IBPS Law Officer Syllabus 2026 and Exam Pattern

Candidates who are planning to appear for IBPS Law Officer Exam must go through a prelims and mains exam. To excel in the exams, candidates must first understand the IBPS SO Law Officer Syllabus 2026 and the subject-wise topics they need to prepare for the exam. Knowing the syllabus helps candidates focus on relevant topics and avoid wasting their time on irrelevant ones. This year, IBPS SO Law Officer Syllabus & Pattern has been revised, so candidates must prepare according to the new syllabus only.

IBPS SO Law Officer Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2026

The IBPS SO Law Officer 2026 exam includes a prelims paper and a mains paper. The prelims exam will be qualifying in nature, while the mains exam will be conducted to evaluate the professional knowledge of candidates.

Particular	Details
Exam Name	IBPS SO Law Officer
Mode of Exam	Online
Number of Questions	Prelims- 100 Mains- 152
Total Marks	Prelims- 125 Mains- 225
Duration	Prelims- 80 minutes (20-minute sectional time limits) Mains- 155 Minutes
Negative Marking	-¼ Mark (Objective type)
Exam Dates	Prelims- 29th August 2026 Mains- 1st November 2026

Latest Update: The IBPS Law Officer exam pattern for both Prelims and Mains has been changed and the same is detailed in the article below.

IBPS Law Officer Prelims Syllabus 2026

Mode of Exam - Computer-Based Mode
Nature of Exam - This paper is objective in nature
No. Of Questions - 100
Total Marks - 125
Time Duration - 120 minutes (20-minute sectional time limits)
Negative Marking - There is a negative marking of 1/4 mark

Subjects	Number of Questions/Marks	Duration
English Language	25/25	20 Minutes
Reasoning	25/25	20 Minutes
General Awareness	25/25	20 Minutes
Professional Knowledge	25/50	20 Minutes
Total	100/125	80 Minutes

Subject-wise Prelims Syllabus

The preliminary exam is qualifying in nature and consists of three sections. Candidates must clear the sectional and overall cut-offs to proceed to the next stage.

Professional Knowledge	General Awareness	English Language	Reasoning Ability
Banking Regulations Recovery Laws Contract & Liability Commercial Laws Consumer & Ethics Evidence & Procedure	Current Affairs (National & International) Banking Awareness RBI Functions Monetary Policy Government Schemes Static GK (Headquarters, Important Days).	Reading Comprehension Fill in the blanks Cloze Test Parajumbles Tenses Rules of Grammar Vocabulary Sentence Completion Multiple Meaning/Error Spotting Paragraph Completion Word Association Error Spotting Sentence Improvement, etc	Data Sufficiency Alphanumeric Series Coded Inequalities Puzzles Directions Tabulation Logical Reasoning Alphabet Test Ranking and Order Syllogism Coding-Decoding Seating Arrangement Blood Relations Input-Output, etc

IBPS Law Officer Mains Syllabus 2026

As per the new pattern, the mains exam is divided into two parts (Objective & Descriptive).

There shall be 150 objective-type questions and 2 descriptive questions.
Negative marking (-¼th mark) is applicable for objective-type questions

Subjects	Number of Questions/Marks	Duration
English Language	30/30	25 Minutes
Reasoning	40/40	25 Minutes
General Awareness	30/30	20 Minutes
Professional Knowledge	50/100	45 Minutes
Total	150/200	125 Minutes
Descriptive Paper (English)	2/25	30 minutes

Note: In the Main examination, all tests except Professional Knowledge will be qualifying in nature

The IBPS SO Law Officer Mains Syllabus 2026 focuses exclusively on professional knowledge, specifically legal provisions relevant to the banking sector.

Key Legal Areas	Important Topics Covered
Banking Regulations	Legal Framework of Banking RBI Act Banking Regulation Act
Recovery Laws	SARFAESI Act Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRT) Act Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016
Contract & Liability	Indian Contract Act Law of Limitation Indemnity and Guarantee
Commercial Laws	Negotiable Instruments Act Sale of Goods Act, Companies Act (including governance, disclosure, and enforcement provisions)
Property & Foreign Exchange	Transfer of Property Act Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)
Consumer, Compliance & Ethics	Consumer Protection Act Banking Ombudsman Scheme AML/KYC Norms Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002
Evidence & Procedure	Bankers' Book Evidence Act Relevant parts of Civil Procedure Code (CPC) Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) Law of Evidence (admissions, burden of proof, electronic records)
General Legal Framework	Information Technology Act Constitution of India Administrative Law
Limitation Act	Limitation Act and its Significance in Banking Law
Prevention of Money-laundering	Anti-Money Laundering Laws and Regulations Know Your Customer (KYC) Norms

Preparation Tips to Cover IBPS SO Law Officer Syllabus

Study from the bare Acts, not just guidebooks — Mains questions are often precise, testing exact sections, timelines, and applicability conditions.
Prioritize SARFAESI, the NI Act, and IBC first, since these are consistently the most heavily tested areas.
For Prelims, practice section-wise mock tests, not just full-length ones, since each section carries its own 40-minute sectional timer.
Track RBI/SEBI circulars and recent banking/legal developments — these often feed into both the General Awareness section and Professional Knowledge paper.
Build a short "provisions + workflow" reference sheet per Act, so preparation covers practical application rather than just definitions — this also helps at the interview stage.

Related Link
IBPS SO Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2026	IBPS SO Previous Year Question Papers
IBPS SO Previous Year Cut-Off

FAQs

Yes, as per latest notification, the exam pattern (number of questions, marks, and duration) has been changed.

Yes, the Prelims exam is only qualifying. Marks obtained in this stage are not counted in the final merit list.

The syllabus includes questions from English Language, Reasoning Ability, and Banking Awareness and Professional Knowledge

SARFAESI Act, Negotiable Instruments Act, and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) are flagged most consistently as high-weightage areas, alongside the RBI Act and Banking Regulation Act.