The first thing to know about the IBPS Clerk syllabus is that IBPS does not print one. The notification for CRP CSA-XVI (1 August 2026, Customer Service Associates, vacancies of 2027-28) fixes the names of the tests, the number of questions, the marks, the time and the medium. It lists no topics. This page keeps the two things apart: what the notification says, and a topic checklist that is our own reading of the test names. Nothing in the checklist is an IBPS statement.
Syllabus at a glance
What the notification fixes:
| Stage | Test | Questions | Marks | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prelims | English Language | 30 | 30 | English |
| Prelims | Numerical Ability | 35 | 35 | English, Hindi and the State's listed language |
| Prelims | Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 | English, Hindi and the State's listed language |
| Mains | General/Financial Awareness | 40 | 50 | English, Hindi and the State's listed language |
| Mains | General English | 40 | 40 | English |
| Mains | Reasoning Ability | 40 | 60 | English, Hindi and the State's listed language |
| Mains | Quantitative Aptitude | 40 | 50 | English, Hindi and the State's listed language |
All tests are objective and are taken online. For timing and marking, see exam pattern. The previous notification, CRP CSA-XV of 1 August 2025, has the same Prelims table.
IBPS adds that "other detailed information regarding the examination" is given in an Information Handout that candidates download with the call letter. We have not seen the handout for this cycle.
How to read the topic lists below
- They are our checklist, built from the test names in the notification and from the kind of questions these aptitude tests ask. They are not copied from an IBPS document, because no such document exists in the notification.
- IBPS can ask anything that fits the test name. A checklist tells you where to start; it is not a boundary.
- We give no topic-wise question counts. IBPS does not publish them, and the paper differs from session to session.
English Language (Prelims) and General English (Mains)
Official facts: 30 questions for 30 marks in 20 minutes in Prelims; 40 questions for 40 marks in 35 minutes in Mains. This is the only test with no Hindi or regional-language version.
Our checklist:
- Reading comprehension: passages on business, economy, society and general topics; questions on main idea, inference, tone and vocabulary in context.
- Grammar in use: spotting errors, sentence correction and improvement; subject-verb agreement, tenses, articles, prepositions, modifiers and parallel structure.
- Fillers: single and double blanks, choosing the word that fits both grammar and meaning.
- Cloze test: a passage with several blanks.
- Sentence and paragraph order: rearranging jumbled sentences, finding the odd sentence, completing a paragraph.
- Vocabulary: synonyms and antonyms in context, phrase replacement, idioms, word usage, word swaps.
For Mains, expect longer passages and more questions that combine grammar with comprehension. That is our expectation from the longer time allowed (35 minutes for 40 questions), not a statement in the notification.
Numerical Ability (Prelims)
Official facts: 35 questions for 35 marks in 20 minutes. The name is "Numerical Ability", not "Quantitative Aptitude", and no calculator is allowed in the centre.
Our checklist:
- Calculation: simplification and approximation using BODMAS, fractions, decimals, percentages, squares, cubes and roots.
- Number series: missing term and wrong term.
- Quadratic equations: comparing the roots of two equations.
- Data interpretation: tables, bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts and short caselets.
- Arithmetic word problems: percentage, ratio and proportion, average, ages, profit and loss, discount, simple and compound interest, time and work, pipes and cisterns, time, speed and distance, boats and streams, trains, mixtures and alligation, partnership.
- Mensuration: area, perimeter and volume of common shapes.
- Basics of probability and permutation and combination.
Quantitative Aptitude (Mains)
Official facts: 40 questions for 50 marks in 35 minutes, so each question carries 1.25 marks (arithmetic).
Our checklist is the Prelims list at a higher level, with more weight on sets of questions:
- Data interpretation sets: mixed charts, missing-data tables, caselets with several conditions.
- Data sufficiency and quantity comparison questions.
- Arithmetic with two or three ideas in one question.
