Institute of Banking & Personnel Selection is recruiting candidates for the Regional Rural Banks in India. We have added the updated IBPS RRB exam pattern 2021 for this recruitment. With this, you can prepare for the exam using the best and convenient strategies. In IBPS RRB 2021 recruitment, candidates are selected for various posts. For each of those recruitment posts, the selection process takes place in a separate manner. We have updated the correct IBPS RRB exam pattern prelims & mains for all these posts. As the exam is nearing, you must prepare hard. Because you already know the high level of competition prevailing for these exams. In the updated IBPS RRB exam pattern and syllabus, you can know the weightage of sections. So, prepare with the reference to the updated IBPS RRB exam pattern 2021 pdf. The IBPS RRB prelims exam pattern 2021 is available here for office assistant & officer scale 1 posts. Also, the IBPS RRB mains exam pattern 2021 is available for all the posts.
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IBPS RRB Exam Date 2021
If you prepare with a proper plan and dedication, any exam is easy. For that, you have to pick the best quality study materials. Also, you have to follow a dedicated study plan in a non-stop manner. The IBPS RRB exam pattern 2021 will help you to make a strong strategy for the exams. The exam dates are available in the table below.
Activity | Tentative Dates |
Online Registration start date | 08.06.2021 |
Online Registration End date | 28.06.2021 |
Pre-exam training call letter download | 09.07.2021 |
Pre-exam training | 19.07.2021 to 25.07.2021 |
Download of call letters for online preliminary exam | July/ August 2021 |
Online Preliminary exam dates | 01.08.2021 07.08.2021 08.08.2021 14.08.2021 21.08.2021 |
Online Preliminary Exam Result | September 2021 |
IBPS RRB office assistant mains | 3rd October 2021 |
IBPS RRB Officer Scale 1 mains | 25th September 2021 |
Online Exam – Main / Single for officer scale 2 & 3 | 25th September 2021 |
Declaration of Result – Main/ Single (For Officers Scale I, II, and III) | October 2021 |
Download of call letters for interview (For Officers Scale I, II, and III) | October/November 2021 |
Conduct of interview (For Officers Scale I, II, and III) | October/November 2021 |
Provisional Allotment (For Officers Scale I, II and III & Office Assistant) | January 2022 |
Note: Pre-exam training will be conducted only if it is
IBPS RRB 2021 Apply Online Here
IBPS RRB Office Assistant Selection Process:
The IBPS RRB office assistant recruitment contains two stages of the selection process. They are,
- Online Preliminary exam
- Online main exam
The prelims exam is the first phase to select candidates for the next round. Then the candidates succeeding in the mains exam will get the posting order. The IBPS RRB Office Assistant exam pattern 2021 for both these stages are made available here.
IBPS RRB Office Assistant Exam Pattern
The IBPS RRB clerk exam pattern 2021 for prelims & mains are available here.
IBPS RRB Office Assistant Prelims Exam Pattern:
The office assistant post is equivalent to that of the clerk. The details regarding the IBPS RRB Clerk prelims exam pattern 2021 details are available below.
- Total sections – 2 (reasoning and numerical ability).
- Each section will have 40 questions. Thus the exam will have 80 questions in total.
- For each correct answer, you will get one mark.
- Also, for each wrong answer, you will lose 0.25 marks.
- No sectional timing for this exam. You will be given a composite time of 45 minutes. So that you cannot change the sections in the mid-way between the exam.
- The candidates have to crack both the sectional and overall cut-offs, to qualify for the mains exam.
IBPS RRB Office Assistant (multipurpose) Prelims Exam Pattern 2021 | ||||
S No. | Section | No. Of questions | Maximum marks | Duration |
1. | Reasoning | 40 | 40 | Composite Time Duration of 45 minutes |
2. | Numerical Ability | 40 | 40 | |
 | Total | 80 | 80 |  |
IBPS RRB Office Assistant Mains Exam Pattern:
The IBPS RRB exam pattern 2021 for the office assistant mains stage will have 5 sections. The exam details are provided below.
- All the sections contain 40 questions. Thus, there are totally 200 questions in this exam.
- Composite time duration of 2 hours is given. You can swap between the sections as per your mindset.
- For each wrong answer, 1/4th of the mark of that question will get cut as a penalty. If you do not answer a question, there is no penalty.
- The candidates clearing the overall and sectional cut-offs are selected in the merit list.
IBPS RRB Office Assistant (Multipurpose) Mains Exam Pattern 2021 | |||||
S.No. | Section | Medium of Exam | Number of questions | Maximum marks | Duration |
1 | Reasoning | Hindi / English | 40 | 50 |
Composite time of 2 hours |
2 | Computer Knowledge | Hindi / English | 40 | 20 | |
3 | General awareness | Hindi / English | 40 | 40 | |
4a* | English Language | English | 40 | 40 | |
4b* | Hindi Language | Hindi | 40 | 40 | |
5 | Numerical ability | Hindi / English | 40 | 50 | |
 | Total |  | 200 | 200 |  |
 *Candidates can opt for either 4a or 4b section as per their choice.
