The IBPS PO Prelims Expected Cutoff 2026 will help the candidates calculate the marks they may need to qualify for the IBPS PO Mains examination, towards the next selection stage of the IBPS PO recruitment exam 2026. The official cutoff of the IBPS PO Prelims cutoff 2026 will be released by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) along with the prelims result and scorecard. The expected cutoff is prepared by considering various factors such as the difficulty level of the IBPS PO Prelims exam over the multiple shifts, total number of vacancies, candidate performance, competition and previous year cutoff trends. Since the IBPS PO Prelims Exam 2026 is being conducted in approximately 8 shifts over a period of two days, the official authorities will use the normalisation method, which also affects the final cutoff.
IBPS PO Prelims Expected Cutoff 2026
The IBPS PO Prelims Exam 2026, which is conducted from August 22 to August 23, 2026, over multiple shifts, the difficulty level of the exam, category-wise vacancies with the participating banks and some other important key factors will determine the cutoff for the IBPS PO Prelims 2026. Until then, the candidates can check the expected cutoff marks given below:-
|
Category of the Candidates
|
Expected Cutoff Marks out of 100
|
|
General or UR
|
51-55
|
|
OBC
|
50-53
|
|
SC
|
45-49
|
|
EWS
|
50-52
|
|
ST
|
40-43
|
Candidates should note that these are not the official IBPS PO prelims cutoff marks. The official cutoff marks may increase or decrease depending on the overall difficulty level and the normalisation method used by the authorities.
Previous Year Cutoff Marks of IBPS PO Prelims Exam
The previous-year cutoff marks of the IBPS PO Prelims exam offer a useful benchmark for candidates. In 2025, the IBPS PO Prelims, the candidates belonging to the General category scored 49.21 for General, OBC-NCL and EWS candidates, while the candidates belonging to the SC scored 45.96, and the ST candidates scored 40.96. Given below are the previous years' cutoff marks for the IBPS PO Prelims Exam:-
|
Category
|
2023
|
2024
|
2025
|
|
General
|
54.25
|
48.5
|
49.21
|
|
SC
|
49.50
|
48
|
45.96
|
|
ST
|
43
|
41
|
40.96
|
|
EWS
|
54.25
|
48.5
|
49.21
|
|
OBC
|
54.25
|
48.5
|
49.21
|
What Factors Affect the Determination of the Cutoff Marks for IBPS PO Prelims Exam?
The main factors which affect the determination of the cutoff marks for the IBPS PO Prelims Exam 2026 are as follows:-
- Difficulty level of the question paper and the exam
- Total number of vacancies for which the exam is being conducted.
- Total number of candidates who appeared for the exam.
- The overall performance of the candidates
- Shift-wise difficulty level of the exam
- Normalisation of the marks from the multiple shifts in which the exam was conducted.
- The category-wise competition in the IBPS PO Prelims exam
These are some of the factors which will affect the determination of the cutoff marks; therefore, candidates should use the cutoff marks given above as an estimate, not as final qualifying marks.
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What is a safe score for the IBPS PO Prelims Exam 2026?
A useful way that the candidates can use to assess their performance in the exam is to look beyond the expected cutoff. Candidates should be able to score above the expected cutoff because the final cutoff depends on the normalisation process and overall competition for the exam. For example, if the expected cutoff marks for the General Category are around 51-55 marks, candidates should try to score 60 or more, then they can consider themselves in a comparatively safe range to qualify for the IBPS PO Mains exam 2026. Those candidates who score close to the expected cutoff marks should wait for the official scorecard before coming to any conclusion.