IBPS RRB GBO Syllabus 2026

Important Correction Before You Start

IBPS RRB has no post called Manager (Credit). Under CRP-RRB XV, the relevant posts are Officer Scale II — General Banking Officer (Manager), and Officer Scale III — Senior Manager.

1. No separate Credit paper: There is no Professional Knowledge section for GBO Scale II or Scale III. Credit is taught inside Financial Awareness.
2. Professional Knowledge exists only for specialists: A separate Professional Knowledge paper applies only to Scale-II specialist cadre posts such as IT, CA, Law, Treasury, Marketing and Agriculture.

Correct course title: IBPS RRB GBO Scale II & Scale III 2026 — Complete Syllabus.

Single Online Examination Pattern

Section	Questions	Marks	Time
Reasoning	40	50	30 min
Computer Knowledge	40	20	15 min
Financial Awareness	40	40	15 min
English / Hindi Language	40	40	30 min
Quantitative Aptitude & DI	40	50	30 min
Total	200	200	120 min

• Identical for Scale II & III: Same sections, marks and duration.
• No preliminary examination: Scale II and Scale III have a single online exam.
• Exam date: Tentatively 20 December 2026.

Scale II GBO vs Scale III: Is There a Syllabus Difference?

Officially, no. The examination structure is identical — the same 200 questions, 200 marks and 120 minutes, with no separate Professional Knowledge paper.

What Is the Same

• All five sections and their marks.
• Total 200 questions in 120 minutes.
• No separate Professional Knowledge section.
• One common syllabus can serve both posts.

What Should Differ in Teaching

• Scale III is a Senior Manager recruitment.
• Add a labelled Scale III Advanced Banking module.
• Go deeper into credit appraisal, NPA, Basel and risk.
• Go deeper into treasury, ALM and forex.

Important: This is a preparation-depth difference, not an IBPS-prescribed syllabus difference.

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Part A: Financial Awareness

40 Questions · 40 Marks · 15 Minutes

This is the section that decides the examination. The course contains 24 modules covering static banking, RBI circulars, schemes and current affairs.

The 24 Financial Awareness Modules

1. RBI & Indian Banking
2. Monetary Policy & Liquidity
3. RRBs & NABARD
4. Priority Sector Lending
5. Agriculture & Rural Credit
6. MSME Finance
7. Bank Lending & Credit
8. Working Capital & Appraisal
9. NPA, IRAC & Stressed Assets
10. Recovery of Bank Loans
11. Deposits & Bank Accounts
12. KYC, AML & Compliance
13. Payment & Settlement
14. Financial Markets
15. Basel & Risk Management
16. Treasury & ALM
17. Forex & International
18. Government Schemes
19. Institutions & Regulators
20. G-Secs & Small Savings
21. Banking Laws & NI Act
22. Ombudsman & Customer Service
23. Economy, Budget & Survey
24. RBI Circulars & Current Affairs

Module 1: RBI & the Indian Banking System

Priority: Very High

• RBI establishment and history; RBI Act 1934; Banking Regulation Act 1949; functions.
• RBI as banker to government, bankers' bank, lender of last resort and currency issuer.
• Scheduled and non-scheduled banks; commercial, cooperative and Regional Rural Banks.
• Small Finance Banks, Payments Banks, Local Area Banks and Development Financial Institutions.
• Universal vs differentiated banking; nationalisation; financial sector reforms; licensing and branch authorisation.
• Prompt Corrective Action; Systemically Important Banks and D-SIBs.

Module 2: Monetary Policy & Liquidity Management

Priority: Very High

• Monetary policy, the Monetary Policy Committee and inflation targeting.
• Repo rate, Standing Deposit Facility, MSF, Bank Rate, CRR and SLR.
• LAF, Open Market Operations, variable rate repo and reverse repo, and the liquidity framework.
• Monetary transmission; Base Rate, MCLR and External Benchmark Lending Rate; policy corridor.
• Money supply and inflation measures — CPI, WPI and core inflation.

Previous-paper trend: Repo rate, MPC, LAF and CPI were all tested in 2025.

