The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection Probationary Officer Exam is one of the most sought-after bank exams in India. Lakhs of aspirants take the IBPS PO exam every year with the hope of getting a prestigious position in a nationalized bank. But cracking this exam requires more than just preparation-it requires knowing the year-on-year cutoff trends. Knowing the cutoff trends helps candidates strategize their preparation and set realistic goals.
We will try to discuss year-after-year trends of IBPS PO cutoff along with the main parameters that aid a candidate figure out what should be considered minimum requirement on this blog page. This can very well turn into the perfect material for preparation, if you would like the most effective strategy towards IBPS PO Exam 2025 and aim to understand PO examination cutoff 2025, so as to better deal with your possibilities using competitive banking exams.
What is the IBPS PO Examination?
The IBPS PO exam is one of the most competitive bank exams conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection for the recruitment of Probationary Officers in public sector banks all over India. It consists of multiple phases, and knowledge of year-wise cutoff trends will help candidates perform better. Based on the cutoff data available for previous years, the candidates can plan their strategy for the IBPS PO exam 2025 and thereby increase the probability of clearing the PO exam.
- Preliminary Exam: It is the initial stage that covers sections like English Language, Reasoning Ability, and Quantitative Aptitude.
- Mains Exam: The second stage involves more elaborate sections, which are General/Financial Awareness, English Language, Reasoning Ability, and Data Interpretation.
- Interview: It is the final stage wherein a candidate is assessed on personality and communication skills.
It means that competition for IBPS PO Exam 2025 will be as aggressive as ever, and knowing the cut-off trends for previous years gives you more or less a perfect idea of what to expect from the examination.
Let’s first understand what cutoff is.
In any competitive exam, it’s the least marks that any candidate needs to score in the exam to either get qualified to the next phase of the test or get absorbed into services. The cutoff for IBPS PO is prepared taking into account several factors which include:
- The more the number of aspirants appearing, the higher is the cutoff.
- The more difficult the exam, the lesser the cutoff will tend to be and vice versa.
- Vacancies available: The more the number of available vacancies, the more scope there would be for admitting students; therefore, the cutoff could be lower.
- Average performance: If the average performance is pretty good, then the cut off would rise with that also.
It differs from every stage of the exam and is also category specific: General, OBC, SC, ST, etc.
What Do IBPS PO Year on Year Cutoff Trends Say?
IBPS PO year wise cutoff trends analysis will let a person understand how the PO exam has evolved through the years. Reviewing cut off scores every year will enable the candidates to understand the marks range that could be expected for the IBPS PO exam in 2025. This is going to allow strategizing on preparation and the realistic goals with which the individual can achieve in the highly competitive landscape of the bank exams.
Let’s see the cut-off for IBPS PO over the last few years:
| Year | Preliminary Exam (Out of 100) | Mains Exam (Out of 225) |
| 2024 | 58.75 (General) | 90.22 (General) |
| 2023 | 60.25 (General) | 89.30 (General) |
| 2022 | 57.75 (General) | 88.35 (General) |
| 2021 | 59.5 (General) | 87.75 (General) |
| 2020 | 58.75 (General) | 85.75 (General) |
| 2019 | 56.75 (General) | 87.5 (General) |
| 2018 | 56.5 (General) | 85.75 (General) |
It can be observed here that the cut-off for IBPS PO is fluctuating a little each year. Nonetheless, the cut-off hovers around some particular range both for prelims and mains exams.
What Can You Learn from Year on Year Cut Off?
From the inferences drawn from the data, it seems that the CUT OFF for the IBPS PO exam trends are determined by the level of complexity in the exam, the number of available vacancies, and the level of competition. Therefore, through year-to-year data analysis, candidates can predict the 2025 cut-off of the PO exam so that they can prepare themselves for the uphill task in competitive bank exams.
- Preliminary Cutoffs Are Generally Lower: The cutoffs for the prelims exam are generally lower than those for the mains exam. This is because the prelims are meant to screen candidates, while the mains exam assesses the ability of the candidates in a much more detailed manner.
- Mains Cutoffs Are Sharper: the mains cutoffs are a lot steeper because here lots more is being tested ranging from general awareness, financial, and reasoning skills that would make it slightly tough compared to that in the prelims stage.
- General Category Cutoffs: usually, candidates falling under the category of General mostly see comparatively higher cutoffs against the reserved class like OBC, SC or ST.
