'Common bank test is an eligibility exam'

The common written examination conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) is an 'eligibility' exam, Mr M. Balachandran, Director, IBPS, said.

The IBPS prescribes minimum requirements, taking into account the least of the qualifying criteria stipulated by the participating banks, so that all aspirants can participate in the exam, he said.

 

Individual banks' requirements

 

He emphasised that in the advertisement issued by IBPS, it was clearly indicated that the examinations were only for qualifying to participate in the recruitment process. After qualifying, the candidates have to comply with individual banks' requirements as and when they invite applications. He was responding to a query voiced by many candidates who had taken the exam but found themselves ineligible after some banks prescribed higher qualification criteria.even the basic right to apply.

Mr Balachandran said banks could fix their minimum qualifying criteria based upon their perception on the likely availability of candidates and their vacancies.

Banks can fix own cut-off marks

Clarifying with an example, Mr Balachandran said that just as many universities prescribe a higher cut-off for entrance to post-graduate courses even for their own graduate students, banks had the right to fix higher minimum qualifying criteria.

In the common exam, a general candidate had to score 25 marks in each subject and the pass mark was 125/250. Banks could fix a higher mark as cut-off at their discretion while others may go with minimum cut-off.

Mr Balachandran said that IBPS had fixed the minimum criteria for its common exam — because there were some banks that did not insist on any percentage in graduation. He said that they did not want to deprive anybody of a chance by fixing a higher qualifying criteria. He said the process was transparent and that most competitive exams even for admissions do follow a similar approach. 

Source:Bussiness Line