Module 3: Regional Rural Banks & NABARD

Priority: Very High

• RRB Act and objectives; ownership between Centre, State and sponsor bank; sponsor bank responsibilities.
• RRB recapitalisation, amalgamation, regulatory framework, RBI vs NABARD roles and CRAR.
• RRB business operations, rural credit delivery, financial inclusion and PSL obligations.
• NABARD establishment, ownership, functions, refinance, RIDF and rural infrastructure.
• NABARD supervision of RRBs and rural cooperative banks; BIRD; NABARD funds and schemes.

Previous-paper trend: NABARD, BIRD, RRB ownership and RRB CRAR have been directly asked.

Module 4: Priority Sector Lending

Priority: Very High

• Meaning of priority sector; ANBC; credit equivalent of off-balance-sheet exposure.
• Overall targets and sub-targets — agriculture, micro enterprises and weaker sections.
• Small and marginal farmers, non-corporate farmers, education, housing, renewable energy and social infrastructure.
• Export credit, start-ups, agriculture infrastructure, food and agro processing, SHG and JLG loans.
• PSL Certificates; RIDF consequences of shortfall; recent amendments to PSL norms.

Previous-paper trend: ANBC, weaker sections and KCC-related provisions have been tested.

Module 5: Agriculture & Rural Credit

Priority: Very High

• Agricultural finance basics, crop loans, term loans and Kisan Credit Card.
• Interest subvention, short-term agriculture loans, warehouse and pledge finance.
• SHG-Bank Linkage Programme, Joint Liability Groups and Farmer Producer Organisations.
• Allied agriculture — dairy, poultry, fisheries and animal husbandry.
• PM Fasal Bima Yojana, Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and agriculture credit targets.
• NABARD refinance and rural development programmes.

Module 6: MSME Finance

Priority: Very High

• MSMED Act; current MSME classification; investment and turnover criteria.
• Udyam Registration and Udyam Assist; priority-sector classification of MSME loans.
• MUDRA and PMMY — Shishu, Kishor, Tarun and the latest categories and limits.
• SIDBI, CGTMSE and credit guarantee; TReDS, factoring and receivables finance.
• MSME restructuring, cluster financing, PMEGP and Stand-Up India.

Previous-paper trend: MSME definitions, Udyam Assist, MUDRA, SIDBI and PMEGP have been asked.

Module 7: Principles of Bank Lending & Credit

Priority: High

• Principles of sound lending — safety, liquidity, profitability, diversification and creditworthiness.
• Types of credit: cash credit, overdraft, demand loan, term loan, bills finance, working capital and project finance.
• Fund-based vs non-fund-based facilities: Letter of Credit, Bank Guarantee and deferred payment guarantees.
• Security: primary and collateral; pledge, hypothecation, mortgage, assignment, lien, set-off and guarantee.
• Documentation: DPN, loan agreements, letter of continuity, limitation, registration of charges and CERSAI.
• Credit information: CIBIL, credit information companies, credit scores and reports.

Module 8: Working Capital & Credit Appraisal

Priority: Medium-High

• Operating and working-capital cycle; working-capital gap; current assets and liabilities.
• Drawing power, stock statements, receivables and inventory.
• Assessment methods: projected balance sheet, turnover method and cash-budget method.
• Committees: Tandon, Nayak and Chore; working-capital assessment concepts.
• Financial statements: Balance Sheet, P&L, Cash Flow and Funds Flow.
• Ratios: current, quick, debt-equity, TOL/TNW, interest coverage, DSCR, turnover and ROA/ROE.

Module 9: NPA, IRAC & Stressed Assets

Priority: High

• Performing vs non-performing assets; the 90-day NPA concept.
• SMA-0, SMA-1 and SMA-2; substandard, doubtful and loss assets.
• Income recognition, asset classification and provisioning basics.
• Restructuring, resolution plans, wilful defaulters and fraud accounts.
• Written-off and technically written-off accounts; compromise and one-time settlement.
• FITL and related stressed-asset regulations.

Previous-paper trend: FITL and related stressed-asset regulations have already appeared in past GBO papers.

