is 390 Tier-2 marks — and each wrong answer swings four.
Honesty note: Adversarial verify pass pending (agent budget) — both question keys manually re-solved and confirmed. Unlike the IBPS PO brief on this site, nothing here was read from the official notification PDF: ibps.in served an untrusted TLS certificate on every attempt, so the vacancy count, pattern and dates rest on four prep portals that agree with one another, cross-checked against the official calendar's exam dates as those portals reproduce them. Treat the 11,403 figure and the 2026 mains changes (160 minutes cut to 120, five questions added to Quantitative Aptitude) as well-corroborated but not yet primary-sourced. Prelims section marks are reported as 30/35/35 with marks equal to questions — note that IBPS redistributed the PO prelims marks in 2025 without changing question counts, so this is worth re-checking against the CSA-XVI notification. Cutoffs are state-wise and vary enormously (roughly 87.75 in West Bengal to 41 in Sikkim for the general category in a recent cycle); no single national number exists and none is quoted here. IBPS publishes no applicant or attendance data. The list of 13 regional languages was not enumerated in this pass, and the exact allotment date for the XVI cycle has not been announced.
You've read the brief.
Now sit the paper.