Introduction

Prepares candidates in general streams for: IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, RRB PO, RRB Clerk, SBI PO, SBI Clerk, RBI GRADE B, RBI Assistant, NABARD Grade A Officers Exam.
 
Are you worried about the declining job security and high competition amongst graduates?

Are you a graduate looking for a secure government job with a PSU bank?

Do you want a top-tier Government job that has no complicated qualification requirements?

If you are wondering whether there is an opportunity for graduates in the public sector banks that provide job security, high pay, and assured growth over the duration of your career, then exams on the lines of -  IBPS PO , IBPS Clerk, RRB PO, RRB Clerk, SBI PO, SBI Clerk, RBI GRADE B, RBI Assistant, NABARD Grade A Officer exams are perfect for you. The good part is that major components of these exams overlap when it comes to syllabus and pattern.

Details of Various Banking Exams

IBPS PO (Probationary Officer):The IBPS PO exam is conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection to recruit probationary Officers for public sector banks. 
List of banks that recruit through IBPS Exam: 

• Bank of Baroda
• Bank of India 
• Bank of Maharashtra 
• Canara Bank 
• Central Bank of India 
• Indian Bank 
• Indian Overseas Bank 
• Punjab National Bank 
• Punjab and Sind Bank 
• UCO Bank 
• Union Bank of India 

Candidates must hold a graduation degree from a recognized university and be between 20 and 30 years old (with age relaxation for reserved categories). Selected candidates start with a salary ranging from ₹52,000 to ₹55,000 per month, which includes various allowances such as DA, HRA, CCA, and medical benefits. This position offers good growth opportunities within the banking sector. 

The SO exam is consistently held every year, and you have an opportunity to work in big cities because the legal team of these banks is posted in big cities and works closely with their headquarters.  

IBPS Clerk: The IBPS Clerk exam is conducted by IBPS for the recruitment of clerical positions in public sector banks. Candidates need to be graduates and within the age group of 20 to 28 years, with applicable age relaxations. The starting salary for clerks is around ₹28,000 to ₹30,000 per month, including allowances like DA, HRA, and medical benefits. This role provides a stable career with the opportunity for promotions based on performance.

RRB PO (Regional Rural Bank Probationary Officer): The RRB PO exam is held by IBPS to recruit officers for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs). Candidates must be graduates and aged between 18 to 30 years, with age relaxations as per government norms. The starting salary for an RRB PO is approximately ₹45,000 to ₹50,000 per month, which includes allowances like DA, HRA, and medical benefits. The job involves managing banking operations in rural areas, offering a unique career path within the banking industry.

RRB Clerk (Office Assistant): This exam is for recruiting office assistant (Clerk) in RRBs. Eligibility criteria include a graduation degree and an age range of 18 to 28 years, with relaxations. The starting salary is around ₹20,000 to ₹25,000 per month, including allowances. The role primarily involves assisting in banking operations and providing customer service in rural bank branches.

SBI PO (Probationary Officer): The SBI PO exam is conducted by the State Bank of India for recruiting probationary officers. Candidates need to be graduates and within the age bracket of 21 to 30 years. The starting salary is competitive, ranging from ₹52,000 to ₹55,000 per month, including various perks such as DA, HRA, CCA, medical benefits, and even a lease house facility. The position offers significant growth opportunities, making it one of the most sought-after roles in the banking sector.

SBI Clerk: SBI conducts the SBI Clerk exam to recruit clerical staff. Applicants must have a graduation degree and be aged between 20 to 28 years. The starting salary for an SBI clerk is about ₹28,000 to ₹32,000 per month, including allowances. The role involves customer service and routine banking operations, with a stable career path and opportunities for internal promotions.

RBI Grade B Officer: The RBI Grade B Officer exam is held by the Reserve Bank of India to recruit officers in its Grade B cadre. Candidates must be graduates with at least 60% marks and should be between 21 to 30 years of age. The starting salary is attractive, ranging from ₹83,000 to ₹87,000 per month, including various allowances like DA, HRA, and Grade Allowance. This prestigious position offers extensive career growth and is highly respected within the financial sector.

RBI Assistant: RBI also conducts the RBI Assistant exam to recruit clerical staff. Eligible candidates must have at least 50% in their graduation and be aged between 20 to 28 years. The starting salary is around ₹36,000 to ₹38,000 per month, including allowances. The role offers a stable career with the Reserve Bank of India, known for its excellent work environment and growth opportunities.

