IBPS SO Exam Analysis (Prelims): Check Difficulty Level, Good Attempts & Expected Cut-Off Range

You're one step closer to your special officer post (hopefully). We know you must be curious for the IBPS SO law officer exam analysis.  

The IBPS SO law officer prelims exam was conducted on August 29, 2026, in 2 shifts. The Mains exam is scheduled for November 01, 2026, under CRP SPL-XVI for 125 law officer vacancies.  

• Based on candidate feedback, the paper was moderate in terms of difficulty, with a good attempts range of 71-82 out of 100.  
• The overall expected prelims cut off range is 45-50  

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IBPS SO Law Officer Exam Analysis Prelims 2026

The IBPS SO law officer exam prelims 2026 was conducted in two shifts on August 29, 2026. According to the candidate feedback collected through the day, the paper for both shifts was rated moderate in terms of difficulty.  

IBPS SO Law Officer 2026 Prelims Shift Timings 

The duration for each shift was 80 minutes. The below table shows the exact shift timings.  

Schedule	Shift 1	Shift 2
Reporting Time	09:00 AM	01:00 PM
Exam Start Time	10:00 AM	02:00 PM
Exam End Time	11:20 AM	03:20 PM

IBPS SO Law Officer Prelims 2026: Shift-wise Difficulty & Good Attempts

Here are the shift-wise difficulty and good attempts details. Both shift papers were rated of moderate difficulty.  

Shift 1 (10 am to 11.20 am): Difficulty & Good Attempts  

Overall Difficulty: Moderate  

Section	Difficulty	Good Attempts
English Language	Easy to Moderate	20-23
Reasoning Ability	Easy to Moderate	19-22
General Awareness (Banking)	Easy to Moderate	~18-20
Professional Knowledge (Legal)	Easy to Moderate	15-17
Overall	Moderate	71-81

Shift 2 (2 pm to 3.20 am): Difficulty & Good Attempts   

Overall Difficultly: Moderate  

Section	Difficulty	Good Attempts
English Language	Easy to Moderate	20-23
Reasoning Ability	Easy to Moderate	20-22
General Awareness (Banking)	Easy to Moderate	18-20
Professional Knowledge (Legal)	Easy to Moderate	16-17
Overall	Moderate	74-82

Check Out: IBPS SO Law Officer Syllabus >> 

IBPS SO Law Officer 2026: Section-wise Weightage & Question Type

Here are the section-wise weightage details for each of the shifts.  

English Language  

The shift-wise details for English Language section are given in the respective tables below:  

Shift 1  

Topic	Questions (approx.)
Reading Comprehension (an AI-related passage was reported)	8
Error Detection / Spotting Errors	4
Phrase Replacement	4
Misspelt Words	4
Sentence/Para Rearrangement	4
Connectors	1

Shift 2 

Topic	No. of Questions
Reading Comprehension	5
Fillers	5
Phrase Replacement	5
Error Detection	2
Misspelt Words	5
Word Rearrangement	3
Total	25

Reasoning Ability  

Puzzles and seating arrangement-based questions were dominant in this exam as in previous cycle. Shift-wise details are given in tables below:  

Shift 1  

Topic	Questions (approx.)
Box Puzzle (8 boxes, fruit-based arrangement)	5
Seating Arrangement (7 persons, north-facing)	5
Circular Seating (mixed inside/outside arrangement)	5
Syllogism (3 statements, 3 conclusions)	3
Blood Relations (8-person, tricky set)	3
Alphanumeric Series	2
Pair Formation (number-based)	2

Shift 2  

Topic	Questions
Linear Arrangement	5
Floor Puzzle + Variable	5
Box-based Puzzle	5
Syllogism	3
Inequality	3
Direction Sense	3
Alphanumeric Test	1
Total	25

General Awareness  

The General Awareness section across both shifts was reported as easy to moderate. The high weightage sections include:  

• Banking & Financial Awareness: Banking terminology, RBI policies, and recent schemes  
• Current Affairs: from last 3-4 months, specially from banking laws, and finance related areas  
• Static GA related banking and broader economy  

These topics remained consistent from previous exam cycle  

Professional Knowledge  

This was the highest weightage section with each question carrying 2 marks. Most dominant topics include:  

• The RBI Act and Banking Regulations Act  
• Negotiable Instruments Act  
• The SARFAESI Act  
• Consumer Protection Act  
• IT Act / Cyber Law  
• Indian Contract Act, Constitutional Law, and Companies Act, etc  

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IBPS SO Law Officer Prelims Expected Cut Off 2026 

With both shifts reported as easy to moderate, the IBPS SO law officer cut off is expected to be 40-45 marks for general category. We will add the category-wise cut off here once IBPS declares it.  

IBPS generally announces sectional and overall cut off 3-5 weeks after the exam.  

Cut off range varies based on several factors every year. The table below shows previous years' cut off ranges for your reference.  

Subject	Total Marks	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
English	25	6.00	4.00	7.50	10.25	10.50	7.25
Reasoning	50	12.25	14.00	7.50	10.00	11.25	7.50
General Awareness	50	8.25	8.75	8.50	5.75	5.75	3.75
Overall Cut-off	125	47.88	52.63	47.50	42.38	51.00	35.63

IBPS SO Law Officer Exam Analysis Mains 2026

The IBPS SO law officer mains exam 2026 is scheduled for November 01, 2026. We will publish the complete exam analysis here on the exam day.  

Make sure you pay attention to the IBPS SO law officer exam pattern and prepare according to it for the mains.  

Here are the key takeaways:  

• The IBPS SO law officer 2026 exam (prelims) was conducted on August 29, 2026, in two shifts.  
• The paper for both shifts was reported as easy to moderate in terms of difficulty.  
• The good attempts range was 71-81 for shift 1 and 74-82 for shift 2  
• Based on previous trends, the overall cut-off is expected to be 40-45 marks for general category.  
• The mains exam is scheduled for November 01, 2026.