IBPS SO Syllabus 2025 & Detailed Exam Pattern

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) Specialist Officer (SO) exam is a national-level recruitment for specialized cadres in Public Sector Banks. The exam recruits for various posts like IT Officer, Agricultural Field Officer, Rajbhasha Adhikari, Law Officer, HR/Personnel Officer, and Marketing Officer. To succeed, a thorough understanding of the three-phase selection process (Prelims, Mains, Interview) and the specific syllabus for your chosen discipline is crucial.

This guide provides a comprehensive breakdown of the IBPS SO syllabus and the detailed exam structure for all posts to help you create a winning preparation strategy for 2025.

IBPS SO 2025: Exam Overview & Pattern

The selection process consists of a Preliminary Exam, a Main Exam, and an Interview. The final merit list is based on the combined scores of the Main Exam and Interview.

Preliminary Exam Pattern (Qualifying)

The Prelims pattern is different for Law Officer/Rajbhasha Adhikari and for other posts.

For IT, Agriculture, HR/Personnel, and Marketing Officer

Subject	No. of Questions	Maximum Marks	Duration
English Language	50	25	40 Minutes
Reasoning Ability	50	50	40 Minutes
Quantitative Aptitude	50	50	40 Minutes
Total	150	125	120 Minutes

For Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari

Subject	No. of Questions	Maximum Marks	Duration
English Language	50	25	40 Minutes
Reasoning Ability	50	50	40 Minutes
General Awareness with Special Reference to Banking Industry	50	50	40 Minutes
Total	150	125	120 Minutes

Main Exam Pattern (Merit Deciding)

The Main Exam focuses on the candidate's professional knowledge.

For IT, Agriculture, HR/Personnel, Law, and Marketing Officer

Subject	No. of Questions	Max Marks	Duration
Professional Knowledge (Objective)	60	60	45 Minutes

For Rajbhasha Adhikari

Subject	No. of Questions	Max Marks	Duration
Professional Knowledge (Objective)	45	60	30 Minutes
Professional Knowledge (Descriptive)	2	60	30 Minutes

Phase III: Interview

Candidates who clear the Main Exam are called for an interview, which carries 100 marks. The final merit list is prepared with a weightage of 80:20 for the Main Exam and Interview scores, respectively.

IBPS SO Syllabus 2025: In-Depth Topic Breakdown

While the Prelims syllabus is common for banking exams, the Mains syllabus is highly specialized.

Detailed Topic-wise Syllabus

Subject	In-Depth Topics & Chapters
Reasoning Ability	Puzzles & Seating Arrangements, Syllogism, Inequality, Blood Relations, Coding-Decoding, Direction Sense, Order and Ranking, Input-Output, Data Sufficiency, Logical Reasoning.
Quantitative Aptitude	Simplification, Number Series, Quadratic Equations, Percentage, Profit & Loss, SI & CI, Ratio & Proportion, Time & Work, Time, Speed & Distance, Probability, Mensuration, Data Interpretation (DI).
English Language	Reading Comprehension, Cloze Test, Fillers, Error Spotting, Para Jumbles, Vocabulary (Synonyms/Antonyms).
General/Banking Awareness	Banking & Financial Awareness (RBI, Monetary Policy, Banking Terms), Current Affairs (last 6 months), Static GK (National Parks, Dams, Capitals & Currencies).
Professional Knowledge (Mains)	This is the most critical section and is specific to each post. IT Officer: Database Management System (DBMS), Data Communication & Networking, Operating Systems, Data Structures, Software Engineering, Computer Organization, Cyber Security. Agricultural Field Officer: Basics of Agriculture, Agronomy, Soil Science, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Poultry Farming, Agricultural Schemes. Marketing Officer: Marketing Basics, The 4 P's (Product, Price, Place, Promotion), STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning), Brand Management, Digital Marketing, CRM. Law Officer: Banking Regulation Act, SARFAESI Act, RBI Act, Negotiable Instruments Act, Companies Act, Consumer Protection Act, DRT Act. HR/Personnel Officer: Human Resource Management (HRM), Performance Management and Appraisal (PMA), Training and Development, Industrial Relations, Labour Laws. Rajbhasha Adhikari: Official Language Policy, Translation skills (English to Hindi & vice-versa), Hindi & English Grammar (Vyakaran), Administrative and Banking Terminology.

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