IBPS Cutoffs for PO Exam ; Calculation Steps Revealed

How to calculate my total weighted score was a common question among those who appeared for the common written exam conducted by IBPS for PO vacancies.So what are the methods employed in awarding marks.Though the institute had specified earlier, it was not detail in nature which led to confusions among candidates once the scorecards were received.


Today, IBPS has come out with a detailed note explaining the process of how marks are calculated.In addition to this, they have also given the cut-off details.

PO Exam Cut-offs:

To clear things, IBPS seems to have released the cut-off marks that have been fixed for the 6 sections in the exam (5 objective tests +descriptive).According to the release,

• Maximum standard score: 50 marks
• Qualifying score (standardized): 24 (General) & 21 (SC/ST/OBC/PWD)

This means, only those who have secured above the given marks would have been sent the score sheets.Few banks have already placed this score as one of the eligibility condition.

Standardized scores:

These scores are the ones that you see in your scorecard issued by IBPS.It is derived through,

1. Corrected score – The number of correct answers minus the negative mark for wrong answers gives the original marks.
2. Equated score – It is a result of converting the corrected score by taking into account the level of test difficulty & applying a base form across all.
3. The final standardized score is got by using linear transformation on the equated score.

Total Weighted Score:

This is an important parameter since candidates can send applications to banks only if they have the required TWS specified in their recruitment notifications.

Here is how the total score is derived,

Standard scores of (Reasoning + General awareness + Computer knowledge + Aptitude +  ½ of English + ½ of Descriptive)

On substituting your standardized scores in the above formula gives your Total Weighted Standard Score, which is also printed on the scorecard itself.

Lowest Total Score:

Going by the qualifying scores for each section that are out, the lowest TWS that a candidate might have acquired could be,

• General category: 120
• All others: 105

Download: The official reference document with the above details is available at the IBPS website site here