Dear Readers,

The IBPS CWE Clerk 2015 Prelims exam is around the corner, scheduled to be held on 5th, 6th, 12th & 13th December, 2015. With around 10 days left for the exam, it is time for you to focus on revision and fine-tune your preparation strategy. In this article, the preparation strategy for the final phase before the exam, time management strategy & the required number of attempts (to be on the safe side) are discussed. This article will help you maximise your number of attempts within the time frame and ace the exam. 

The CWE Clerk grade Prelims exam has been introduced by IBPS for the first time. Hence, you should understand the exam pattern so that there are no surprises in the actual exam.  

Exam Pattern: 

The IBPS CWE Clerk Prelims is a 60-minute exam with 100 questions in total. The section wise break-up of exam is as follows:

     Section                       No. of questions

English Language                      30

Reasoning Ability                       35

Quantitative Aptitude                 35

Note: For every wrong answer, 0.25 marks will be deducted from the total score.

As this is the first time IBPS is conducting the preliminary exam, it is difficult to predict the exact topic-wise break-up of the paper. However, the pattern can be discussed on the basis of the IBPS CWE PO 2015 exam that was held in October and deductions can be made about the nature of the exam. 

Expected Pattern (based on IBPS PO Prelims & IBPS Clerk 2014):

1) Quantitative Aptitude: 

   Topic                       No. of Questions

Simplification                       10

Arithmetic                            10

Data Interpretation             10

Number Series                   05

2) English Language:

     Topic                               No. of Questions

Spotting Errors                               05

Para Jumbles                                 05

Cloze Test                                      05

Fill in the Blanks                            03

Synonym – Antonym                     02      

Reading Comprehension             10

3) Reasoning Ability:

          Topic                                     No. of Questions

Seating Arrangement                               05

Syllogism                                                   05

Puzzles                                                       10

Inequalities                                                05

Coding & Decoding                                  05

Miscellaneous                                           05

Preparation strategy:

With 10 days left, you need to concentrate on the most important topics and final revision.  Let’s discuss the strategy for each section. 

English Language : 

a)Vocabulary is the most important topic in this section as it carries 10 marks. Topics like Cloze Test, Fill in the Blanks & Synonym-Antonym, will test your vocabulary skills. Good vocabulary will help you earn maximum marks in these topics. 

b) The second most important topic in this section is Reading Comprehension. Candidates should tackle at least one passage every day and try to solve it within 4-5 minutes. Usually the difficulty level of passages is easy to moderate. First read the passage carefully and try to understand its essence. This will help you to solve the questions based on the passage quickly.

c) Good proficiency in basic Grammar will help you score well in topics such as Spotting Error wherein questions are fairly easy to solve. Systematic understanding of topics such as Tenses, Subject Verb Agreement, Prepositions, etc. will help you obtain maximum marks in this topic. 

d) Topics like Para Jumbles can be time-consuming at times but will fetch you 5 easy marks if solved correctly. Make sure you solve one set of para jumbles daily. Good practice will help you to reduce the time taken to solve these questions. If solving the whole question turns out to be too time-consuming, you can focus on identifying the first and last sentence of the paragraph. This will get you at least 2 marks.

Reasoning Ability: 

a) Topics like Syllogism, Coding – Decoding & Inequalities are worth 15 marks in total. These questions are based on the basic concepts of logical reasoning, are fairly easy and not time-consuming. With sufficient practice, these topics will easily fetch you maximum marks and save a lot of time.

b) Questions on Seating Arrangement/Ordering and Puzzles are often asked in groups. If you are able to solve/arrange things for the entire set, the whole bunch can be answered in one go. Though they are time-consuming, with practice these can become high-scoring topics.

c) Miscellaneous questions based on Directions, Blood Relations, etc. are worth 5 marks in total. Using the diagram approach, you can easily solve these questions.

Quantitative Aptitude:

a) Most important topics in this section are based on Arithmetic. These questions are generally direct and not time-consuming. With good command over basic concepts and with enough practice, you can easily score well.

b) The second major topic is Data Interpretation (DI).  A total of 10 questions in 2 different sets could be from DI. Usually, the questions are based on simple mathematical processes and test your speed of calculation. A good amount of practice is necessary to score well in DI.

c) For this section, you should solve questions from topics such as Simplification & Number Series. These are fairly easy and will help you save time. You can use this time for topics like DI.  

Time Management strategy:

As the difficulty level of this exam is easier vis-à-vis IBPS PO Prelims exam, candidates are expected to attempt a greater number of questions within the given time limit. 

The following table highlights the time you should ideally spend on the three sections:

       Section                 Minutes to be spent

English Language              15 minutes

Reasoning Ability               20 minutes

Quantitative Aptitude         25 minutes

a) Candidates are advised to attempt English Language section first. The simple logic behind this is that these questions are not time-consuming and you can target a substantial attempt within 15 minutes.  

b) Candidates should be more careful while solving Para Jumbles. Ideally, 3-4 minutes are enough to solve the complete set. If it is taking too much time, you can solve the first and last sentence in the set. 

c) You should attempt Reading Comprehension at the end. First deal with the vocabulary-based questions in RC as these are direct and easy. Candidates should ideally spend around 5-7 minutes to solve questions based on RC.

d) In Reasoning, candidates should tackle Syllogism, Coding – Decoding & Inequalities & miscellaneous first. You should be able to solve 20 such questions within 10 minutes. You should ideally take 5 minutes each to solve topics like arrangements and puzzle.

e) Quantitative Aptitude is the last section you should attempt. Questions based on Arithmetic, Simplification & Number Series are formula-based, thus fairly easy. You can solve questions in these topics within 17-18 minutes. Topics like DI are time-consuming and you should ideally solve these when you have finished with bulk of the other questions. 

f) Remember, the essence of time management in an exam is to maximise your attempt with the help of easy and moderate questions. Also, in the first attempt, you should avoid lengthy questions and target those that can be done within a minute. This way, you maximise your attempts per minute and increase your chances of clearing the cut-off. 

Expected Cut-off:

    With the Preliminary exam, IBPS has introduced a significant change in the exam pattern this year. Since there has been no official clarification on the cut-off procedure (whether a single or state-wise cut-off) to be adopted, it is hard to predict the same with exactness. 

    Considering the nature of the IBPS Prelims exam and the fact that the clerk exam is generally easier, the cut-off can be expected to be around 55 +/-5 marks. In order to achieve this score, you should target to attempt around 65 to 75 questions with good accuracy.

Ideal No. of attempts:

To clear the expected cut-off, candidates need to work hard on speed and accuracy. To secure 55 +/-5 marks with 90% accuracy, candidates must attempt over 65 questions. 

General Tips: 

a) From now on till the day of the exam, focus on revision rather than delving into new topics.

b) Try to devote maximum time to practising speed tests and increasing accuracy. 

c) Spend enough time on each section and attempt at least 20 questions per section. 

d) Do not try to answer questions that you are not sure about just to maximise your number of attempts. You need to ensure speed as well as accuracy. You could lose 0.25 marks for every incorrect answer.

    If you have any queries regarding the IBPS CWE Clerk 2015 preliminary exam, feel free to post them on this website. We are there to guide you. 

Best of Luck!!!