- Fluctuating Trends:The cutoff of IBPS PO year by year is undeterminable. It may increase or decrease following the general trend of the exam and various other factors. However, trends may be noted from the previous one so that you can prepare accordingly.
IBPS PO 2025: Expectations
Considering the dynamics of the banking sector, it could be safely said that IBPS PO Exam 2025 is going to be competitive, wherein the candidates would face tough challenges at both preliminary and mains examinations. Since there are no reductions in the vacancies of public sector banks, the cutoff for the year might be at a similar range as compared to previous years.
Here are some measures you can adopt in order to ensure that you’re well prepared for the IBPS PO 2025 exam.
- Understand the pattern of the IBPS PO examination. Prepare from those sections having a higher weightage.
- Set Realistic Goals: Keep targets according to previous year cut-off scores while targeting for various stages of exams.
- Previous Year Papers: Solving previous year’s papers gives an idea about the types of questions and difficulty level. Solve previous year’s papers for IBPS PO exam
- Focus on Time Management: IBPS PO exam is a time-bound exam, and proper time management requires a lot of effort as well as skills to score well in this exam.
- Stay Updated with Current Affairs:For General/Financial Awareness updated current affair knowledge is necessary.
How can ixamBee help you prepare for IBPS PO 2025:
ixamBee is the most trusted online platform for the preparation of the bank exams and provides you with customized courses and mock tests that will help you crack the IBPS PO exam 2025. It will help you in strategizing your preparation by giving you an idea of the cutoff year after year. Its thorough study material and practice papers will help crack the IBPS PO exam cutoff and become able to top the list and clear the IBPS PO exam in 2025.
- Every study material; video classes and PDF study materials have been covered in detail. Notes will be provided in collaboration with the experts.
- A collection of mock tests and practice papers will be followed upon the lines of IBPS PO patterns. The same will be a fantastic source to practice and prepare oneself for it.
- Real time feedback about what went wrong and how one’s score can improve.
- 24/7 Access: Learn at your own pace with our anytime, anywhere learning platform in ixamBee.
IBPS PO Exam 2025: What is different this time?
In relation to the approaching IBPS PO exam 2025, there are certain differences to be kept in mind, in comparison to the previous years. The main structure of the exam remains almost the same; however, changes like vacancies and competition might cause changes in cutoffs and level of difficulty during the exam. This year-to-year trend would enable the candidates to predict better the changes that are likely to happen in cutoffs, thus enabling them to adjust their strategy for cracking this highly competitive bank exam.
1. Pattern Change of Exam
Though the pattern of the IBPS PO exam has not witnessed much change for the past years, the conducting body of the exam might do some minor change in 2025. Thus, these will affect the cut-off by influencing the paper difficulty level. Candidates must update themselves with any official announcements regarding the IBPS PO exam 2025. Year-on-year trends can be analyzed to prepare and strategize better to meet the PO exam challenges.
2. Digital and Remote Exam Options
The bank exams in India are changing with technology, and the IBPS PO exam 2025 may also see some changes, which could include remote or online exam formats.The digital platforms and the ongoing trends in online education may influence the structure of the exam. These changes may affect the cutoff and the way candidates prepare. Year-on-year trends can help candidates predict these shifts and adjust their preparation strategies for the PO exam to meet the 2025 challenges.
3. Impact of Current Affairs
The weightage of General/Financial Awareness in IBPS PO Exam 2025 will be highly noted. With the passage of time, because bank exams keep on changing, updating oneself with current affairs and news related to the financial domain has become quite vital. Thus, a candidate must have excellent knowledge of current affairs and other finance-related knowledge for better outcomes not only in this section but overall as well. All the year-on-year trends will help the candidate in right prioritization of important topics of PO exams.
Conclusion: How to Approach the IBPS PO Exam 2025
In a nutshell, the thought of knowing the year-on-year cut-off of IBPS PO would give you an idea of how things are shaping up for you in the future IBPS PO Exam 2025. Hence, analyzing previous trends and adequate preparation will always help you fetch good marks.
Remember, cutoff is not a number, it’s the score against all those who are being compared to. With proper preparation and consistency in your hard work along with the support from the online portal, such as ixamBee, you can ensure to get selected to one of the elite banks of India.
Good luck to prepare for IBPS PO! Wish May 2025 would be the lucky year that takes you through to pass IBPS PO!
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Also Read:
IBPS PO 2025 Preparation Strategy
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