IBPS RRB Officer Scale 1 Selection Process:
The officer cadres are equivalent to that of PO cadres. The IBPS RRB Officer scale I selection process will have 3 stages. They are,
- Preliminary exam
- Mains Exam
- Interview
The candidates are filtered through the prelims exam. Then through the mains exam, candidates are selected for the interview phase. The interview is comprised of 100 marks. Then the merit list is prepared by taking mains & interview marks at 80:20 ratio respectively. The IBPS RRB PO exam pattern 2021 for all stages and all posts are added here.
IBPS RRB Officer Scale 1 Exam Pattern:
The IBPS RRB exam pattern 2021 for officer scale 1 is available eher.
IBPS RRB Officer Scale 1 Prelims Exam Pattern:
The IBPS RRB officer scale 1 exam pattern for the prelims exam depicts 2 sections in it. The exam schemes are added below.
- Reasoning and quantitative aptitude are the 2 sections. Both sections have 40 questions each.
- The penalty for each wrong answer is 0.25 marks deduction.
- Overall time duration – 45 minutes (no section-wise timing).
- Both sectional and overall cut-offs are applicable.
The IBPS RRB exam pattern 2021 for Officer scale 1 prelims is added here. The candidates after passing in this test will attend the mains exam.
IBPS RRB Officer Scale 1 Prelims Exam Pattern 2021 | ||||
S No. | Section | No. Of questions | Maximum marks | Duration |
1. | Reasoning | 40 | 40 | Composite Time Duration of 45 minutes |
2. | Quantitative Aptitude | 40 | 40 | |
 | Total | 80 | 80 |  |
IBPS RRB Officer Scale 1 Mains Exam Pattern:
The IBPS RRB PO mains exam pattern 2021 (officer scale 1) will consist of 5 sections in total. The other details of this exam are,
- The total marks for this exam are 200.
- Composite time duration – 2 hours (no sectional timing).
- Penalty for the wrong answer – 1/4th of the marks assigned to that question.
- To pass in this exam candidates should crack both the sectional and overall cut-offs.
The IBPS RRB scale I exam pattern for the mains exam is available in the below table. The candidates who succeeded in this exam will attend the final interview round.
IBPS RRB Exam Pattern for Officer Scale 1 Mains 2021 | |||||
S.No. | Section | Medium of Exam | Number of questions | Maximum marks | Duration |
1 | Reasoning | Hindi / English | 40 | 50 |
Composite time of 2 hours |
2 | Computer Knowledge | Hindi / English | 40 | 20 | |
3 | General awareness | Hindi / English | 40 | 40 | |
4a* | English Language | English | 40 | 40 | |
4b* | Hindi Language | Hindi | 40 | 40 | |
5 | Quantitative Aptitude | Hindi / English | 40 | 50 | |
 | Total |  | 200 | 200 |  |
 *Candidates can opt for either 4a or 4b section as per their choice.Â
IBPS RRB Officer Scale 2 & 3 selection Process:
There is no preliminary exam for the IBPS RRB officer scale 2 & 3 recruitment. The selection process consists of 2 stages. They are,
- Single level examination
- Interview
The candidates clearing the single level exam (200 marks), will attend the interview (100 marks). In the merit list preparation, the marks of single-level examination and the interview are considered in the respective ratio of 80:20.
IBPS RRB Exam Pattern (Officer Scale 2 & 3):
The single-level examination is conducted for a total of 200 marks. The exam schemes are provided below.
- The exam duration for officer scale II (general banking officer) and officer scale III is 2 hours.
- For Officer scale II (specialist cadre), the time duration is 2 hours and 30 minutes.
- Sectional timing is not applicable.
- For each wrong answer, you will lose 1/4th of the marks as a penalty.
To qualify for the interview, the candidates should clear both overall and sectional cut-offs. The IBPS RRB exam pattern 2021 for these cadres are given below.
