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IBPS RRB clerk

Conducted by Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)

  1. Prelims
  2. Mains
  3. Provisional allotment

Office Assistant prelims (reasoning, numerical) and mains with GA, computer and language

RRB clerk syllabus for IBPS Office Assistant (Multipurpose)

BankingGraduate levelGramin banksUpdated 26 Oct 2026

The RRB clerk syllabus, set by IBPS for the Office Assistant (Multipurpose) post in Regional Rural Banks, has two online stages: a prelims made of reasoning plus numerical ability, worth 80 marks over 45 minutes, and a mains of 200 marks in 120 minutes that adds general awareness, computer knowledge and a language paper in English or Hindi. No interview follows; the mains score alone fixes your rank.

Gramin banks serve villages and small towns, which is why the post also expects you to know the language spoken in your chosen state. Below you will find both papers section by section, the topics that carry the most questions, and a schedule suited to the short gap between prelims and mains.

Exam at a glance

  • Conducted by

    IBPS, through the Common Recruitment Process for RRBs
  • Post

    Office Assistant (Multipurpose), the clerical cadre of Regional Rural Banks
  • Stages

    Online prelims, online mains, provisional allotment; no interview
  • Prelims

    80 questions, 80 marks, 45 minutes
  • Mains

    200 questions, 200 marks, 120 minutes
  • Negative marking

    One fourth of the marks of a question for each wrong answer; blanks carry no penalty
  • Eligibility

    Graduate in any discipline, age 18 to 28 for the general category in the latest cycle
  • Official website

How the Office Assistant selection works

IBPS runs one common process for all participating Regional Rural Banks, and you choose a state when you apply. The steps are:

  1. Prelims: a screening test with two timed sections. Clearing the sectional minimum in both parts, plus the total minimum, earns a mains call.
  2. Mains: five sections. Only these marks count for the final merit list.
  3. Provisional allotment: based on mains merit, your state choice, category and the vacancies each RRB reports.

Knowing the state's official language well is a condition for Office Assistants. The participating bank may test it before final appointment, so if you are applying outside your home state, start reading that language early.

Age, qualification and language rules are taken from the latest IBPS notification. Recheck the age reference date and your state's language in each new advertisement.

RRB clerk prelims exam pattern

IBPS RRB Office Assistant prelims
SectionQuestionsMarksTime
Reasoning404025 minutes
Numerical Ability404020 minutes
Total808045 minutes

Each section has its own clock, so time left in reasoning cannot be moved to numerical ability. Notice that the rrb clerk pre exam pattern has no English section, unlike the IBPS clerk prelims. That makes reasoning and maths the whole game at this stage: half a mark lost to a careless guess matters when the cut off is tight.

Mains pattern: five sections in two hours

IBPS RRB Office Assistant mains
SectionQuestionsMarksTime
Reasoning405030 minutes
Numerical Ability405030 minutes
General Awareness404015 minutes
English Language or Hindi Language404030 minutes
Computer Knowledge402015 minutes
Total200200120 minutes

You pick either the English paper or the Hindi paper, not both. Remaining sections come bilingual, and in some states also in a listed regional language. Reasoning and numerical ability carry 50 marks each, so together they are half the mains score. Computer knowledge has 40 questions but only half a mark each, which still makes it a quick scoring section in 15 minutes.

IBPS RRB clerk prelims syllabus by section

Reasoning (prelims level)

  • Puzzles and seating: row, circle, floor and box formats
  • Inequalities, syllogism, family tree questions
  • Directions, ranking and position, letter and number sequences
  • Coding and decoding

Numerical Ability (prelims level)

  • Simplifying and approximating long expressions
  • Number series, both the gap type and the wrong term type
  • Quadratic equation pairs, plus comparing quantity I with quantity II
  • Short DI sets built on a table, a bar graph or a pie
  • Word problems: percentages, ratios, profit, interest of both kinds, averages, ages, work done by pipes or people, trains and boats, mixtures, basic area and volume

The rrb clerk pre syllabus, often searched as the rrb clerk prelims syllabus, is the same base you will need again in mains, only at a gentler level and with less time.