Module 10: Recovery of Bank Loans

Priority: High

• SARFAESI Act: security interest, secured creditor, enforcement and possession.
• Asset Reconstruction Companies; DRT and DRAT; Recovery Certificate; Lok Adalat.
• IBC and insolvency process basics; NCLT.
• Committee of Creditors and the Insolvency Resolution Professional.
• Personal guarantors and Limitation Act basics.

Previous-paper trend: SARFAESI and IBC provisions have been directly included in previous GBO papers.

Module 11: Deposits & Bank Accounts

Priority: High

• Savings, current, term and recurring deposits; CASA; BSBDA and small accounts.
• Accounts of individuals, minors, firms, companies, trusts and societies; joint accounts.
• Nomination; inoperative and dormant accounts; unclaimed deposits, DEAF and UDGAM.
• Deposit interest, premature withdrawal and TDS.
• The banker-customer relationship.

Previous-paper trend: BSBDA, dormant accounts, DEAF and UDGAM have been asked.

Module 12: KYC, AML & Compliance

Priority: High

• KYC, customer identification, customer due diligence and beneficial owner.
• OVDs, CKYCR, Video KYC and periodic updation.
• FATCA, CRS and PMLA; stages of money laundering.
• FIU-IND; Suspicious Transaction Reports and Cash Transaction Reports.
• Shell banks, correspondent banking, sanctions and wire-transfer requirements.

Previous-paper trend: FATCA and shell-bank questions appeared in 2025.

Module 13: Payment & Settlement Systems

Priority: Very High

• RBI regulation of payment systems; NPCI and its products.
• NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, UPI, BHIM, AePS, Aadhaar Pay, NACH, BBPS and CTS.
• FASTag, RuPay, debit and credit cards, prepaid payment instruments and mobile wallets.
• Tokenisation, digital banking and digital lending basics.
• CBDC / e₹; IFSC, MICR and SWIFT.

Previous-paper trend: CTS, AePS, BHIM Aadhaar Pay, RTGS, UPI and IFSC have been asked.

Module 14: Financial Markets

Priority: High

• Money market: call, notice and term money; T-Bills, Commercial Paper, Certificates of Deposit, repo and TREPS.
• Capital market: primary and secondary; equity, preference shares, bonds and debentures.
• Government securities and corporate bonds; IPO, FPO, rights issue and bonus issue.
• SEBI: functions, regulations, SCORES and investor protection.
• Mutual funds: NAV, equity, debt and hybrid funds, ETFs and index funds.
• Derivatives: futures, options, forwards and swaps.

Module 15: Basel Norms & Risk Management

Priority: High

• Basel Committee and BIS; Basel I, II and III; the three pillars.
• Capital adequacy, CRAR, CET1, Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital.
• Capital conservation buffer and leverage ratio.
• Liquidity Coverage Ratio and Net Stable Funding Ratio.
• Credit, market, operational, liquidity, interest-rate and concentration risk.

Previous-paper trend: Basel II / BIS questions appeared in 2025, and CRAR has appeared in earlier years.

Module 16: Treasury & Asset Liability Management

Priority: Medium

• Bank treasury and the SLR portfolio; government securities.
• Yield and price relationship, yield to maturity, duration and bond valuation basics.
• Treasury Bills, money-market instruments and forex treasury.
• Asset Liability Management: liquidity gaps, interest-rate gaps and ALCO.
• Market risk and investment classification — HTM, AFS and fair value under the latest RBI framework.

Teach this to both Scale II and Scale III candidates, but go deeper for Scale III.

Module 17: Forex & International Banking

Priority: Medium-High

• FEMA; current-account and capital-account transactions; Authorised Dealers and FFMC.
• LRS, EEFC and NRE / NRO / FCNR accounts.
• Exchange rates, spot and forward, and forex risk.
• Export and import finance; Letter of Credit, bills of exchange and Bank Guarantee.
• EXIM Bank, ECGC basics, DGFT and the Foreign Trade Policy.
• SWIFT and correspondent banking.

Previous-paper trend: FFMC, EEFC, DGFT, EXIM and LRS have all appeared.

Module 18: Government Schemes

Priority: Very High

Important: Do not treat this as miscellaneous GK. It is a scoring, high-frequency module.

