IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2025: The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) successfully conducted the IBPS Specialist Officer (SO) Prelims Exam 2025 on 30th August 2025 in two shifts across various exam centres. The prelims exam is only a qualifying stage, but understanding its analysis helps candidates evaluate their performance and future aspirants to plan their preparation better. As per the feedback received from candidates and expert review, the overall difficulty level of both shifts was moderate. Below is a detailed shift-wise analysis covering difficulty level, good attempts, and section-wise topic distribution.
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2025, Shift 1
The first shift of the IBPS SO Prelims was conducted in the morning. Candidates found the paper moderate in nature with a balanced mix of conceptual and application-based questions. All three sections: English Language, Reasoning Ability, and Quantitative Aptitude were reported to be manageable with some tricky parts in puzzles and arithmetic questions.
IBPS SO Exam Analysis 2025 Shift 1, Difficulty Level
The table below shows the section-wise difficulty level of the first shift:
| Sections | Difficulty Level |
| English Language | Moderate |
| Reasoning Ability | Moderate |
| Quantitative Aptitude | Moderate |
| Overall | Moderate |
IBPS SO Exam Analysis 2025 Shift 1, Good Attempts
Good attempts give a fair idea of how many questions attempted with accuracy can be considered safe. These are not cut-offs but expected attempt ranges.
| Sections | Good Attempts |
| English Language | 31 – 34 |
| Reasoning Ability | 28 – 30 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 25 – 28 |
| Overall | 84 – 95 |
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2025 Shift 1, English
The English section was moderate, with most questions coming from Reading Comprehension, Cloze Test, and grammar-based topics.
| Topics | No. of Questions |
| Reading Comprehension (Online Gaming) | 6 |
| Reading Comprehension (Lakes) | 8 |
| Error Detection | 5 |
| Cloze Test | 6 |
| Word Usage | 2 |
| Word Rearrangement | 4 |
| Word Replacement | 5 |
| Sentence Arrangement | 5 |
| Swap Word | 4 |
| Phrase Connectors | 5 |
| Total | 50 |
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2025 Shift 1, Reasoning Ability
Reasoning had a mix of puzzles, seating arrangements, and logical reasoning. Most candidates found puzzles time-consuming but solvable.
| Name of the Topics | No. of Questions |
| Floor Based Puzzle | 5 |
| Puzzle + Variable | 5 |
| Parallel Row Seating Arrangement | 5 |
| Square Seating Arrangement | 5 |
| Input Output | 4 |
| Direction Sense | 4 |
| Assumption | 3 |
| Alphanumeric | 3 |
| Coding-Decoding | 2 |
| Inequalities | 5 |
| Blood Relation | 5 |
| Data Sufficiency | 4 |
| Total | 50 |
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2025 Shift 1, Quantitative Aptitude
Quantitative Aptitude was moderate with a high number of Data Interpretation sets. Arithmetic questions tested candidates’ speed and accuracy.
| Name of the Topics | No. of Questions |
| Wrong Number Series | 6 |
| Approximation | 6 |
| Table DI | 6 |
| Line Graph DI | 6 |
| Pie Chart DI | 6 |
| Caselet DI | 6 |
| Data Sufficiency | 3 |
| Arithmetic | 11 |
| Total | 50 |
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2025, Shift 2
The second shift of the exam was also rated as moderate in difficulty. Candidates highlighted that while the paper was not very lengthy, some puzzles in reasoning and arithmetic-based questions in quantitative aptitude required careful solving.
IBPS SO Exam Analysis 2025 Shift 2, Difficulty Level
| Sections | Difficulty Level |
| Reasoning Ability | Moderate |
| English Language | Moderate |
| Quantitative Aptitude | Moderate |
| Overall | Moderate |
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2025 Shift 2, English
The English section included two Reading Comprehensions along with grammar and vocabulary-based questions. The difficulty level was moderate.
| Topics | No. of Questions |
| Reading Comprehension (Africa) | 8 |
| Reading Comprehension (Misc.) | 8 |
| Connectors | 5 |
| Para Jumble | 5 |
| Fillers | 5 |
| Swap the Word | 5 |
| Spotting Error | 5 |
| Sentence Improvement | 5 |
| Match the Column | 5 |
| Total | 50 |
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2025 Shift 2, Reasoning Ability
Reasoning questions were largely based on puzzles and seating arrangements. A good mix of inequality, syllogism, and critical reasoning was also included.
| Name of the Topics | No. of Questions |
| Circle Based Puzzle (Centre) | 5 |
| Linear Seating (8 Persons) | 5 |
| Double Row Seating (14 Persons) | 5 |
| Floor + Variable Puzzle | 5 |
| Directions | 3 |
| Syllogism | 5 |
| Inequalities | 3 – 4 |
| Input Output | 5 |
| Blood Relation | 3 |
| Critical Reasoning | 3 – 4 |
| Miscellaneous | 5 – 7 |
| Data Sufficiency | 2 |
| Total | 50 |
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis 2025 Shift 2, Quantitative Aptitude
The Quantitative Aptitude section was dominated by Arithmetic questions along with DI sets, making calculations a key factor.
| Name of the Topics | No. of Questions |
| Approximation | 5 |
| Quadratic Equation | 5 |
| Pie Chart DI (Degree-based) | 5 |
| Bar Graph DI | 5 |
| Table + Variable DI | 5 |
| Caselet DI | 5 |
| Arithmetic (SI-CI, Work, Age etc) | 20 |
| Total | 50 |
Conclusion
The IBPS SO Prelims Exam 2025 for both Shift 1 and Shift 2 was Moderate in difficulty. Candidates who balanced speed with accuracy and attempted around 85–95 questions stand a good chance of clearing the prelims. Since this stage is qualifying in nature, aspirants should now shift their focus towards the IBPS SO Mains Exam, which will test professional knowledge in the chosen specialization.
FAQs
The overall difficulty level of both Shift 1 and Shift 2 was Moderate.
Around 84–95 good attempts with accuracy can be considered safe.
All sections—English, Reasoning, and Quant—were moderate. However, Reasoning puzzles and Arithmetic in Quant were slightly tricky.
Key topics included Reading Comprehension, Cloze Test, Error Detection, Sentence Arrangement, and Connectors.
It was moderate, dominated by Data Interpretation (Pie, Bar, Table, Caselet) and Arithmetic problems.
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