IBPS PO Exam Analysis 2026, 22 August: Shift 1 & Shift 2 Difficulty, Good Attempts and Questions Asked

Published: 22 Aug 2026, 6:04 pm IST

The IBPS PO Exam Prelims 2026 began today, 22 August, and the first two shifts are over. If you are searching for the paper review right now, here is the short answer: both shifts were easy to moderate.

Shift 1 candidates reported around 62–72 good attempts. Shift 2 was reported as slightly more comfortable, with feedback pointing to 75–85.

One thing to be clear about before you read further. Good attempts are an estimate built from candidate feedback and coaching-institute assessments. They are not a cut-off. The actual qualifying marks depend on vacancies, how everyone else performs, your category, your state, and normalisation across shifts. Treat the numbers below as a way to judge your own paper, not as a pass mark.

IBPS PO Prelims 2026: exam pattern

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection is conducting the PO/MT-XVI preliminary exam on 22 and 23 August 2026, across multiple shifts.

SectionQuestionsMarksTimeEnglish Language303020 minutesQuantitative Aptitude353520 minutesReasoning Ability353520 minutesTotal10010060 minutes

Each section is separately timed. You cannot borrow minutes from Reasoning to finish Quant. That single rule shapes the whole paper — it rewards candidates who know when to leave a question.

Shift 1 ran from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM. Shift 2 ran from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM.

IBPS PO 22 August Shift 1 analysis

Shift 1 was reported as easy to moderate overall.

English Language

The section leaned on vocabulary and grammar rather than long reading passages.

Topics reported: synonyms and antonyms, word swap, fillers, error detection, cloze test, word replacement, sentence rearrangement, and direct questions.

Candidates with decent reading speed found this manageable. The sentence rearrangement and grammar questions needed actual comprehension — guessing by elimination did not work well here.

Quantitative Aptitude

A mix of calculation-heavy and concept-based questions.

Topics reported: approximation, missing number series, wrong number series, Data Interpretation, and general arithmetic.

If your calculation speed is good, a fair chunk of this was doable. The risk was arithmetic — a few long questions could quietly eat five or six minutes.

Reasoning Ability

This section carried several puzzles alongside standalone logical questions.

Topics reported: month-based puzzle, box-based puzzle, comparison puzzle, parallel-row arrangement, selection-based questions, blood relation, inequality, direction sense, pair formation, meaningful word, and odd one out.

Notably, early Shift 1 feedback indicated no syllogism questions. Candidates who cleared the standalone questions first — inequality, direction sense, blood relation — bought themselves time for the puzzles.

Shift 1 good attempts

SectionGood AttemptsEnglish Language22–27Quantitative Aptitude17–20Reasoning Ability21–23Overall62–72

IBPS PO 22 August Shift 2 analysis

Shift 2 was also assessed as easy to moderate, though Reasoning was rated slightly tougher than the other two sections.

Quantitative Aptitude

Topics reported: approximation, wrong number series, speed maths, line graph DI, caselet DI, ratio-based DI, and speed-time-distance.

Around three approximation questions were reported, with multiple DI sets. The difficulty was less about complexity and more about pacing — three DI sets in twenty minutes is tight.

Reasoning Ability

Topics reported: coding-decoding, syllogism, inequality, blood relation, meaningful word, and operation-based questions.

Roughly five coding-decoding questions were reported. Unlike Shift 1, syllogism did appear here.

English Language

Topics reported: error detection, word usage, fillers, word replacement, word swap, correct sentence, para jumble, and reading comprehension.

The RC set reportedly ran to about 10 questions, with vocabulary-based questions on synonyms, antonyms and phrases. One para jumble was based on African countries and languages.

Shift 2 good attempts

SectionQuestionsGood AttemptsEnglish Language3027–32Quantitative Aptitude3528–33Reasoning Ability3520–25Overall10075–85

Shift 1 vs Shift 2: was one easier?

On paper, yes. Shift 1 sits at 62–72 attempts, Shift 2 at 75–85.

