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When is the IBPS Clerk Mains 2026?
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In IBPS's tentative calendar for 2026-27, the Customer Service Associate (IBPS Clerk) CRP CSA-XVI Mains is on 27 December 2026. The Prelims, which qualifies you for the Mains, is scheduled for 10 and 11 October 2026.
The CRP CSA-XVI schedule
| Stage | Tentative date | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | 1 to 21 August 2026 | Notification of 1 August 2026 |
| Prelims | 10 and 11 October 2026 | IBPS calendar of 16 January 2026 |
| Mains | 27 December 2026 | IBPS calendar |
| Provisional allotment | March 2027 | Notification |
IBPS reserves the right to change the dates, so treat all of them as tentative. IBPS also issued a corrigendum on 29 September 2026 with updated vacancies, and the corrigenda page on ibps.in is where date changes are posted.
The Mains paper
The Mains has 160 questions for 200 marks in 125 minutes. The sections are separately timed.
| Section | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General/Financial Awareness | 40 | 50 | 20 min |
| General English | 40 | 40 | 35 min |
| Reasoning Ability | 40 | 60 | 35 min |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 40 | 50 | 35 min |
There is no Computer Aptitude section in the 2026 Mains. Wrong answers lose 0.25 of the marks assigned to the question. You need to clear the sectional and total minimum scores; the final merit list uses Mains marks only, and there is no interview. See the interview question.
What to do with the gap between the two exams
If you qualify at the Prelims, you will have roughly the weeks between the Prelims result and the 27 December Mains. Use them for the awareness section, which is 20 minutes in the Mains and has no counterpart in the Prelims, and for timed sectional practice. The IBPS Clerk preparation strategy lays out that phase, and bank exam results explains how results are announced.
See also the IBPS Clerk notification page for application facts.
Source
- IBPS Tentative Calendar 2026-27 (16 January 2026)
- IBPS CRP CSA-XVI detailed notification (1 August 2026)
- IBPS CRP CSA-XVI corrigendum (29 September 2026)
Confirm dates on ibps.in. The pattern is in the IBPS Clerk syllabus and exam pattern.
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- Bank exam resultsHow bank exam results, cut-offs, scorecards and final merit work for IBPS, SBI and RBI: shortlisting, sectional cut-offs, reserve lists and allotment.
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