IBPS Clerk Eligibility - Qualification, Citizenship, Age Limit & Reservation

The IBPS Clerk Eligibility criteria are decided by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). In this article, we discuss the IBPS Clerk eligibility conditions in detail. 

Aspirants can visit the IBPS Clerk exam page and know the eligibility details for the clerical cadre exam.

The IBPS Clerk exam has certain eligibility conditions that are published in the exam notification every year. Candidates should make sure to satisfy themselves that they meet all eligibility criteria before applying for this bank exam.

For more details on various bank exams, kindly check the linked article.

The IBPS Clerk eligibility conditions are given below:

• Age
• Nationality
• Educational Qualification

For details on upcoming bank exams, refer to the linked article.

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IBPS Clerk Age Limit

The IBPS Clerk age limit for general category is

• Minimum 20 years
• Maximum 28 years

A candidate must have been born not earlier than 02.07.1994 and not later than 01.07.2002 (both dates inclusive)

Aspirants of IBPS Clerk exam can solve IBPS Clerk Previous Year Question Paper for a better understanding of the latest exam pattern and IBPS Clerk Syllabus.

There is a certain IBPS Clerk age limit relaxation allowed for some categories:

IBPS Clerk Age Limit Relaxation- Salient Points

• IBPS clerk age limit for OBC category from the non-creamy layer is given a 3-year exemption in IBPS Clerk age limit relaxation.
• Women who have been widowed, divorced or legally separated from their husbands get a maximum of 9 years exemption in the upper age limit. The condition for this exemption is that they should not have remarried before applying for the exam.
• As per the IBPS Clerk Age limit relaxation, Persons With Disabilities belonging to a certain category can be allowed for availing the IBPS Clerk age limit relaxation.

The categories are as follows:

• Partial or Full Blindness
• Partial or Total Loss of Hearing
• Locomotor Disabilities
• Intellectual or Learning Disabilities, Autism and Mental Illness
• Multiple Disabilities Displaying Comorbidity With Other Conditions

For information regarding the IBPS Clerk result, candidates can refer to the linked article.

Ex-Servicemen

• Candidates who have served in the armed forces are eligible to claim an exemption of the actual length of service plus 3 years in upper age limit.
• This is further increased to the length of service plus 8 years in case of an ex-serviceman belonging to SC/ST category, who has become disabled.
• Those who have already availed this exemption to secure a job higher than Group C and D in the government are not eligible for age relaxation in IBPS Clerk. The maximum limit for ex-servicemen is 50 years of age.
• SC/ST and OBC candidates can apply for a maximum of two cumulative exemptions.
• For example, if an ST candidate who is also an ex-serviceman with 7 years of service, applies under the ex-serviceman category, a maximum of 15 years will be relaxed for the upper age limit.
• Notwithstanding this, if the ex-serviceman is also disabled, then he would be eligible to apply under the disabled ex-servicemen exemption along with SC/ST exemption. He would not be able to use the Persons With Disability exemption in this case.
• Candidates need to produce certificates proving their category of exemption while joining their respective bank.

IBPS Clerk Eligibility – Nationality Conditions

Citizenship

The candidates applying for the exam should fulfil the following criteria:

• Citizenship of India
• Subjects of Nepal or Bhutan
• Tibetan Refugee who arrived before 1 January 1962
• A person of Indian origin migrated from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Burma(Myanmar), Vietnam or East African countries of the United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, Zaire or Ethiopia to permanently settle in India.

As per the IBPS Clerk eligibility, all candidates who are not Indian citizens have to produce a certificate of eligibility approved from the Government of India while joining service at their respective banks.

To understand the exam pattern and the level of exam even better, candidates can visit the IBPS Clerk exam analysis page.

IBPS Clerk Educational Qualification

As per the IBPS Clerk eligibility, candidates who wish to appear for the bank Clerk exam should have at least a bachelor’s degree from a recognized university.

IBPS Clerk Educational Qualification- Salient points

• Computer literacy is a mandatory requirement.
• The candidate should also be able to read and write in the official language of the state they have indicated as their preferred service destination.
• Ex-servicemen who are not graduates should at least have a matriculation certificate along with 15 years of service. They should have been awarded the Army Special Certificate of Education or its equivalent in the Air Force or Navy.

The Institute does not specify any IBPS Clerk eligibility percentage. The individual banks use the IBPS calculation of aggregate percentage for their purposes.

As the IBPS Clerk exam is entirely online-based, candidates should practice Online Quizzes to experience the scope of the actual exam.

IBPS Clerk Eligibility – Reservation For PwD 

The post of IBPS Clerk is identified as suitable for persons with benchmark disabilities. Hence, PwS candidates are entitled to certain reservations under section 34 of ‘The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016”. 

Reservation under IBPS Clerk eligibility covers candidates from the following categories:

Orthopedic Challenged Category (OC) 

Any person who is unable to execute distinctive activities resulting from affliction of the nervous system or musculoskeletal or both comes under the OC category. 

Orthopedic Challenged categories include the candidate suffering from the following:

• Cerebral Palsy
• Dwarfism
• Acid Attack Victims
• Leprosy Cured Person

OC category candidates are covered under reservation for locomotor disability with the following benchmark: 

• OL -One leg affected (Right or Left) 
• OA – One arm affected (Right or Left)
• BL – Both legs affected but not arms 
• OAL – One arm and One leg affected 

The person with OA and OAL categories should have normal hand functions. 

Visually Impaired Person Category [IV]

Visually Impaired category [IV] person who suffers from the below-mentioned problems meet the IBPS Clerk eligibility.

Blindness

• Visual acuity less than 3/60 or less than 10/200 (Snellen) in the better eye with best possible correction; OR 
• A total absence of sight; OR
• Limitation of the field of vision subtending an angle of less than 10 degrees.

Low Vision

• Limitation of the field of vision subtending an angle of less than 40 degrees up to 10 degrees.

Hearing Impaired Person

• Any person having 70 decibels hearing loss in speech frequencies in both ears. 
• Any person having 60- 70 decibels hearing loss in speech frequencies in both ears.

Intellectual Disability [ID] category

People suffering from the below-mentioned problems come under this category and are eligible to apply for the IBPS clerk exam. 

• Mental Illness
• Specific Learning Disability
• Autism Spectrum Disorder

Candidates who wish to avail the benefit of reservation under the PwD category will have to submit a disability certificate as per guidelines of Government of India issued by a competent authority. Such certificates are subject to verification / re-verification as may be decided by the authority. 

PwD candidates seeking reservation will be allotted the reserved vacancies as prescribed in the RPWD Act, 2016 as per the vacancies reported by participating organizations to the IBPS.

Candidates who fulfil all the above IBPS Clerk eligibility criteria should start preparing for the examination well in advance. For extensive preparation, it is advised to take IBPS Mock Tests regularly.

As the IBPS application process is entirely online, it is useful to keep scanned copies of all relevant supporting documents handy. This would allow the candidate to finish the application process faster and secure the state/UT of their choice. This is important as the IBPS Clerk eligibility criteria clearly state fluency in the official language as one of the terms of service.