But do not read that as an advantage for Shift 2 candidates. IBPS applies normalisation precisely because shifts differ in difficulty. Scores are adjusted so that a candidate who faced a harder paper is not penalised for it.

Comparing raw attempts across shifts is one of the most common mistakes candidates make after the exam. Your number only means something relative to others who sat the same shift.

What the remaining shifts should expect

The 22 August exam runs across four shifts, and the process continues into 23 August. The exact questions will change. The topic areas usually do not.

Based on the first two shifts, be comfortable with:

English: reading comprehension, fillers, error detection, word replacement, word swap, para jumbles
Quant: approximation, number series, DI (line graph, caselet, ratio-based), arithmetic, speed calculation
Reasoning: puzzles, coding-decoding, syllogism, inequality, blood relation, arrangements

Since syllogism was absent in Shift 1 but present in Shift 2, do not skip any standard topic based on one shift’s report.

Can the IBPS PO Prelims cut-off be predicted yet?

Honestly, no — not reliably, and not today.

The cut-off will depend on the number of vacancies, difficulty across all shifts, overall candidate performance, category, state or region where applicable, and normalisation.

Any “expected cut-off” published within hours of the exam is an educated guess. It is fine to look at, but do not build your plan around it.

A better use of your time: estimate your accuracy, not just your attempts. Sixty attempts at 90% accuracy beats eighty attempts at 65% once negative marking is applied.

What comes after IBPS PO Prelims 2026?

Candidates who clear the prelims move to the IBPS PO Mains, scheduled for 4 October 2026 as per the official IBPS calendar.

That gap is shorter than it looks. If you think your paper went reasonably, start Mains preparation now rather than waiting for the result. The areas that need the longest runway are:

General and Banking Awareness
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Reasoning
English Language
Descriptive writing
Current affairs

Banking Awareness and current affairs in particular are cumulative — you cannot compress three months of them into three weeks.

Final verdict

The 22 August IBPS PO Prelims paper was, by most accounts, a fair one. Shift 1 landed at easy to moderate with 62–72 attempts reported. Shift 2 was similar in level but slightly more generous, with 75–85 reported.

If you have already written the exam, shift your focus from counting attempts to estimating accuracy. If you are sitting a later shift, the topic list above is the most useful thing on this page.

And if you cleared it in your own estimate — the Mains is six weeks out. Start now.

Key Takeaways

IBPS PO Prelims 2026 is being held on 22 and 23 August across multiple shifts.
Shift 1 (22 August): easy to moderate, roughly 62–72 good attempts.
Shift 2 (22 August): easy to moderate, roughly 75–85 good attempts.
No syllogism was reported in Shift 1; syllogism did appear in Shift 2.
Reasoning was the relatively tougher section in Shift 2.
Good attempts are indicative only — the official cut-off depends on vacancies, category, region and normalisation.
Do not compare raw attempts across shifts; IBPS normalises scores.
IBPS PO Mains 2026 is scheduled for 4 October 2026.

FAQs

What was the IBPS PO Shift 1 difficulty level on 22 August 2026?
Shift 1 was reported as easy to moderate, with candidate feedback suggesting around 62–72 good attempts depending on accuracy.

What was the IBPS PO Shift 2 difficulty level on 22 August?
Shift 2 was also easy to moderate. English and Quantitative Aptitude were on the easier side, while Reasoning was rated comparatively more moderate.

What were the good attempts for IBPS PO Shift 2?
Around 75–85 overall — approximately 27–32 in English, 28–33 in Quantitative Aptitude and 20–25 in Reasoning.

How many questions are there in IBPS PO Prelims 2026?
100 questions in 60 minutes: 30 English, 35 Quantitative Aptitude and 35 Reasoning, each section separately timed at 20 minutes.

Was syllogism asked in IBPS PO Prelims 2026?
Syllogism was not reported in Shift 1 but was reported in Shift 2. Topic selection varies by shift, so prepare all standard areas.

When is the IBPS PO Mains 2026 exam?
The PO/MT-XVI Main Examination is scheduled for 4 October 2026 according to the official IBPS calendar.