IBPS / SBI Clerk Typing Test — LPT Guide
Bank Clerk recruitments do not have a typing test in the prelims or mains. Typing is verified only after the final result, through the Language Proficiency Test (LPT) — a qualitative reading + writing + typing check in the regional language of the bank state. This page covers what the LPT actually tests, regional-language coverage across IBPS / SBI / IBPS RRB, what speed is realistic, and a focused two-week plan.
- Speed cutoff
- None published
- Duration
- 5-10 min
- Source
- Bank LPT notification
- Stage
- Post-final result
- Scoring
- Pass / fail
Who takes the Bank Clerk LPT
Banking clerical roles use the LPT instead of a speed-based typing test. Patterns vary by bank.
Public-sector bank clerks
IBPS Clerk's LPT is conducted after provisional allotment to a state cadre. It tests reading and writing in the cadre's official language. Failure to clear the LPT cancels the allotment, regardless of mains rank.
State Bank of India Junior Associate
SBI Clerk follows a similar LPT structure tied to the state-cadre choice made at application. Typing speed is not a formal cutoff but functional comfort with the local-language keyboard helps.
Reserve Bank of India clerical cadre
RBI Assistant has a language-proficiency check rather than a typing test, focused on the official language of the posting region. It is qualifying only.
Various clerical cadres
Some private banks include a typing speed check (around 30–40 WPM English) as part of their assessment. Patterns vary widely; check the specific bank's recruitment page.
The most useful preparation for banking-clerical "typing" is bilingual fluency, not raw speed. Strong English plus the cadre's regional language, with comfortable typing in both, covers everything IBPS and SBI care about. Speed beyond 30 WPM in either language doesn't help your selection — and doesn't hurt it either, beyond a baseline functional level.
Official typing test pattern
The recruitment notification specifies the typing test rules in detail. The pattern has been stable in recent cycles, with the cutoff and duration set per notification.
Duration: 10 minutes, single sitting. The clock runs once the candidate clicks Start — it does not pause for water breaks, keyboard issues, or system restarts (those are handled separately by the invigilator).
Medium: the language chosen at the application stage. The medium is fixed at the application stage and cannot be switched on the test day. Some recruitments allow English-only or regional-language-only; others run separate sittings for both.
Passage length: calibrated so a candidate at cutoff speed finishes the passage roughly when the timer ends.
Speed cutoff: 35 Net WPM English, 30 Net WPM Hindi. Below the cutoff is a fail. There is no partial credit, no interview substitute, and no re-test within the same cycle.
Qualifying only: the test does not contribute to the merit list. Tier 1 + Tier 2 marks decide the rank. But a candidate who misses the typing cutoff is removed from the selection pool for that recruitment cycle, regardless of how high the Tier 2 score was.
How the typing test is scored
Net WPM, not Gross. Most practice sites report only Gross, which is why candidates arrive at the exam surprised by their Net score. Here is the exact formula SSC uses, with a worked example.
Gross WPM
Gross WPM counts the raw speed — every character typed, divided by a standard word length of five, divided by minutes elapsed.
Net WPM
Net WPM subtracts errors. SSC treats every wrong character and every missing character as one full mistake. The total-errors count is then divided by minutes to give an errors-per-minute penalty, and that penalty is subtracted from Gross WPM.
Worked example
Gross WPM = 1,875 / 5 / 10 = 37.5 WPM
Net WPM = 37.5 − (20 / 10) = 35.5 WPM
This clears the 35 WPM cutoff by a thin margin of 0.5 WPM — roughly one additional error away from a fail. That is why an aim-for-40 target is not overkill: it builds a safety buffer the exam's scoring rule demands.
Backspace policy at the centre
Before 2022, the rule varied by exam centre software. Some test panels disabled backspace entirely; others allowed it silently. Candidates swapped conflicting advice on coaching forums, and a small number of disqualifications traced back to that ambiguity. The agency issued a formal clarification in 2022: backspace is permitted during the CHSL typing test, and the software used at TCS-iON centres reflects this.
Knowing the rule is not the same as using it well. Every backspace costs two keystrokes worth of time — one to delete, one to retype — and sometimes more if the correction itself slips. Candidates who clear the cutoff by a comfortable margin typically follow three rules:
- Correct a mistake only when the mistake is obvious the moment it happens — a letter swap, a doubled vowel. Do not scroll back five words to fix something noticed later.
- Never correct a mistake in the middle of a word. Finish the word, then backspace to the error. Breaking rhythm costs more than the mistake itself.
- Leave the last minute untouched. In the final sixty seconds, type through everything — errors included. Partial characters at the end count as mistakes, but unfinished passages leave missing characters that also count as mistakes. Speed wins.
The candidates who fail despite knowing the rule almost always fail from over-correction. They see a typo at the thirty-second mark, backspace ten characters to fix it, lose five seconds, and never make that time back. Practice in both modes — backspace-allowed and strict — so the decision is automatic on exam day.
Six mistakes that cost aspirants the test
These are the patterns that show up in feedback from candidates who failed a cycle and cleared the next one. Each fix is small; the aggregate effect is five to seven WPM.