• Financial inclusion: PMJDY, PMSBY, PMJJBY, APY and PM SVANidhi.
• MSME and livelihood: PMEGP, PMMY, Stand-Up India and PM Vishwakarma.
• Agriculture and rural: PMFBY, PM-KISAN, KCC-linked schemes and rural infrastructure programmes.
• Savings and pension: Sukanya Samriddhi, PPF, NSC, KVP, NPS and SCSS.
• Gold Monetisation, Sovereign Gold Bond status, PM Surya Ghar and PM MANDHAN.

Module 19: Financial Institutions & Regulators

Priority: High

• Domestic: RBI, NABARD, SIDBI, EXIM Bank, NHB, DICGC, NaBFID, IIFCL and ECGC.
• Regulators: SEBI, IRDAI, PFRDA and IFSCA; NPCI.
• Credit information companies including CIBIL.
• International: IMF, World Bank, ADB, AIIB, BIS, FATF and the New Development Bank.
• For each institution: establishment, headquarters, functions and current heads where relevant.
• Recent initiatives, products and schemes of each institution.

Module 20: Government Securities & Small Savings

Priority: Medium-High

• Treasury Bills, Government Securities and State Development Loans.
• RBI Retail Direct, gilt accounts and Sovereign Gold Bonds.
• PPF, NSC, KVP, Sukanya Samriddhi, SCSS and post-office schemes.
• Interest rates, minimum and maximum investment and maturity periods.
• Tax treatment at exam level.

Previous-paper trend: PPF, NSC and Gold Monetisation Scheme amounts were tested in 2025.

Module 21: Banking Laws & Negotiable Instruments

Priority: Medium-High

• RBI Act, Banking Regulation Act, SARFAESI, FEMA, PMLA, IBC and the DICGC Act.
• Payment and Settlement Systems Act, Consumer Protection, Limitation Act and Contract Act basics.
• Companies Act provisions relevant to banking.
• Negotiable Instruments: promissory note, bill of exchange and cheque.
• Crossing, endorsement, holder and holder in due course, payment in due course.
• Dishonour, material alteration, and the collecting and paying banker.

Module 22: Ombudsman & Customer Service

Priority: Medium-High

• RBI Integrated Ombudsman Scheme: grounds of complaint, process and compensation.
• Banking codes, customer rights and grievance redressal.
• Locker rules and nomination.
• Unauthorised electronic transactions and customer liability.
• Failed digital transactions and deposit protection.

Previous-paper trend: RBI Ombudsman and bank-locker / nominee questions appeared in 2025.

Module 23: Economy, Budget & Economic Survey

Priority: High

• GDP, GVA, nominal vs real GDP; inflation measured by CPI and WPI.
• Fiscal, revenue and primary deficit; current account and Balance of Payments.
• Forex reserves, government borrowing and public debt.
• Union Budget 2026-27 and Economic Survey 2025-26.
• Major allocations for agriculture, MSME and infrastructure; banking-sector measures.
• Tax developments relevant to finance.

Module 24: RBI Circulars & Financial Current Affairs

Priority: Essential

Preparation rule: Run this as a standalone, continuously updated module — not a one-time class.

• Circulars on loans and advances, PSL, MSME, agriculture, KYC, deposits and digital payments.
• Circulars on credit cards, fraud, customer protection, NBFCs, RRBs and cooperative banks.
• Circulars on forex, monetary policy, financial markets, IRAC, risk, Basel and G-Secs.
• Current affairs: appointments, mergers, new products, NPCI/UPI, SEBI, NABARD and SIDBI.
• For the December 2026 exam: cover January–November 2026, with heavy revision of the last 6 months.

Part B: Reasoning Ability

40 Questions · 50 Marks · 30 Minutes

Puzzles and seating arrangements dominate every year, typically accounting for 20–25 questions.

1. Seating Arrangements

• Linear and circular.
• Double row.
• Uncertain number.
• Direction-based seating.
• Multiple-variable arrangements.

2. Puzzles

• Floor and flat.
• Month, date and year.
• Age and designation.
• Scheduling and box puzzles.
• Comparison puzzles.

3. Machine Input-Output

• Word based.
• Number based.
• Alpha-numeric.
• Step-wise arrangement.
• Usually around 5 questions.

