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The wait for rural bank aspirants is nearly over, because the IBPS RRB PO Prelims Exam Date 2026 is now fixed for 21 and 22 November 2026. The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) will hold the Officer Scale-I Preliminary Examination on those two days as part of its CRP RRBs-XV drive, which covers 4,256 Officer Scale-I (PO) posts across 28 Regional Rural Banks and 13,745 posts overall. Applications for this drive closed on 27 September 2026, so this update is for candidates who have already applied and are now counting down to the examination hall. The Prelims call letter has not yet been released as of early November 2026, and it is expected in the second week of November 2026, roughly seven to ten days before the examination. (CRP RRBs-XV)
Table of Contents
IBPS RRB PO Prelims Exam Date 2026
4,256 PO Posts : Prelims 21–22 November 2026
BuzzGamers.com
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Important Dates
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Application Fee
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IBPS RRB PO 2026 : Age Limit
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Total Post 4,256 PO Posts |
Two Days, One Shortlist: Why 21–22 November Matters
The prelims examination is the first gate in this recruitment, and it is also the widest one. Every candidate who applied for Officer Scale-I will sit for it, and only those who clear the sectional and overall cut-offs will move on to the mains examination on 20 December 2026. That makes the gap between the two stages exactly four weeks, which is short enough that mains preparation cannot wait for the prelims result. Candidates who are serious about the mains should already be revising the subjects that appear only in the second stage, because the result window will leave almost no time to start them from scratch. The two-day prelims window also means that candidates will be divided across shifts, and the examination date, shift and reporting time printed on each call letter will be final for that candidate. There is no provision to choose a day or a shift, so the only practical step is to download the call letter the moment it appears and plan travel around the centre it names.
The dates themselves come from the IBPS tentative calendar dated 16 January 2026, which is why they are described as tentative even though candidates should treat them as firm for planning purposes. IBPS has a record of holding to its calendar dates, but a tentative label is still a reminder to keep checking ibps.in for any fresh notice. The Office Assistant prelims follow a fortnight later, on 6, 12 and 13 December 2026, although some sources list 6, 9 and 13 December instead, so Office Assistant candidates should verify their own dates on ibps.in rather than relying on this post alone. For Officer Scale-I candidates, however, the message is settled: the prelims fall on the third weekend of November, the mains follow on 20 December, and the weeks in between are for revision, not for waiting.
IBPS RRB PO 2026 : Vacancy Details
| Post Name | No. Of Post |
|---|---|
| Officer Scale-I (PO) | 4,256 |
| Office Assistant (Multipurpose) | 8,222 |
| Officer Scale-II | 1,059 |
| Officer Scale-III | 220 |
| Total | 13,745 |
The total of 13,745 posts is indicative, and its history is worth knowing because it explains why different websites show different numbers. The original notification announced 13,706 posts, and a corrigendum dated 9 September 2026 revised the figure to 13,745. A further update dated 25 September 2026 is cited by some sources as 13,757, so candidates who see that number elsewhere are not looking at a different recruitment — they are looking at the same drive with a disputed revision. This post uses 13,745, the figure supported by the 9 September corrigendum, and candidates should verify the final figure on ibps.in before publishing or quoting it. The Officer Scale-I figure of 4,256 posts is the one that matters most to PO aspirants, and it is spread across 28 Regional Rural Banks, which means the eventual posting will be in a rural or semi-urban branch of one of those banks. That rural posting is the whole point of the RRBs: they exist to bring banking to villages and small towns, and an officer who joins one should expect to work close to the communities the bank serves.
| Post Name | Eligibility Criteria |
|---|---|
| Officer Scale-I (PO) |
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| Office Assistant (Multipurpose) |
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| Officer Scale-II |
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| Officer Scale-III |
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The eligibility bar for Officer Scale-I is deliberately simple: a bachelor’s degree in any discipline, with no demand for prior experience. That openness is what makes this examination one of the most crowded banking tests in the country, because graduates from every stream — arts, science, commerce, engineering — can sit for the same paper. It also means the competition is decided almost entirely by the examination itself rather than by a candidate’s academic background. The degree must be from a recognised university, and candidates should keep their degree certificate or provisional certificate ready, because it will be checked at the interview stage if they reach that far. For the other posts in the drive, the eligibility conditions are post-specific and are given in the detailed notification dated 1 September 2026; this post does not guess them, and candidates for Scale-II, Scale-III or Office Assistant should read the notification for their own post before assuming anything.
Documents To Keep Ready Before The Call Letter Arrives
There is nothing to upload at this stage, because applications are closed, but the call letter itself will demand proof of identity at the examination centre, and the later stages will demand the full set of certificates. Candidates should use the waiting days to assemble the following, so that nothing is hunted for on the morning of the examination: the registration number and password created during the application, because the call letter can only be downloaded with them; a valid photo identity card in original, such as Aadhaar, PAN card, voter ID, driving licence or passport, matching the name on the application; the printed call letter itself, along with a recent passport-size photograph to paste on it if the instructions require one; and the graduation degree or provisional certificate with mark sheets, kept ready for the interview and document verification that follow the mains. Candidates claiming age relaxation or reservation should also keep their caste or category certificate and any disability certificate in the prescribed format ready, since a certificate in the wrong format can be rejected at verification even after a candidate has cleared every examination stage.
