IBPS PO exam tips & exam preparation

IBPS PO exam syllabus

Uou can see that Quantitative Aptitude,Reasoning,English,General Awareness and Computer Knowledge are main topics or subjects you need to prepare.But nowhere the syllabus is mentioned.Actually there is no syllabus as such for IBPS PO exam.We can define a syllabus only based on previous year question paper pattern.I am outlining paper pattern and syllabus you need to cover.I have also prepared question papers along with answers with these points in mind.So you can download above papers using download link and get an idea of IBPS PO exam question paper pattern.

Quantitative Aptitude syllabus and question types

§  Time and Distance,Time and Work – 4 questions

§  Ratio and Mixtures – 5 questions

§  Percentage,Profit Loss – 6 questions

§  Partnership,Clock,Pipes and Cisterns – 5 questions

§  Permutation and Combination – 5 questions

§  10 question based on data given example problem is given in above papers

§  10 questions on series,fractions and arithmetic operations

Reasoning syllabus and question types

§  10 questions on Diagrams and pictures

§  15 questions on puzzle type problems download above documents from details

§  5 questions on Arguments

§  5 questions on arguments and conclusions

§  10 questions on Alphabets,patterns,arrangement

English syllabus and question types

§  20 questions from Comprehension.It includes Antonym and Synonym

§  5 spot error in sentence problems

§  5 sentence rearrangement

§  10 preposition and fill in the blanks

General Awareness and Computer Knowledge

Computer knowledge covers basic questions about computers.The topics like Internet,Microsoft Office packages and other day to day computer knowledge (bit of hardware knowledge). The questions are basic ones only.General Awareness focuses on Banking industry and also covers key news as well.You should read current affairs (more focus on banking).If IBPS PO exam is in May then read important news of before April.The paper is set approx two months before the exam.Questions focus mainly on Banking reforms & recent Banking related announcements.Government Yojanas impacting Banks are also hot topic.

Time Management and Time Distribution

As you might have noticed above the number of questions are more than time allowed in min.You get less than 1 min to answer a question.So proper distribution of time is important for each section.Each question has equal weight-age in terms of marks.But some sections like Computer Knowledge and General Awareness can be solved in less time (assuming that you know the answer) compared to other section.

So time management and proper time distribution is very important for IBPS PO written exam.The second important thing is order of attempting the sections.Some sections like Reasoning and Quantitative do exhaust your brain.Other sections like Computer knowledge and General Awareness are not that exhausting.It is better to attempt non exhaustive sections first.This keeps you brain fresh while attempting these sections.

Sectional Cut off

Third important point is sectional cut off.For example if I get 45 in one section and 10 in other I am not qualified.I may have more marks than other qualified candidates.Often candidates do forget this during IBPS PO written exam.I have seen few candidates who scored nearly 80% in one section but failed in other section.So clearing sectional cut off in all sections should be first and foremost thing you should do in IBPS PO written exam.

Normally 48% is considered as sectional cut off marks in any section.So your first aim should be to clear the sectional cut off.IBPS has also introduced concept of TWSS (Total Weight age standard score).They create a minimal TWSS score based on performance of candidates that year.You should score above TWSS to get an interview call.So your first aim is to clear sectional cut off and second is to score as much marks as possible.

Question Selection

Fourth important point is each question has same marks.It is not important to give preference to one question than other one.You should avoid time consuming questions in first attempt.If you have solved similar questions before than attempt them.Easy questions should be attempted first and then complex ones.Sometimes one question eats uo too much time and you have to leave few easy ones.This is really important.

Negative marking mistakes

IBPS PO written exam has negative marking.Negative marking means one fourth of marks in deducted for every wrong answer.For example out of 10 questions if you have 5 correct answers but two wrong answers then your total marks is (5 – 2* .25) = 4.5.This is really important.In above example if you have left two wrong questions then you would have crossed cut off marks (48%).

So it is very important not to guess answers.Sometimes candidates mark answers of 10 to 20 questions as A or B or C or D.This does backfire.If you have answered decent number of questions to clear sectional cut off then there is no need of all these.Instead of guessing and marking answers try one or two questions which you can solve and are in section you answered less.

IBPS PO exam planning

Above we saw points to consider in IBPS PO written exam.Proper planning and practice is important to incorporate these tips during exam.You should divide time between the sections and stick to those timings.I have made a general time distribution for all sections below.You can modify the same to fit your requirement.Total time given for all sections is 150 min.We will divide this time between sections not equally but based on certain rules.I will mention those rules in detail after below table.

Section	Questions	Cutoff	Time
Reasoning	50	24	40
English	40	20	22
Quantitative	50	24	40
General Awareness	40	20	12
Computer Knowledge	20	10	6
Total	200	98	120

You can see in above table 8 minutes are still left.You should attempt sections in which you have answered less than sectional cut off in these 8 min.In case you have attempted all sections well then attempt those sections or questions which you can answer in these 8 min.I have dedicated more time to Reasoning then to Quantitative.The reason is these sections are time consuming.The other sections like Computer knowledge and General Awareness do not involve solving a problem.They will not take much time if you know the answers.

You can modify time according to your strength.You can practice sample papers (downloadable from download links) and find out time taken in each section.Based on your experience after solving few question paper you can add or subtract time dedicated to individual sections in above table.After fixing time it is very important to test it out.You should solve few test series or papers.You can easily see whether time dedicated to each section is fine or needs some modification.

Speed is king in IBPS PO written test.It is important to practice as many questions as possible.This increases chances of getting similar questions in real exam.So you can solve them in less time.This will improve your speed and chances to answer more questions.

IBPS PO exam preparation

 

Computer Knowledge section

IBPS PO written exams are becoming tough with time.Introduction of Computer Knowledge section makes it difficult for non computer background candidates.So candidates from non computer background need to study this section.This section is pretty scoring as well as less time consuming.So one should really focus hard on this section.The good part is questions are not very technical in nature nor is difficult.

General Awareness section

Also General Awareness section focuses on Banking industry knowledge.This indeed is important as you are going to be part of Banking industry.But it also demands dedication of your time to read Business section of a newspaper instead of Sports or Movie section.There are magazines dedicated to Banking industry.You can pick any one of them and start reading the headlines.This is also one very scoring section and less time consuming.If you are well prepared for above two sections then you can save lot of time for other sections.Getting good scores this sections will help you score good results overall.So you should focus more on these two sections.

English section

English is tough section for candidates not from that background.With introduction of descriptive section as well things are getting more complicated for candidates.In English section good amount of questions are grammar based.You should prepare grammar thoroughly.The basics like Noun,Pronoun,Preposition,Conjunction and tense should be primary focus.Some questions like spot the error can be very scoring and less time consuming.The comprehension section is also easy compared to other part of English.It also carries good weight-age as well.

You can pick any good English grammar book for preparation.Even class ten or twelve English grammar books will do the trick.Every candidate should stress or dedicate more time to these three sections.Normally candidates give more time to reasoning and quantitative often overlooking these sections.But scoring good marks in these sections and saving time is key to success.

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