Over-correcting mid-passage
Backspace is allowed, so every small error looks fixable. Each fix costs two to five seconds, and by minute eight the correction budget has eaten the speed budget.
Correct only word-level typos noticed inside the current word. Let everything else ride.Practising on a different keyboard than the one used in the exam
Most aspirants practise on a laptop keyboard. SSC centres use full-size external keyboards with 1.5-mm key travel and deeper actuation. The feel is different, and a candidate who has only practised on chiclet keys loses five to ten WPM on exam day.
Buy a basic wired external keyboard two weeks before the exam. Practise on it for the last 300 minutes of preparation.Looking at the keyboard during timed drills
Glancing down costs 200–400 milliseconds per lookup. Compounded over a 10-minute test, that is three to five WPM lost to a fixable habit.
Cover the keyboard with a cloth during the last two practice weeks. Uncomfortable for the first session; automatic by the third.Treating the test as a sprint
Candidates who start too fast hit a 45-second wall — the forearms tighten, accuracy collapses, and Net WPM drops below the cutoff by minute five.
Start at a sustainable 32–33 WPM for the first two minutes. Ramp to 37 WPM in the middle. Hold.Ignoring mock tests under time pressure
Practising in 30-second bursts trains speed; only full 10-minute sessions train the stamina that the actual test rewards. A candidate who has never sat through a full-length mock often seizes at the eight-minute mark.
At least three full 10-minute mock tests in the final week. Same time of day as the scheduled exam.Neglecting the language chosen in the form
An aspirant who selected Hindi in the application and practised English for three months arrives at the centre to face Kruti Dev on a Remington layout. Re-application is not possible; the only option is to fail.
Check the chosen medium in the admit card the moment it releases. If the medium is Hindi, switch practice to Kruti Dev or Mangal immediately.A four-week practice plan that actually works
This sequence assumes thirty focused minutes a day, six days a week. Candidates already above 30 WPM can compress it to two weeks. Candidates below 20 WPM should extend week 1 to three weeks before moving on.
Accuracy base
- Home-row drills, no look-down, five minutes
- Full 5-minute passages at comfortable speed
- Track accuracy, not speed
- Skip anything that pushes accuracy below 95%
Speed ramp
- 10-minute daily session, capital and punctuation included
- Administrative and economics passages only
- Add one 30-minute session on Sunday
- Ignore errors during the drill; review after
Endurance
- Full-length mocks every other day
- Backspace-allowed on alternate days, strict on the others
- Focus on the 7–10 minute window where most candidates slip
- External keyboard from this week onwards
Mocks + weak spots
- Full 10-minute mock every day, same time slot as the scheduled exam
- Review every mock — track which word types cause errors
- Five-minute cooldown after each mock: slow, accurate typing
- Skip the final two days entirely — rest beats the last drill
Take the test in exam conditions — right now
Ten-minute timer, SSC-style passage, Net WPM scoring, backspace rule picker. No sign-up, no ads inside the widget, and a result card that shows exactly where the Net WPM penalty came from.
Start Free LPT Practice →Frequently asked questions
Short, straight answers. Every number is pulled from the current SSC notification and the 2022 clarification, not from memory.
Not as part of the IBPS prelims or mains exam. Typing is only verified after final selection through the bank-level Language Proficiency Test (LPT). The LPT checks reading, writing and basic typing in the regional language of the bank's state. There is no specific WPM cutoff — it is a qualitative pass-fail check.
Yes, but only after the final result. SBI conducts a Language Proficiency Test (LPT) post-allotment to confirm the candidate can read, write and type in the regional language they opted for. Failing the LPT cancels the offer. There is no published WPM cutoff.
Three components: reading aloud a regional-language paragraph, writing a short paragraph in the regional language, and typing the paragraph on a computer. The typing portion uses the standard regional-language keyboard layout (Mangal/InScript for Hindi, Bamini/InScript for Tamil, Anu/Unicode for Telugu, etc.).
There is no published WPM cutoff. In practice, candidates who can type the regional language at 20-25 WPM with reasonable accuracy clear the LPT comfortably. The test is qualitative — examiners look for fluent reading and intelligible typing, not centre-grade speed.
The official language of the state for which you applied. SBI Clerk Karnataka — Kannada. IBPS Clerk Tamil Nadu — Tamil. IBPS Clerk Maharashtra — Marathi. IBPS Clerk West Bengal — Bengali. The state-language preference declared in the application form is binding.
No. The LPT is specifically a regional-language proficiency check. English fluency does not substitute. Candidates who declared a state's official language without genuine proficiency are at risk — banks have rejected appointments at LPT stage in past cycles.
Practise the regional-language keyboard at 20-25 WPM with 95% accuracy on news prose. The TypeForExam regional-language pages cover Hindi (Mangal/Kruti Dev), Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Bengali typing. Two weeks of thirty minutes a day is usually sufficient if you already speak the language.
Most banks allot 5-10 minutes for the typing portion of the LPT. The passage is short — a paragraph of 80-150 words. Examiners watch the candidate type and assess fluency rather than measure exact WPM.