Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Specialist Officer (IBPS SO) 2026

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) conducts the Common Recruitment Process for Specialist Officers (CRP SPL-XVI for 2027–28 vacancies) annually. This specific cadre recruitment fills pivotal technical and specialized professional roles across 11 participating Public Sector Banks in India. Unlike probationary officers or clerks, Specialist Officers handle dedicated departments including IT networking, agricultural credit, legal affairs, official language translation, human resources, and marketing campaigns.

Banking aspirants tracking the IBPS SO 2026 exam date, professional syllabus segments, age eligibility limits, and ibps.in linkages can find verified official details below.

Urgent Exam Notice (28–29 October 2026):

• Mains Exam Date: Sunday, 1 November 2026.
• Call Letter Closure: The Online Main Examination call letter download window closes on 1 November 2026 on ibps.in.
• Aadhaar Verification Link (28.10.2026): IBPS activated the official portal link for CRP SPL-XVI candidates to complete Aadhaar consent capture prior to appearing at examination centres.
• IBPS Central Office Recruitment: Looking for regular technical/operational openings at IBPS? See our verified guide on the newly announced IBPS Direct Recruitment 2026 (Server Admin, Assistant & Programming Assistant).

1. IBPS SO Exam 2026 Overview

Parameter	Details
Exam Name	Common Recruitment Process for Specialist Officers (CRP SPL-XVI)
Conducting Authority	Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)
Total Revised Vacancies	1,043 Posts (increased from 745 initial posts)
Participating Banks	11 Public Sector Banks (including Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, PNB, Union Bank of India)
Current Stage	Online Main Examination Scheduled (November 1, 2026); Call Letters Live
Specialized Posts	IT Officer, Agricultural Field Officer, Law Officer, Rajbhasha Adhikari, HR/Personnel, Marketing
Selection Process	Online Prelims → Online Mains (Professional Knowledge) → Common Interview
Official Central Website	ibps.in

2. Important Exam Dates 2026 (Official CRP SPL-XVI Schedule)

Recruitment Event	Official Schedule	Current Status
Official Notification Release (CRP SPL-XVI)	July 1, 2026	Completed
Online Registration & Fee Payment	July 1 – July 21, 2026	Closed
Online Preliminary Examination	August 29, 2026	Completed
Preliminary Examination Result / Scores	Declared in September / October 2026	Completed
Online Main Exam Call Letter Download	October 22 – November 1, 2026	Live
Online Main Examination Date	November 1, 2026	Upcoming
Declaration of Main Exam Result	December 2026	Future stage
Conduct of Common Interview	January / February 2027	Future stage
Provisional Allotment	April 2027	Final stage

3. Revised Vacancy Distribution (1,043 Posts)

IBPS notified 1,043 revised vacancies across participating Public Sector Banks for CRP SPL-XVI:

Post Name (Scale-I)	Initial Vacancies	Revised Total Vacancies
IT Officer (Scale-I)	170	376
Agricultural Field Officer (Scale-I)	346	370
Law Officer (Scale-I)	125	125
Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale-I)	25	102
HR/Personnel Officer (Scale-I)	25	60
Marketing Officer (Scale-I)	54	10
Total	745	1,043 Posts

4. Eligibility Criteria for IBPS SO

Age Limit Standard (as on 01.07.2026)

• Minimum Age: 20 Years
• Maximum Age: 30 Years (Candidate must have been born between 02.07.1996 and 01.07.2006, both dates inclusive).
• Age Relaxations: SC/ST: +5 Years | OBC (Non-Creamy Layer): +3 Years | PwBD: +10 Years | Ex-Servicemen: +5 Years.

Educational Requirements by Post (as on 21.07.2026)

• I.T. Officer (Scale-I): 4-year Engineering/Technology Degree in Computer Science/Computer Applications/Information Technology/Electronics/Electronics & Telecommunications/Electronics & Communication/Electronics & Instrumentation OR Post Graduate Degree in Electronics/Computer Science/IT/Computer Applications.
• Agricultural Field Officer (Scale-I): 4-year Degree (Graduation) in Agriculture/Horticulture/Animal Husbandry/Veterinary Science/Dairy Science/Fishery Science/Pisciculture/Agri-Biotechnology/Food Science/Agriculture Business Management/Food Technology/Dairy Technology/Agricultural Engineering/Sericulture.
• Rajbhasha Adhikari (Scale-I): Post Graduate Degree in Hindi with English as a subject at the degree (graduation) level OR Post Graduate degree in Sanskrit with English and Hindi as subjects at the degree level.
• Law Officer (Scale-I): A Bachelor's Degree in Law (LL.B.) and enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council.
• HR/Personnel Officer (Scale-I): Graduate and Two Years Full-time Post Graduate Degree or Two Years Full-time Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management / Industrial Relations/ HR / HRD/ Social Work / Labour Law.
• Marketing Officer (Scale-I): Graduate and Two Years Full-time MMS (Marketing) / Two Years Full-time MBA (Marketing) / Two Years Full-time PGDBA / PGDBM/ PGPM/ PGDM with specialization in Marketing.

5. Exam Blueprint and Syllabus

Phase 1: Preliminary Exam (Held 29 August 2026)

• For Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari: English Language (50 Qs / 25 Marks / 40 mins), Reasoning (50 Qs / 50 Marks / 40 mins), General Awareness with Special Reference to Banking Industry (50 Qs / 50 Marks / 40 mins). Total: 150 Questions | 125 Marks | 120 Minutes.
• For IT, Agriculture, HR/Personnel, and Marketing Officers: English Language (50 Qs / 25 Marks / 40 mins), Reasoning (50 Qs / 50 Marks / 40 mins), Quantitative Aptitude (50 Qs / 50 Marks / 40 mins). Total: 150 Questions | 125 Marks | 120 Minutes.
• Negative Marking: 0.25 of the marks assigned to that question are deducted for every wrong answer.

Phase 2: Online Main Examination (Scheduled 1 November 2026)

• For Law, IT, Agriculture, HR, Marketing: Professional Knowledge objective test consisting of 60 questions for 60 marks (Duration: 45 minutes).
• For Rajbhasha Adhikari: Professional Knowledge (Objective) — 45 questions for 30 minutes, plus Professional Knowledge (Descriptive) — 2 questions for 30 minutes (Total 60 Marks).

Phase 3: Common Interview

Candidates shortlisted on the basis of scores in the Online Main Examination are called for an Interview conducted by the Participating Banks and coordinated by IBPS (Total Marks: 100, Qualifying Marks: 40% for General, 35% for SC/ST/OBC/PwBD). The combined final score weightage is 80:20 (Mains : Interview).

6. Official Application & Candidate Guidelines

1. Visit the official website: https://www.ibps.in.
2. Navigate to the CRP Specialist Officers portal.
3. Access active candidate links for call letters, application reprints, and scorecards for CRP SPL-XVI.
4. Keep original call letters, photo IDs, and category documentation ready for subsequent interview and document verification rounds.