NABARD Grade A Officers Exam:The NABARD Grade A Officers exam is conducted for recruitment into the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. Candidates need to have a relevant graduation degree with at least 50% marks and be between 21 to 30 years old. The starting salary is about ₹70,000 to ₹75,000 per month, including allowances. The role involves working in the development sector, focusing on agriculture and rural development, offering a unique and impactful career path.

You can prepare effectively for these exams by studying for just 2 hrs a day for a span of 6 months. Since you will be preparing for multiple exams at the same time, round the year vacancies would help you land in your dream job. 

Why you should attempt the Bank Officer Exam ?

• Lower competition compared to exams like UPSC, SSC, and other civil services exams. 
• If you don’t crack IBPS-SO you can still prepare for BPS Clerk, RRB PO, RRB Clerk, SBI PO, SBI Clerk, RBI Grade B, RBI Assistant, and NABARD Grade A Officers Exam as the syllabus is complementary. - reach out to our counsellors for a plan.  
• Opens up opportunities for lucrative private sector jobs in the financial sector 
• If you prepare as per the right strategy, then cracking these exams is a lot easier than any other exam.

Key features of the Bank Officers Exam

Eligibility 

You must have a bachelor's  degree.
Minimum age is 20 years and maximum is 30 years for IBPS PO, RRB PO, SBI PO, RBI GRADE B, RBI Assistant, NABARD Grade A and minimum age is 18 years and maximum is 28 years for  IBPS Clerk, RRB Clerk, SBI Clerk, 
There are age relaxations for OBCs (non-creamy layer) (3 years), SC/ST (5 years), ex-servicemen (5 years), and persons with disabilities (10 years). 
Within the above age limit, there is no limit on the number of attempts.

There are 3 phases - Prelims, Mains and Interview.

Prelims
- The prelims exam is MCQ-only. It covers Reasoning, English Language, and General Awareness with special reference to the banking industry. 
- It is an entirely objective type, with 40 mins available per section. Maximum marks are 125. One question carries one mark each except English  which carries 0.5 mark each.
- There is negative marking as well of 0.25.  
- To clear the prelims, you need to clear the overall cut-off and cut-offs for each section. These are usually very low. 
- In 2021 the overall cut-off was 47.5 out of 125 marks for general category. Cut-offs are lower for reserved category candidates. 
- Tentative sectional cutoffs (out of 50 for reasoning and GA and for English out of 25 ): 

• English: Cut-off for 2021-22 was 7.5  marks (for General/EWS category); 4.75 for SC/ST/OBC/PwBD. 
• Reasoning: Similarly it was 7.5  marks (for General/ EWS category); 3 for SC/ST/OBC/PwBD. 
• General Awareness: It was 8.5  marks (for General/ EWS category); 5.5 for SC/ST/OBC/PwBD. Scoring 16-18  in this is very safe in this segment usually.
• In prelims you just have to clear cut-offs, everyone who clears the cut-offs progresses to the Mains.
• Most people start preparing too late (i.e. 1 month before when the notification is out), and completely compromise their Mains preparation because of prelims, not knowing that they just need to clear cut-offs.
• Mains and Interview is the main challenge in this exam.
• LawSikho students start at least 6 months before.

Mains
- The Mains exam only has subject specific, MCQ-only. While this exam has cut-offs too, they are really low. You need to score maximum possible  as it will count towards your rank list.  
- There will be 60 questions of 1 mark each, to be attempted in 45 minutes.
- The problem in Mains is that there is no official list of topics or even subjects prescribed. IBPS simply calls it Professional Knowledge.
- Past years’ papers are also not available publicly, so candidates have no idea about this subject. 
- This is the BIGGEST CHALLENGE for candidates who prepare. Most of the aspirants mistakenly feel overconfident that they are preparing for the civil services exam, so they should be prepared for this.  
- In fact, most candidates who actually clear prelims and reach the mains stage have reached here merely because of clearing the low cut-offs for prelims and not because of high performance. 
- Bank exams test candidates on a completely different aspect of subjects than other competitive exams. 
- If you don’t know what you are going to be tested on, you cannot prepare properly and will not be able to clear. Failure is guaranteed!

Interview
- Generally lasts for 15-20 minutes, with a panel of 4-6 senior members.
- Interview carries 100 marks. One must score 40% minimum to qualify this stage. 
- The final score will be the total of marks in Mains + Interview. 
- Interview is the most important component as it carries more marks than mains as well! 
- The top candidates based on their aggregate performance in Mains + Interview are shortlisted for Specialist Officer positions in different banks.  
- The panel usually asks questions on banking-related developments, banking-related statutes (this is the most important) and your opinions on current affairs (occasionally). 
- The panel is not looking for rookie candidates who have no idea about how the world of banking works - they want to select people who are mature and understand the functioning of the industry.   
- Most candidates start preparation for the interview stage after clearing Mains. At this stage, they are only able to make superficial changes at the last minute. Many of them do not practise mock interviews even at this stage. 
- They do not have clarity of thought, their practical knowledge of commercial statutes like DRT, NCLT, IBC is insufficient, and communication is very poor.  
- Anxiety worsens their performance during the interview. 
- LawSikho students prepare from Day 1, just for 10-15 mins. Everyday. These students speak before the mirror and record selfie videos on banking-related news and commercial statutes in the syllabus on a daily basis and improve with periodic feedback. They also attend daily mock interviews after the Mains Exam.