RRB clerk mains syllabus in detail

  • Reasoning: tougher puzzle sets, machine input-output, data sufficiency, statement and assumption, statement and conclusion, coded inequalities and logical reasoning.
  • Numerical Ability: caselet and mixed data interpretation, arithmetic word problems, quantity comparison, approximation and number series.
  • General Awareness: news from about the six months before the exam, banking and financial awareness (RBI policy terms, government schemes, financial institutions), rural economy and agriculture topics that suit gramin banks, plus static facts.
  • English Language: passages with questions, a cloze passage, finding errors, blanks, sentence rearrangement and word meaning in context.
  • Hindi Language: गद्यांश, रिक्त स्थान, वाक्य सुधार, मुहावरे and शब्दावली, set at a similar level to the English paper.
  • Computer Knowledge: input and output devices, memory, software types, operating systems, word processing and spreadsheet tools, internet and networking, shortcuts, abbreviations and security.

Across the full rrb clerk exam syllabus, the ibps rrb clerk mains syllabus rewards depth in two places: puzzles in reasoning and data interpretation in maths. Both appear in larger sets than in prelims.

Which RRB clerk topics carry the most questions

Recent exam analyses of the Office Assistant papers show a stable shape, though the exact count changes from shift to shift:

  • Puzzles and seating arrangement form the biggest single block of reasoning in both stages.
  • In numerical ability, data interpretation, simplification and number series take a large share, with the rest spread across arithmetic.
  • General awareness leans on banking and current events far more than history or geography.
Meena in Bhopal works at a pharmacy until 6 pm. In the evenings she does one puzzle set and one DI set, timed, because those two blocks decide most of her mains score. On Sunday she revises a week of banking news in her own notebook, which takes less than an hour.

A ten week plan from prelims to mains

  • Weeks 1 to 4: build speed for prelims. Daily: 20 simplification questions, one series set, two puzzles. Take a full 45 minute mock every third day.
  • Weeks 5 and 6: keep prelims mocks twice a week and start current affairs and computer basics in short daily slots.
  • Weeks 7 to 10: after prelims, switch fully to mains: sectional tests at the official timings, long DI caselets, input and output, and your chosen language paper.

For study material, the official pattern in the notification, NCERT mathematics from class 6 to 10 for arithmetic basics, a standard grammar book and the RBI and government press releases for banking news are enough. Add past papers from the RRB clerk previous papers page once your basics are firm.

To see what score past candidates needed, read the RRB clerk cut off, or compare officer papers on the IBPS RRB PO syllabus page and other options in bank exams.

RRB clerk syllabus in Hindi

आईबीपीएस आरआरबी ऑफिस असिस्टेंट परीक्षा में दो ऑनलाइन चरण हैं। पहले चरण यानी प्रीलिम्स में रीजनिंग से 40 और न्यूमेरिकल एबिलिटी से 40 सवाल पूछे जाते हैं, जिनके लिए 45 मिनट मिलते हैं और पूर्णांक 80 है। मेन्स का पूर्णांक 200 है और इसके लिए 120 मिनट मिलते हैं। इसमें रीजनिंग, न्यूमेरिकल एबिलिटी, सामान्य जागरूकता, कंप्यूटर ज्ञान और अंग्रेज़ी या हिंदी भाषा में से एक पेपर होता है। नेगेटिव मार्किंग लागू है: किसी प्रश्न का उत्तर गलत होने पर उसके अंकों का चौथा भाग घटता है। इस पद के लिए साक्षात्कार नहीं है, मेरिट केवल मेन्स के स्कोर पर बनती है।

Frequently asked questions

Is there an interview for RRB clerk?

No. The Office Assistant post has only the prelims and the mains, followed by provisional allotment. Interviews are held only for the officer scale posts in the same recruitment.

Is English compulsory in the RRB clerk exam?

No. Prelims has no language section at all, and in mains you choose either the English paper or the Hindi paper. Either paper has 40 questions, one mark apiece.

Is my prelims score added to the merit?

They do not. Prelims works as a screen, and your rank comes from the mains total out of 200.

How is RRB clerk different from IBPS clerk?

IBPS clerk recruits for public sector banks and its prelims includes English, while the RRB clerk prelims tests only reasoning and numerical ability. The RRB mains also offers a Hindi paper in place of English. See the side by side detail on the IBPS clerk syllabus guide.

What age range does the RRB Office Assistant post allow?

The latest cycle allowed general category applicants aged 18 to 28, and reserved groups get extra years under central rules. IBPS fixes a fresh reference date every cycle, so read that line in the current notification.

Is a state language required for this post?

Yes. An Office Assistant has to read, write and speak the main language of the state where the chosen RRB works. The bank may test this before appointment, so confirm the language listed for your state in the notification.