IBPS RRB 2026 — 13,745 Vacancies for Office Assistant & Officer Posts: Dates, Eligibility, Pattern
Last updated: September 20, 2026
IBPS RRB 2026 — Key Numbers
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection | Notification: 31 August 2026
IBPS has opened its annual recruitment for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), the government-sponsored rural lenders that hire through a common exam. The notification came on 31 August 2026 and the application window closes on 21 September 2026, so if you are eligible and have not applied, do that first and read the rest afterwards. If the window has already closed when you read this, the dates and pattern below are your preparation guide for the November–December exams.
RRB recruitment is separate from the two IBPS cycles already covered on this site. The public sector bank exams are in our guides to IBPS Clerk 2026 and IBPS PO 2026; RRB posts are a different set of employers, with a state-specific posting and a local-language requirement.
IBPS RRB 2026 — Vacancies by Post
| Post | Vacancies |
|---|---|
| Office Assistant (Multipurpose) | 8,222 |
| Officer Scale I (Assistant Manager) | 4,256 |
| Officer Scale II (specialist and general banking officer streams) | 1,047 |
| Officer Scale III (Senior Manager) | 220 |
| Total | 13,745 |
These figures are as reported by exam-preparation sites tracking the IBPS notification. They agree on Office Assistant, Scale I and Scale III, and the four numbers above add up exactly to 13,745. One site printed the Scale II figure as 1,013, but 1,047 is the number that reconciles with the total. Bank-wise and state-wise splits are in the vacancy PDF on ibps.in, and they matter because you can apply for only one state’s RRB posts. Vacancy numbers can be revised, so check that PDF for your state before you commit.
Important Dates
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Notification released | 31 August 2026 |
| Online registration and fee payment | 1–21 September 2026 |
| Officer Scale I (PO) Prelims | 21 and 22 November 2026 |
| Officer Scale I (PO) Mains | 20 December 2026 |
| Office Assistant Prelims | 6, 12 and 13 December 2026 |
| Office Assistant Mains | 30 January 2027 |
The Officer Scale II and III single examination date was not clear in the sources I could check, so look for it in the official schedule. Call-letter dates and results will be announced on ibps.in.
Eligibility
| Post | Age limit | Qualification and experience |
|---|---|---|
| Office Assistant | 18–28 years | Bachelor’s degree in any discipline |
| Officer Scale I | 18–30 years | Bachelor’s degree in any discipline |
| Officer Scale II | 21–32 years | Bachelor’s degree with minimum 50% marks; the general banking officer stream needs 2 years of officer experience in a bank or financial institution, and specialist posts have their own qualifications |
| Officer Scale III | 21–40 years | Bachelor’s degree with minimum 50% marks and 5 years of officer experience in a bank or financial institution |
Standard age relaxations apply for SC/ST (5 years), OBC (3 years) and other notified categories. Candidates must also be proficient in the official language of the state or UT they apply to. Confirm the cut-off date for age and qualification, and the specialist-post requirements, in the official notification PDF.
Application Fee
| Category | Fee |
|---|---|
| SC / ST / PwBD / Ex-Servicemen | ₹175 |
| General / OBC / EWS | ₹850 |
Selection Process
- Office Assistant: Prelims, then Mains, then provisional allotment. There is no interview.
- Officer Scale I: Prelims, then Mains, then interview, then provisional allotment.
- Officer Scale II and III: a single online examination followed by an interview.
Prelims is a qualifying stage. Final selection rests on the Mains score for Office Assistants, and on Mains plus interview for Scale I. The exact interview weightage should be checked in the notification, as the sources I compared did not agree on it.
Exam Pattern
Prelims (Office Assistant and Officer Scale I)
| Section | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reasoning | 40 | 40 | 25 min |
| Numerical Ability | 40 | 40 | 20 min |
| Total | 80 | 80 | 45 min |
Mains (Office Assistant and Officer Scale I)
| Section | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Reasoning | 40 | 50 |
| Computer Knowledge | 40 | 20 |
| General Awareness | 40 | 40 |
| English or Hindi Language | 40 | 40 |
| Numerical Ability | 40 | 50 |
| Total | 200 | 200 |
The Mains paper is 2 hours long. Each wrong answer costs 0.25 marks (one-fourth). Prep sites describe the Officer Scale I Mains as having the same structure as the Office Assistant Mains; check the official notification for any difference in the Scale I paper.
How to Prepare in the Time Left
The PO Prelims is about two months away and the Clerk Prelims about ten weeks. Prelims is only two sections, so the first job is speed and accuracy in Numerical Ability and Reasoning, with sectional timing in mind (25 and 20 minutes). Add General Awareness and Computer Knowledge for Mains once Prelims practice is steady, and start reading banking news regularly; the RRB Mains rewards awareness of current developments in banking and rural finance. If you are also targeting the public sector bank exams, the same Prelims preparation carries over to IBPS Clerk and IBPS PO.
Sources: figures compiled from exam-preparation coverage of the IBPS notification (Adda247, Testbook, CareerPower). The official IBPS notification and vacancy PDF at ibps.in are the final authority; verify dates, vacancies and eligibility there before applying.
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