Syllabus of LawSikho’s Bank Officers Training Program

Part 1: Prelims

Concept and exhaustive practice modules comprising difficulty levels of easy, medium, tough and assorted on:
English Language
- Reading Comprehension
- Cloze Test
- Detection of Errors 
- Improving sentence structure
- Completion of Paragraphs 
- Para Jumbling 
- Fill in the blanks 
- Parts of speech 
- Modes of narration 
- Prepositions 
- Active/Passive Voice change

Reasoning
 
- Seating Arrangement
- Syllogism 
- Blood relations 
- Puzzles 
- Inequalities 
- Input-Output 
- Coding- Decoding 
- Data- Sufficiency 
- Order and Ranking 
- Alphanumeric series 
- Distance and direction 
- Verbal reasoning 
- Non-verbal reasoning 

General Awareness: (Only in RRB PO and RRB Clerk)

- Current Affairs 
- Static GK 
- Banking awareness
- International Awareness 
- National Awareness 
- Countries, capitals and currencies 
- Books, authors and awards 
- Headquarters
- Prime Minister Schemes 
- Government Policies 
- Important dates and events
- Computer knowledge

These subjects are included in various combinations across the Prelims exams of IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, RRB PO, RRB Clerk, SBI PO, SBI Clerk, RBI Grade B, RBI Assistant, and NABARD Grade A.

Part 2: Mains

   1. Reasoning Ability
Appears in: IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, RRB PO, RRB Clerk, SBI PO, SBI Clerk, RBI Assistant
2. Computer Aptitude/Knowledge
Appears in: IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, RRB PO, SBI PO, SBI Clerk, RBI Assistant
3. Quantitative Aptitude/Data Analysis & Interpretation
Appears in: IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, RRB PO, RRB Clerk, SBI PO, SBI Clerk
4. General Awareness/Economy/Banking Awareness/Financial Awareness
Appears in: IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, RRB PO, SBI PO, SBI Clerk, RBI Grade B, RBI Assistant
5. English Language
Appears in: IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, RRB PO, SBI PO, SBI Clerk, RBI Grade B, RBI Assistant
6. Hindi Language
Appears in: RRB PO (Optional instead of English)
7. Economic & Social Issues
Appears in: RBI Grade B, NABARD Grade A
8. Finance & Management
Appears in: RBI Grade B
9. Agriculture & Rural Development
Appears in: NABARD Grade A
10. Descriptive English (Essay, Precis Writing, Letter Writing)
Appears in: IBPS PO, SBI PO, RBI Grade B, NABARD Grade A

Part 3: Interview

- Technical support on Banking and general knowledge component
- Regular sessions with experts on how to prepare for the interview round 
- Detailed feedbacks of personality rounds
- 5 Panel interviews 

Money-back policy

After following the weekly time-schedules, attending all the live classes and attempting weekly Practice Tests for the initial one month, if you feel that the course is not up to the mark, we guarantee you a refund.

View Refund Policy
 

What is the career potential after doing this course?

• If you qualify as a Bank officer, you can start with the role of  Officer (Scale 1) in any one of the participating PSU banks. 
• In 5 to 6  years, you can get promoted to the role of Senior Manager with a Grade Scale ranging from IV to V. This is a very respectable and powerful position, and you can earn a base pay of up to Rs. 100350 with additional lucrative perks. For someone with exceptional leadership skills, one may even reach the level of a Chief Manager with a minimum of 10 years of experience.  
• If you want, you can always shift to working in private sector banks, NBFCs or other financial-sector organizations after working for a few years, due to your vast experience in the PSU, which is highly valuable for any such organization.

Course Structure

Preliminary

Course Details

A student will be provided with the following-

• Total Number of MCQ: 10,000+
• Total Number of Notes: 300+
• Total Number of Live Classes: 102
• Total Number of Pre-Recorded Videos: 40+
• Additional: Daily Newspaper Analysis Videos, and Counselling as well as Doubt Resolution Support.