- Number series, approximation and quadratic equations, as in Prelims.
Reasoning Ability (Prelims and Mains)
Official facts: 35 questions for 35 marks in 20 minutes in Prelims; 40 questions for 60 marks in 35 minutes in Mains. At 1.5 marks a question (arithmetic), it is the heaviest Mains test.
Our checklist:
- Puzzles and seating arrangement: linear rows, circular and square tables, floors and flats, box stacking, scheduling by day, month or year, and puzzles with several variables.
- Syllogism: statements and conclusions, including "only a few" and possibility cases.
- Inequality: direct and coded.
- Coding and decoding; letter, number and symbol series; alphanumeric sequences.
- Blood relations, direction and distance, order and ranking.
- Data sufficiency in reasoning.
- Input and output (machine arrangement).
- Verbal and logical reasoning: statement and assumption, statement and argument, cause and effect, course of action, inference.
Computer topics: the CRP CSA-XVI notification names this Mains test "Reasoning Ability" and lists no computer test. If you plan to revise basic computer knowledge for Mains, treat it as a precaution of your own. We cannot point to a line in this notification that requires it.
General/Financial Awareness (Mains)
Official facts: 40 questions for 50 marks in 20 minutes. It appears only in Mains and is available in English, Hindi and the State's listed language.
Our checklist:
- Current affairs of recent months: national and international events, appointments, awards, sports, summits, reports and indices, government schemes, important days.
- Banking and financial awareness: the Reserve Bank of India and its functions, monetary policy terms, types of banks and accounts, negotiable instruments, digital payments, financial inclusion schemes, priority sector lending, non-performing assets, insurance and capital market basics, regulators and their heads.
- Banking and economy in the news: policy rate decisions, mergers, new products, committees, the Union Budget and the Economic Survey.
- Static awareness linked to banking: bank headquarters and taglines, currencies and capitals, financial abbreviations, history of banking in India.
How far back current affairs go is not stated anywhere in the notification, so we give no number of months as a rule.
Local language: outside the written papers
The notification requires proficiency (reading, writing, speaking and understanding) in the specified local language of the State/UT you apply for. It is tested by the Local Language Proficiency Test after Mains or provisional allotment, not inside Prelims or Mains. Annexure III lists the languages: Hindi or Urdu for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar; Hindi for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand; Hindi or Santhali for Jharkhand; Marathi for Maharashtra; Gujarati for Gujarat; Bengali or Nepali for West Bengal; Telugu or Urdu for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and so on. The test is marks-based and qualifying. The notification gives no syllabus for it.
How to use this syllabus
This part is our advice.
- Start from the official table, not the checklist. Three tests decide whether you reach Mains, and four decide your rank. Give your time in that proportion.
- Build calculation speed first. Numerical Ability allows about 34 seconds a question and no calculator. Tables, squares, fractions and percentages have to be automatic.
- Do reasoning puzzles daily. Reasoning is 35 percent of Prelims and 30 percent of Mains by marks (arithmetic from the tables).
- Start General/Financial Awareness before Prelims. It is a quarter of the Mains marks, and the gap between the two exams is short: the IBPS calendar places Mains on 27 December 2026 after Prelims on 10 and 11 October.
- Test each topic as you finish it. Pareeksha's topic-wise practice is organised by topic. A free 10-question mini-mock is available to try the format. Full mocks, previous-year papers and topic practice are Pro; the IBPS Clerk series is under banking exams.
What this page does not have
- An official topic list. IBPS does not publish one in the notification. Every topic above is our checklist.
- Topic-wise weightage or question counts. Not published by IBPS, so not given here.
- The Information Handout for CRP CSA-XVI. It comes with the call letter and we have not opened it.
- A syllabus for the Local Language Proficiency Test. The notification says only that it is marks-based and qualifying.
- A current-affairs cut-off period. No official document states one.
Related: Exam pattern and marking · Cut-offs · Preparation strategy