IBPS RRB Exam Pattern for Officer Scale 2 (General Banking Officer) | |||||
S.No. | Section | Medium of Exam | Number of questions | Maximum marks | Duration |
1 | Reasoning | Hindi / English | 40 | 50 |
Composite time of 2 hours |
2 | Computer Knowledge | Hindi / English | 40 | 20 | |
3 | Financial awareness | Hindi / English | 40 | 40 | |
4a* | English Language | English | 40 | 40 | |
4b* | Hindi Language | Hindi | 40 | 40 | |
5 | Quantitative aptitude & Data interpretation | Hindi / English | 40 | 50 | |
 | Total |  | 200 | 200 |  |
IBPS RRB Officer Scale-II (Specialist Cadre) Single level Exam Pattern | |||||
S.No. | Section | Medium of Exam | Number of questions | Maximum marks | Duration |
      1 | Professional Knowledge | Hindi / English | 40 | 40 |
Composite time of 2 hours and 30 minutes |
2 | Reasoning | Hindi / English | 40 | 40 | |
3 | Computer Knowledge | Hindi / English | 40 | 20 | |
4a* | English Language | English | 40 | 20 | |
4b* | Hindi Language | Hindi | 40 | 20 | |
5 | Financial awareness | Hindi / English | 40 | 40 | |
6 | Quantitative aptitude & Data interpretation | Hindi / English | 40 | 40 | |
 | Total |  | 240 | 200 |  |
IBPS RRB Exam Pattern (Officer Scale III – Single Level Exam) | |||||
S.No. | Section | Medium of Exam | Number of questions | Maximum marks | Duration |
1 | Reasoning | Hindi / English | 40 | 50 |
Composite time of 2 hours |
2 | Computer Knowledge | Hindi / English | 40 | 20 | |
3 | Financial awareness | Hindi / English | 40 | 40 | |
4a* | English Language | English | 40 | 40 | |
4b* | Hindi Language | Hindi | 40 | 40 | |
5 | Quantitative aptitude & Data interpretation | Hindi / English | 40 | 50 | |
 | Total |  | 200 | 200 |  |
*Candidates can opt for either 4a or 4b section as per their choice.
Practice With IBPS RRB Previous Year Papers
How Can I Clear My IBPS RRB First Attempt?
Many fresh candidates apply for the IBPS RRB recruitments every year. Some candidates even attend the officer exam, without knowing the correct IBPS RRB PO exam pattern. Some candidates attend the exam without doing the perfect exam preparation methods. Some other candidates will not even have an idea about the syllabus. First of all, fresh candidates should know the basic exam schemes and other related details. Here we have added some exam Preparation strategies for all the sections. Follow these tips and strategies to perform the exam well.
Prelims Exam Strategy:
The prelims exam is just for 45 minutes. In this short span, you have to attend more questions. For the prelims stage, the IBPS RRB PO exam pattern and office assistant pattern are almost similar. So follow the below tips, preparation methods, and strategies to succeed in the prelims exam.
- Follow a study plan covering all the topics of the syllabus.
- In between, allocate time for the mock test practice. Take IBPS RRB Mock Tests at frequent intervals to find your strength and weakness.
- Then analyze the IBPS RRB PO prelims pattern and office assistant prelims pattern. Set your exam strategy as per your strength and weakness.
- Start any section as per your convenience. If you start reasoning, complete simple topics such as syllogism, inequality, direction sense, alphanumeric series, etc. Take around 15 to 18 minutes for this section.
- Then move on to the quantitative aptitude section and complete quadratic equation, number series, and other simple topics. For this take around, 12 to 15 minutes.
- Then you will have around 12 to 15 minutes remaining in your hand. At this time attend the other left out questions in both sections. Attend the questions that are convenient for you.
Mains and Single Level Exam strategy:
This exam will have lengthy timing of 2 hours. As there is no sectional timing, you can start with any section at first. Follow the below strategies and tips.
- Prepare according to a neat study plan.
- Attend IBPS RRB mock tests for all the sections. Also, take more full-length tests to develop your time management skills.
- Refer to the IBPS RRB PO mains exam patterns and mark your strong and weak zones.
- Attend computer knowledge and general awareness section at first. Take just 15 to 20 minutes for this section. Attend the questions only for which you know the accurate answers.
- Then you can go for any section as per your convenience. For reasoning and quantitative aptitude sections take 30 minutes each. Within this time complete all your strong topics and simple questions.
- Then attend known questions in the English language section. Allot within 20 minutes for this section.
- You will have 20 to 25 minutes remaining. In this time you can try some moderate level puzzles, seating arrangements, DI questions, etc.
This strategy will surely help you to save more time in the exam. So that you can also attend maximum questions according to your speed.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Here we have added some FAQs related to the IBPS RRB exam pattern 2021. Refer to it and clear your doubts.
Q: Is there negative marking in the IBPS RRB exam?
A: Yes, for each wrong answer you will lose 1/4th of the marks assigned to that question.
Q: What is the time duration allotted for the IBPS RRB officer scale II specialist cadre single level exam?
A: The time allotted for this exam is 2 hours and 30 minutes. But there is no sectional timing.
Q: Is there sectional cut off for the IBPS RRB exams?
A: Yes, sectional cut off is applicable for all the IBPS RRB exams.