IBPS SO Eligibility 2023 - Qualification, Age & Relaxation

 Institute of Banking Personnel Selection has a set of eligibility conditions that must be fulfilled by the candidates to enter into the banking domain. The IBPS SO Eligibility criteria is published annually by the IBPS. 

Aspirants must make sure that they meet all the eligibility criteria before appearing for the upcoming IBPS SO Exam. 

In this article, we will discuss the IBPS SO eligibility conditions and qualification required to appear for the examination. 

For details on other Bank exams, refer to the linked article. Candidates can also download IBPS SO Eligibility PDF from the link provided below:

The IBPS SO eligibility conditions take into account three factors:

1. IBPS Age Limit
2. Nationality
3. Educational Qualification

For more eligibility details on Upcoming bank exams, refer to the linked article.

IBPS SO Age Limit

The IBPS SO age limit for general category is as follows:

As per the IBPS SO 2020 notification, a candidate should be born after 02.11.1990 and before 01.11.2000 to meet the eligibility criteria. 

There is also certain age relaxation for different categories which are mentioned in the table below:

IBPS SO Eligibility – Nationality Conditions

A candidate will be considered eligible for the IBPS SO Exam if he/she meets the following nationality conditions:

1. A candidate must be either

• a Citizen of India or  
• a subject of Nepal or  
• a subject of Bhutan or 
• a Tibetan Refugee who came over to India before 1st January 1962 intending to settle in India permanently

2. A person should be of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika and Zanzibar), Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India, provided that a candidate belongs to the above categories. 

All candidates who are not Indian citizens have to produce a certificate of eligibility from the Government of India during the IBPS SO Interview.

IBPS SO Eligibility – Educational Qualification

Before applying for the post of IBPS SO, a candidate should make sure that he/she meets the minimum educational qualification that is required as per IBPS SO Eligibility criteria. The required educational qualification varies according to the posts. 

Given below are the post-wise qualifications that are required for IBPS SO Examination:

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection specifies that candidates who wish to appear for the IBPS PO exam should at least have a bachelor’s degree from a recognised university. Candidates appearing for the upcoming IBPS SO exam can refer to the links provided below for their IBPS SO Preparation. 

IBPS SO Educational Qualification – Important Points

• The candidate should furnish proof that the educational qualification possessed by him/her is considered equivalent to a degree(graduation) by the Government of India.  Also, the qualifying degree should be from a University/ Institution/ Board recognised by the Government of India or approved by Government Regulatory Bodies.
• Candidates have to clearly specify the percentage obtained in Graduation while filling in the online application. Also, the candidates being awarded CGPA have to convert the same into a percentage. Percentage calculation must be done to the nearest two decimals. 
• The fraction of percentage arrived will be ignored, i.e. 54.99% will be treated as less than 55%, and 59.99% will be treated as less than 60%. The Institute does not specify any IBPS SO eligibility percentage. The individual banks use the IBPS calculation of aggregate percentage for their purposes.
•  The date of passing the eligibility examination will be the date mentioned in the mark-sheet or provisional certificate issued by University / Institute. In case the result of a particular examination is posted online by the University / Institute, a proper document/certificate in original should be issued and signed by the appropriate authority of the University / Institute indicating the date of passing.

IBPS PO Eligibility – EWS Category

Applicants not covered under the SC, ST, OBC categories and have a gross annual income less than 8 lakh rupees are identified as EWS candidates i.e. candidates belonging to the Economically Weaker Section. Such candidates are entitled to the benefit of 10% reservation for the vacancies released by IBPS.

Important Points related to IBPS SO Eligibility for EWS Category 

The income from all sources such as salary,  business, agriculture, profession, etc. will be included in revenue. This income will be the income from the financial year preceding the year of application. 

However, any person or his family having possession of any of the following assets will not be included in the EWS category, irrespective of his annual family income.

• 5 acres of Agricultural Land and above.
• Residential flat of 1000 sq. ft. and above.
• Residential plots of 100 sq. yards and above in notified municipalities.
• Residential plots of 200 sq. yards and above in areas other than the notified municipalities.

While applying for the property holding test to determine EWS status, the property owned in different locations by a particular “Family” is clubbed. The term “Family” will include the person seeking the benefit of reservation, his parents, siblings below 18 years of age, spouse and children below 18 years of age.

Candidates seeking to avail the benefit of EWS reservation for IBPS SO Selection Process will have to produce an Income and Asset Certificate at the time of document verification and interview round issued by a Competent Authority in the prescribed format. 

IBPS SO Eligibility – PwD Category

As per the Government of India norms, persons with benchmark disabilities are eligible for reservation under section 34 of “The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016”.

The categories of disabilities eligible to avail reservation under the Act is as follows:

• Deaf and hard of hearing
• Blindness and low vision
• intellectual disability, autism, mental illness, and specific learning disability
• locomotor disability including leprosy cured, cerebral palsy, dwarfism, muscular dystrophy, and acid attack victims

People with benchmark disabilities will be allocated the reserved vacancies as prescribed in the “The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016” and as per vacancies reported to IBPS by Participating banks.

Directives for PwD using services of Scribe

Candidates whose writing speed is affected permanently or with minimum benchmark disability for any reason are allowed to use their own scribe during IBPS PO Exam 2021, but have to abide by certain rules mentioned below:

1. Candidates who wish to use the scribe services or are eligible for the same in the examination will have to apply for the services of scribe while filling the IBPS PO Application Form.
2. Scribe will have to be arranged by the candidates themselves and at their own cost.
3. Both candidate and scribe will have to submit an undertaking that all the stipulated eligibility conditions mentioned for the scribe are fulfilled. Also, if, at any stage of the exam, it is found that the scribe did not fulfil any of the eligibility criteria prescribed or suppresses material facts then the applicant’s candidature will be cancelled, irrespective of the result of the CRP.
4. The scribe arranged by the candidate may be from any educational background but should not be any candidate for the online examination under (CRP-PO/MT-IX)
5. The scribe used by the candidate is eligible for compensatory time of 20 mins or otherwise recommended for the full hour of the examination. Since compensatory time given to candidates shall be a system based process, therefore, only candidates who register for the same will be allowed such concessions.

Directives for candidates with Cerebral Palsy and Locomotor Disability 

Candidates with a minimum of 40% Cerebral Palsy and Locomotor Disability where dominant extremity i.e. writing is affected to the scope where it may slow down the performance will be permitted a compensatory time of 20 min/hr or otherwise advised.

Directives for candidates having Intellectual Disability

Candidates will be provided a compensatory time of 20 min/hr of the exam only if they are more than 40% Intellectually Disabled, mentally ill, Autistic or have Specific Learning Disability, irrespective of availing the Scribe services. 

Directives for Visually Impaired candidates

The Visually Impaired candidates suffering from 40% or more disability may opt to view the contents of the question paper in magnified font and will be eligible for compensatory time of 20 min/hr otherwise advised. Only the visually impaired candidates who are not using the services of scribe will be permitted to avail the facility of viewing the contents of the test in the magnifying font.

Candidates who fulfil all the above IBPS SO Eligibility criteria should start preparing for the examination well in advance. 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 examination centre of their own choice.

IBPS SO Eligibility 2021:-Download PDF Here

For more information regarding the IBPS SO eligibility and other banking sector exams, visit BYJU’S.