IBPS Clerk Mains Exam Analysis 2025: The IBPS Clerk Mains Exam 2025, held on 29 November and 2 December, concluded across various centres in a single-shift schedule. With 15,701 vacancies under CRP CSA-XV, this year’s mains exam attracted a massive number of banking aspirants. According to student reactions and memory-based inputs, the paper maintained a moderate level, though several questions in Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning were considered time-consuming and tricky.Â
This comprehensive analysis covers the difficulty level, good attempts, section-wise question distribution, exam pattern, shift timing, and expected cut-off ranges, helping candidates evaluate their performance and understand the exam structure in detail.
Key Takeaways from the IBPS Clerk Mains Exam 2025 (Highly SEO-Optimized)
- Exam Dates & Format: Conducted on 29 November and 2 December 2025 in a single shift (8:35 AM–10:35 AM), with 155 questions for 200 marks under the revised pattern.
- Overall Difficulty: The exam was rated moderate, with Quant and Reasoning posing higher challenge levels compared to English and General Awareness.
- Good Attempts: Candidate feedback placed safe attempts between 81–100 or 84–93, depending on the analysis source.
- Most Time-Consuming Section: Quantitative Aptitude, especially the DI sets, which were calculation-heavy in several shifts.
- Most Scoring Section: General/Financial Awareness, rated easy to moderate in most reports.
- Shift Timing: Reporting time at 7:00 AM, exam window 08:35 AM to 10:35 AM.
- Cut-Off Expectations: State-wise expected cut-offs ranged widely, from 24 to 49 (UR), depending on vacancy-load and difficulty.
- Vacancies: A total of 15,701 clerk posts across 11 public sector banks under the IBPS CRP CSA-XV recruitment cycle.
IBPS Clerk Mains Exam Pattern 2025 (Revised)
In 2025, IBPS continued with the modified pattern introduced previously, reducing total questions from 190 to 155, and exam duration from 160 minutes to 120 minutes.
| Section | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks | Time |
| Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude | 40 | 60 | 35 minutes |
| English Language | 40 | 40 | 35 minutes |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 50 | 30 minutes |
| General / Financial Awareness | 40 | 50 | 20 minutes |
| Total | 155 | 200 | 120 minutes |
The exam sequence, as reported by candidates, often followed:
General/Financial Awareness → English → Reasoning → Quantitative Aptitude
Overall Difficulty Level and Good Attempts
Candidates described the paper as moderate, with a need for strong conceptual clarity, especially in DI and puzzles.
| Section | Difficulty Level | Good Attempts |
| Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude | Moderate | 19–25 |
| General English | Easy to Moderate | 24–30 |
| General / Financial Awareness | Easy to Moderate / Moderate | 15–25 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | Moderate to Difficult | 18–22 |
| Overall | Moderate | 81–100 / 84–93 |
Detailed Section-Wise Analysis
Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude: Moderate with Mixed Complexity
The Reasoning section combined both scoring and time-driven puzzles. Multiple puzzle types appeared across shifts, and coding-based problems required careful reading.
Key Topics & Distribution (combined from shift reports):
| Topic | No. of Questions |
| Seating Arrangement (Mixed Direction, 6 persons + Colour) | 5 |
| Uncertain Seating (7 persons/colour) | 5 |
| Box Puzzle (6–7 persons) | 5 |
| Year-Based Puzzle (Flowers + 6 persons) | 5 |
| Sequence Puzzle (Items + Variable) | 4 |
| Coding-Decoding (Table/Condition Based) | 5 |
| Input Output | 4–5 |
| Critical/Logical Reasoning | 7–8 |
| Data Sufficiency | 2–3 |
| Coded Direction & Distance | 3–5 |
| Blood Relation | 1 |
| Word-Based Question (Thunder) | 1 |
Total Questions: 40
A mix of 2-mark and 1-mark questions was reported under Section A and Section B, increasing the weighting of key reasoning tasks.
Quantitative Aptitude: Moderate to Difficult, DI-Heavy
Many candidates reported Quant as the most challenging part of the paper. DI sets, especially those involving bar graphs, percentage-based pie charts, and caselets, required extra calculation time.