Training Methodology

Online 24/7 access
Access to basic study material through online learning management system, Android and iOS app

Hard Copy Study Material
Hard copy study material modules to be couriered to your address at extra printing cost

Practical Exercises
Daily quizzes as per Weekly targets and bi-monthly time bound mocks based on the syllabus covered.

Live Online Classes
There will be live online classes based on concepts and practice sessions. You can ask questions, share your screen, get personal feedback in this class.

Convenient Class timings
Classes are held at conducive timings after regular work hours keeping in mind the requirements of college students as well as working professionals. Weekend classes are given preference.

Live Doubt Clearing
You can ask questions, get your doubt cleared live, through counselling support as well as through online forums

Certification

This course is recognized by the National Skill Development Corporation, a PPP under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of the Government of India. You will receive a certificate cobranded by NSDC and Skill India on successful completion.
This is how the certificate from NSDC and Skill India will look as per the current applicable format (may change as per the approval authorities):

Success stories

Pragati Bhatnagar, graduated in 2019 from Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Delhi, Master in Business Laws from NLSIU Bangalore. She joined Lawsikho in 2021. She cleared IBPS (SO) in 2022. Currently, she is serving as a legal officer at Canara Bank.

Vinayak Padmakshan, a 2018 BBA LLB graduate from Christ Law School, Bangalore. He reached the interview stage of SEBI Grade A Examination in 2021. Currently, he is working as a Stress Assessment Management Trainee at Yes Bank.

Meenakshi Gandhi,  graduated in 2019 from the Department of Law- University of Jammu. She joined Lawsikho in 2022. She cleared IBPS (SO) in 2022. Currently she  is serving as a legal officer in Canara Bank.

Faculties

Course Anchor & Success Advisor:

Name : Srishti Singh 

Designation: Associate 
Education: BALL.B (H) , Amity University Jaipur 
Description: Qualified 3 times IBPS SO Prelims and Mains exam , Qualified 2 times NIACL AO ( Legal) Prelims exam.

Core Faculty:

Name: Ms. Pranjul Barche

Education: A qualified Chartered Accountant and L.L.M.
Description: She is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and holds an LL.M. in Corporate Law. She is also pursuing her Ph.D. in Cyber Forensics and Banking Law from National Law University, Nagpur.

Name: Mr. Rahul Jain 
Description: Teaches Corporate Law in the Course. Has vast experience in teaching statutes of Corporate & Business law, including the Companies Act, 2013. He is an expert in complying with company law, foreign exchange regulations, FEMA, banking rules & regulations, information technology laws, data privacy Laws, secretarial standards and governance, and statutory compliances. Along with it, having practical experience of 7 years of litigation before the Hon’ble Punjab & Haryana High Court, Chandigarh.

Client Opportunities & Recruitment Support where required

Many employers  and companies are happy to recruit our high performing students. If you do well in your exercises and classes, we can help you to get jobs, internships and assessment internships in good  firms, companies and fast-growing startups. 
Our team helps our students in building their profile on LinkedIn and freelancing platforms to increase their reach to the potential recruiters or clients, and earn on the side by performing remote work.
We also share multiple internship/recruitment opportunities every week in our course groups. 
Our experts guide the students on how to crack interviews, including assisting with mock interviews.
Our mentorship team helps students to design their own path based on their personal interests.

What are my backups if I am unable to clear this exam?

No matter how seriously you prepare, success in a competitive exam is never a certainty. 
The most relevant backups are attempting the SBI PO exam and IBPS-RRB Officer as the syllabus for these exams is very similar, just by preparing for the IBPS-SO Exam.   
In addition, you can also attempt the SEBI Grade A and RBI Grade B Exam - while the syllabus is not entirely similar, there are many common subjects. With some additional preparation, you can prepare for these exams effectively.  
If you do not qualify any of these exams despite preparing seriously, you can opt for private sector jobs. You will have a huge advantage over other applicants due to hundreds of hours of preparation in financial sector subjects which others will not have.    

Speak to our counsellors for any available packages regarding preparation for backups.

How can I be financially independent while I prepare for this exam?

Our team assists you to learn skills which will help you in performing remote freelance work for startups, firms and companies in developed countries like the US, UK and Canada and earn on the side. Please reach out to our counsellors to learn more about how you can access these services.

Note: Hard Copy

We provide for Hard Copies, but the cost is not originally included in the current sum charged. Upon undertaking the Course you may order for hardcopies by incurring an approximate cost of Rs. 5000 (Shipping Charges extra).  The content that is covered in hard copies has further been demonstrated in the Course guidelines.

Scheme of the Exam

Syllabus for Preliminary Stage

Syllabus for Mains