You may also check : SSC CPO Admit Card 2026
- Visit ibps.in And Open The CRP RRBs-XV Section On The Homepage, Where The Call Letter Link Will Appear Once It Is Released.
- Click The Officer Scale-I Prelims Call Letter Link And Log In With The Registration Number And Password Or Date Of Birth Created During The Application.
- Check Every Detail On The Call Letter The Moment It Downloads — The Candidate’s Name And Photograph, The Examination Date And Shift, The Reporting Time, And The Full Address Of The Examination Centre.
- Print The Call Letter On Plain Paper And Keep A Second Copy Safe, Because A Phone Screenshot Is Not Accepted At The Examination Centre.
- If The Website Is Slow On The First Day, Try Again After A Few Hours Rather Than Paying Anyone For A Download, Because The Call Letter Is Free And Is Issued Only On ibps.in.
- Reach The Centre Well Before The Reporting Time Printed On The Call Letter, Because Late Entry Is Not Allowed And The Biometric Verification At The Gate Takes Time.
What The Call Letter Will Actually Carry
The call letter is more than an entry pass. It will state the exact date and shift of the prelims, the reporting time, the centre address, and the instructions about what may and may not be carried into the hall. Candidates should read those instructions in full instead of skimming them, because the rules on calculators, watches, mobile phones and rough sheets are strict in IBPS examinations, and a banned item found at the gate can cost a candidate the examination. The call letter will also carry the candidate’s photograph and signature as uploaded during the application, so a mismatch between the photograph on the call letter and the candidate at the gate is something to catch early, not on the examination morning. If any detail on the call letter is wrong, the candidate should contact IBPS through the channels given on ibps.in immediately, because corrections are far easier before the examination than after it.
- Preliminary Examination — 21–22 November 2026, Computer-Based, Qualifying In Nature
- Mains Examination — 20 December 2026, For Candidates Who Qualify In Prelims
- Interview — For Candidates Who Qualify In The Mains Examination
- Document Verification
- Final Allotment — Based On Mains And Interview Scores
- The Prelims Examination Is A Screening Test, So Its Marks Do Not Count Towards The Final Merit. That Does Not Make It Easy — The Cut-Off Is Decided By The Number Of Candidates And The Difficulty Of The Paper, And Only A Fraction Of Those Who Appear Will Reach The Mains.
- Preparation In The Final Days Should Focus On Speed And Accuracy In Reasoning And Numerical Ability, Because The Prelims Paper Rewards Candidates Who Attempt Carefully Within A Tight Time Limit Rather Than Those Who Rush Through Every Question.
Some Useful Important Links
| Download Call Letter | Click Here |
| Official Website | Click Here |
What PO Aspirants Are Asking Before 21 November
| When is the IBPS RRB PO prelims exam in 2026? The Officer Scale-I preliminary examination will be held on 21 and 22 November 2026, as per the IBPS tentative calendar dated 16 January 2026. |
| How many PO posts are there in CRP RRBs-XV? There are 4,256 Officer Scale-I (PO) posts, out of 13,745 indicative posts in the whole drive. The original notification announced 13,706 posts, revised to 13,745 by a corrigendum dated 9 September 2026; some sources cite 13,757 from a 25 September 2026 update, so verify the final figure on ibps.in. |
| Has the IBPS RRB PO call letter been released? No. As of early November 2026 the call letter has not been released. It is expected in the second week of November 2026, about 7 to 10 days before the examination, and it will be available only on ibps.in. |
| When is the IBPS RRB PO mains exam? The Officer Scale-I mains examination is scheduled for 20 December 2026, for candidates who qualify in the prelims. |
| Can I still apply for IBPS RRB PO 2026? No. Applications closed on 27 September 2026, and this update is only for candidates who have already applied. |
Conclusion
The position for IBPS RRB PO candidates is now clear and the countdown is short. The Officer Scale-I prelims will be held on 21 and 22 November 2026 for 4,256 PO posts in the CRP RRBs-XV drive, the call letter is still awaited and is expected in the second week of November, and the mains examination follows on 20 December 2026. Candidates should download the call letter from ibps.in the moment it appears, check every detail on it, and use the remaining days for focused revision rather than for chasing rumours about dates. Readers following other banking and SSC examinations can find the SSC CPO admit card update in our SSC CPO Admit Card 2026 post, and our Jobs section will carry the mains call letter update when IBPS releases it.
Disclaimer: This article is for information only and is based on the IBPS CRP RRBs-XV notification dated 1 September 2026, the corrigendum dated 9 September 2026 and the IBPS tentative calendar dated 16 January 2026, as reported in early November 2026. Examination dates, vacancy figures and call letter arrangements can change through official notices, and the total of 13,745 posts and the Office Assistant prelims dates should be verified on ibps.in. BuzzGamers is not a government website and is not affiliated with the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection.
AKAbout the Author
Hi, I am Arvind Kushwaha, founder of BuzzGamers. I have been writing about BGMI and gaming for over 6 years, and every post on this site is checked against official sources before it goes live. More About Arvind