High-weight area: Puzzles and seating arrangements alone are worth roughly 20–25 questions.

4. Data Sufficiency

• Two-statement.
• Three-statement.
• Logical Data Sufficiency.
• Direction and blood relation Data Sufficiency.
• Ranking and order Data Sufficiency.

5. Logical Reasoning

• Statement and conclusion.
• Statement and assumption.
• Statement and argument.
• Statement and inference.
• Cause and effect; course of action.
• Strengthen and weaken.

6. Miscellaneous

• Syllogism and inequality.
• Coding-decoding.
• Blood relations and direction sense.
• Ranking.
• Alphabet and word formation.
• Odd one out.

Previous-paper trend: The 2025 paper included statement-argument and statement-inference questions.

Part C: Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation

40 Questions · 50 Marks · 30 Minutes

The 2023–2025 pattern is remarkably consistent: Data Interpretation, arithmetic, number series, quadratics and approximation.

1. Data Interpretation

• Table, bar, line and pie.
• Caselet and mixed DI.
• Missing DI.
• Arithmetic DI.
• Percentage and ratio based DI.
• Typically around 15 questions.

2. Arithmetic

• Percentage, ratio and average.
• Profit, loss and discount.
• Simple and compound interest.
• Time and work; pipes and cisterns.
• Speed, trains, boats and streams.
• Partnership, mixtures, ages and mensuration.
• Probability and P&C basics.

The 2023 paper had roughly 13 arithmetic questions and 2025 around 10. DI plus arithmetic forms most of this section.

3. Number Series

• Wrong number series.
• Missing number series.
• Pattern recognition.
• Around 5 questions.

4. Quadratic Equations

• Comparison of roots.
• Factorisation.
• Around 5 questions in recent papers.

5. Approximation & Simplification

• BODMAS.
• Percentage approximations.
• Squares, cubes and fractions.
• 5 questions in 2024 and 2025.

6. Data Sufficiency

• Arithmetic Data Sufficiency.
• Quantity comparison.
• Two-variable problems.

Part D: English / Hindi Language

40 Questions · 40 Marks · 30 Minutes

Candidates choose either English or Hindi. Recent papers focus on Reading Comprehension, grammar, vocabulary and rearrangement.

1. Reading Comprehension

• Banking, economy and business passages.
• Social issues and general passages.
• Vocabulary in context.
• Inference, tone and central idea.
• Usually around 10 questions.

2. Cloze Test

• Grammar based.
• Context based.
• Vocabulary based.

3. Error Detection

• Subject-verb agreement and tenses.
• Articles, prepositions and pronouns.
• Conjunctions and parallelism.
• Modifiers and vocabulary usage.

Candidates choose either English or Hindi. The pattern is the same in both.

4. Sentence Rearrangement

• Para jumbles.
• Sentence sequencing.

5. Vocabulary

• Synonyms and antonyms.
• Contextual meaning.
• Word replacement and word swap.
• Phrase replacement.
• Idioms and phrases.

6. Miscellaneous

• Match the column.
• Fillers and sentence connectors.
• Sentence completion.
• Column-based questions.

Part E: Computer Knowledge

40 Questions · 20 Marks · 15 Minutes

Although the section carries only 20 marks, candidates must answer 40 questions in 15 minutes. Preparation should focus on short factual recall, not deep IT theory.

1. Computer Fundamentals

• Generations and types of computers.
• Hardware, software and firmware.
• CPU, ALU and control unit.
• Computer languages and binary basics.

2. Memory & Storage

• RAM, ROM, cache and registers.
• Primary and secondary memory.
• HDD, SSD and optical storage.
• Memory hierarchy; volatile vs non-volatile.

3. Input / Output Devices

• Keyboard, mouse and scanner.
• Printer and monitor.
• Ports and storage devices.

4. Operating Systems

• Windows, Linux and DOS.
• Functions of an operating system.
• Multitasking and time sharing.
• File management.

5. MS Word

• Formatting and tables.
• Page layout and page break.
• File extensions.
• Shortcut keys and common commands.

6. MS Excel

• Workbook and worksheet.
• Cell, row and column.
• Formulas, functions and references.
• Charts and shortcut keys.

