IBPS RRB 2026 Preparation Guide for Office Assistant & PO

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection conducts the Regional Rural Banks examination to recruit Office Assistants and Probationary Officers for RRBs across India. With over 50 Regional Rural Banks sponsored by public sector banks, IBPS RRB offers thousands of vacancies annually.

IBPS RRB Office Assistant vs PO

| Parameter | Office Assistant | PO (Officer Scale I) |

| Role | Clerical work, cash handling | Branch management, supervision |

| Prelims | 80 Q, 45 min (Reasoning + Numerical) | 80 Q, 45 min (same) |

| Mains | 200 Q, 120 min (5 sections) | 202 Q, 150 min (+ Descriptive) |

| Interview | None | Yes (15% weightage) |

| Salary | ₹25,000-₹32,000/month | ₹42,000-₹45,000/month |

Exam Pattern

**Prelims (both levels):** Reasoning (40 Q, 40 marks, 25 min) + Numerical Ability (40 Q, 40 marks, 20 min). Total: 80 Q, 80 marks, 45 min.

**Mains (Office Assistant):** Reasoning (40), Numerical Ability (40), General Awareness (40), English/Hindi (40), Computer Knowledge (40) = 200 Q, 200 marks, 120 min.

**Mains (PO):** Same 200 Q + Descriptive (letter + essay, 25 marks, 30 min) = 225 marks, 150 min.

Topic-Wise Weightage — Mains

| Section | Key Topics | Expected Qs |

| Reasoning | Advanced Puzzles, Input-Output | 18-20 out of 40 |

| Numerical | Advanced DI, Arithmetic | 26-30 out of 40 |

| GA | Banking & Rural Agriculture Awareness | 20-22 out of 40 |

| English | RC, Cloze Test | 20-22 out of 40 |

| Computer | MS Office, Internet, Networking | 18-20 out of 40 |

The Computer Knowledge section (40 questions) is unique to RRB and extremely scoring with basic knowledge.

4-Month Study Plan

**Month 1:** Numerical Ability basics — Simplification, Percentage, Ratio. Reasoning — Syllogism, Inequalities, Coding-Decoding. Start Computer Knowledge with fundamentals.

**Month 2:** Complete Numerical — Profit & Loss, SI-CI, TSD. Start Puzzles in Reasoning. Cover MS Office in Computer Knowledge. Begin banking awareness.

**Month 3:** Advanced topics — Probability, Mensuration, advanced DI, Input-Output. For PO, start Descriptive English. Take full-length mocks (2 per week).

**Month 4:** 4 mocks per week. Revise through short notes. Focus on Computer Knowledge (high scoring). Revise banking/rural awareness.

Key Difference from IBPS PO

IBPS RRB Prelims has NO English section (only Reasoning + Numerical). Mains includes a separate Computer Knowledge section. GA focuses on rural/agriculture banking awareness (NABARD, Kisan Credit Card, PM-KISAN, PMFBY). This is significantly different from IBPS PO's general banking focus.

Visit Topicly.in for daily RRB quizzes, Computer Knowledge practice sets, and full-length mock tests.