Topic-Wise Distribution:
| Topic | Questions |
| Pie Chart DI | 6 |
| Bar Graph DI | 6 |
| Caselet DI (Male/Female) | 4–5 |
| Approximation | 5 |
| Quadratic Equation | 2 |
| Missing Number Series | 2 |
| Number System | 2 |
| Data Sufficiency | 1–3 |
| Arithmetic (SI/CI, Ages, Boats & Streams, T&W, Train) | 13 |
Total Questions: 35
Arithmetic was widespread and covered nearly every major banking exam topic.
General English: Easy to Moderate, Balanced & Scoring
English remained one of the more predictable and high-scoring sections across shifts. RC passages were generally manageable.
Topic-Wise Breakdown:
| Topic | Questions |
| Reading Comprehension (including science-based, labour market-based themes) | 12–16 |
| Cloze Test Replacement | 7 |
| Sentence Rearrangement | 5 |
| Error Detection | 4 |
| Double Error | 2–3 |
| Sentence Replacement | 2–3 |
| Connectors | 2 |
| Starters | 1 |
| Column-Based | 3 |
| Odd One Out | 1 |
| Miscellaneous | 7–8 |
Total Questions: 40
General / Financial Awareness: The Most Comfortable Section
This section drew heavily from current affairs, government schemes, static banking, financial systems, and GST-related facts.
Sample Questions Reported:
- India’s membership duration in the UNHRC
- Keir Starmer’s country of office
- Year when NPS was extended to all citizens
- Age criteria for PMJJBY
- Item falling under 18% GST slab
Total Questions: 40
Candidates who kept up with regular current affairs preparation found this part scoring.
Expected State-Wise Cut-Offs for 2025 (UR Category)
Based on trends, exam difficulty, and feedback, expected cut-offs across states were estimated between 24 and 49 marks. Specific expected ranges (e.g., Haryana, Punjab, Odisha, Rajasthan, Delhi, etc.) were shared across analysis sources.
Official cut-offs will be released with the IBPS Clerk Mains Result in December 2025 or January 2026.
A reference list of IBPS Clerk Mains 2024 official cut-offs was also used by candidates to gauge expected variation.
Result Timeline and Recruitment Process
- Prelims Exam: 4–5 October 2025
- Prelims Result: 20 November 2025
- Scorecard: 25 November 2025
- Mains Exam: 29 November & 2 December
- Provisional Allotment: 2026
- Reported Mains Result Date: 1 April 2026
Those scoring above the state-wise cut-off will feature in the provisional allotment list for clerical postings.
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What This Exam Means for Aspirants
The IBPS Clerk Mains Exam 2025 offered a balanced assessment of analytical ability, language proficiency, financial awareness and time management. The paper rewarded accuracy, conceptual clarity and presence of mind.
For many aspirants, the DI and puzzle-heavy sections were the deciding factor in overall performance. With cut-offs expected to vary based on vacancy distribution and exam difficulty, candidates now await the official scorecards and final allotment process.
FAQs on IBPS Clerk Mains Exam Analysis 2025
1. What was the overall difficulty level of the IBPS Clerk Mains Exam 2025?
The overall difficulty level was moderate, with Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning featuring several time-consuming and tricky questions across shifts.
2. How many good attempts are considered safe in IBPS Clerk Mains 2025?
Good attempts ranged between 81–100 or 84–93, depending on shift-wise difficulty and candidate feedback.
3. What was the revised exam pattern for IBPS Clerk Mains 2025?
The exam had 155 questions for 200 marks, covering Reasoning, English, Quantitative Aptitude, and General/Financial Awareness in 120 minutes.
4. Which section was easiest in IBPS Clerk Mains 2025?
General/Financial Awareness was rated easy to moderate and considered the most scoring section in multiple shift analyses.
5. What are the expected cut-off trends for IBPS Clerk Mains 2025?
Expected cut-offs varied widely by state, generally ranging between 24 and 49 marks for the unreserved category.