7. MS PowerPoint

• Slides, views and layout.
• Orientation and transitions.
• Presentation basics.
• File extensions.

High-weight areas: MS Office, hardware, networks, internet and security carry most of this section.

8. Networking

• LAN, MAN, WAN and PAN.
• Topology: star, bus, ring, mesh and hybrid.
• Router, switch, hub and modem.
• Ethernet.

Previous-paper trend: Multiple topology questions appeared in 2025.

9. Internet & Protocols

• Internet, intranet and WWW.
• Browser, search engine and email.
• HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, SMTP and POP3.
• IP, IPv4, IPv6, DNS and URL.

Previous-paper trend: IPv4/IPv6 and the POP3 port appeared in 2025.

10. Computer Security

• Virus, worm and Trojan horse.
• Malware, spyware and ransomware.
• Phishing, firewall and antivirus.
• Encryption and authentication.
• Cyber security basics.

What Previous Papers from 2019 to 2025 Tell Us

1. Financial Awareness is not a Credit Officer paper. Students do not need CMA or project-finance depth because the questions are much wider.
2. RBI circulars are critical. They are a major source of Financial Awareness questions every year.
3. Government schemes have become extremely important. The 2024 paper was notably scheme-heavy, including PMGSY, MUDRA, PMJJBY, NPS and PM Surya Ghar.
4. Financial Awareness mixes static and current topics. Static banking + RBI circulars + current affairs + schemes is the right combination.
5. Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude are predictable. Quant focuses on DI, arithmetic, series and quadratics. Reasoning focuses on puzzles, input-output and Data Sufficiency.

Financial Awareness Topics Recalled from the 2025 Paper

This spread shows why the course must focus on general banking rather than specialist credit.

• MANI
• ASBA
• IFSC
• CPI
• Repo rate
• PMSBY
• Sukanya Samriddhi
• PPF
• Gold Monetisation
• NSC
• LRS
• FATCA
• RBI Ombudsman
• MSME
• G-Secs
• Basel
• Current Ratio
• Commercial Paper
• PMEGP
• UPI
• BHIM
• IIFCL
• Shell banks
• Bank lockers

Static banking, schemes, payments, markets and current affairs all appeared in one paper.

Recommended Course Blueprint

Topic	Priority
RBI & Monetary Policy	★★★★★
RRB & NABARD	★★★★★
Priority Sector Lending	★★★★★
Agriculture & Rural Banking	★★★★★
MSME Finance	★★★★★
Banking Products & Deposits	★★★★★
Payments & Digital Banking	★★★★★
Government Schemes	★★★★★
RBI Circulars 2026	★★★★★
Banking / Financial Current Affairs	★★★★★
Reasoning	★★★★★
Quantitative Aptitude & DI	★★★★★
Credit & Advances	★★★★☆
NPA / IRAC / Recovery	★★★★☆
Financial Markets	★★★★☆
Financial Institutions	★★★★☆
Banking Laws	★★★★☆
KYC / AML	★★★★☆
Basel & Risk Management	★★★★☆
Budget, Economic Survey & Economy	★★★★☆
Computer Knowledge	★★★★☆
English / Hindi	★★★★☆
Forex & International Banking	★★★☆☆
Treasury & ALM	★★★☆☆
Credit Appraisal & Ratios	★★★☆☆

Course design: Use one common syllabus for Scale II and Scale III, with a Scale III advanced layer added on top.

The Scale III Advanced Banking Module

Extra depth, not a different syllabus.

This should be clearly labelled as an add-on layer. IBPS has not announced a separate Scale III syllabus.

Topics for the Advanced Layer

• Credit Appraisal.
• Financial Ratios.
• NPA & Recovery.
• Basel & Risk.
• Treasury & ALM.
• Forex.

For Scale II Students

About 80–90% of the advanced material can still help Scale II candidates. However, it should not crowd out RBI circulars, government schemes, rural banking, payments and current affairs, which are tested much more frequently.

All the Best for IBPS RRB GBO 2026

Final preparation formula: Static banking + RBI circulars + government schemes + financial current affairs. That combination is what previous papers reward.