Dear readers,

The IBPS CWE PO V Prelims tests
have already started. So far, students have reported that the tests were easy
to moderate. Some students have reported that English Language was the toughest
section and students have also said that the Quantitative Aptitude section was
calculation-intensive.  

Section-wise breakup:

The section-wise breakup of the
tests was exactly along the lines that we had predicted in our previous article
(click here to go to this article).

Quantitative Aptitude: This
section consisted of Data Interpretation – 10 questions, Arithmetic and others
– 10, Quadratic equations – 5, Number series – 5 and Simplification – 5
questions.

English Language: This section
consisted of Reading Comprehension – 10, Cloze test – 5, Fill in the blanks –
5, Para jumbles – 5, and Spot the error – 5 questions.

Reasoning: This section consisted
of Syllogism, Coding-Decoding, Inequality, Blood Relations and others – 5
questions each, Arrangement – 10 questions and 1 Puzzle – 5 questions.

Expected cutoff:

The IBPS PO prelims has been very
similar to SBI PO prelims so far. Comparing the two, it is expected that the cutoff
for IBPS PO prelims would be around 40 to 45 for general category candidates,
35 to 40 for OBC category, 30 to 35 for SC category and 14 to 18 for ST
category candidates.

Further, in the IBPS PO prelims,
sectional cutoffs would be around 5 to 6 marks for English and for Quant and 8
to 10 for Reasoning for general category candidates. For other categories, sectional
cutoffs would be around 3 to 4.5 marks for English and for Quant and 4.5 to 5.5
for Reasoning.

For those students who are yet to
appear for this exam:

Your target:

Now that you know the likely
cutoffs, you can plan your approach during your exam. First of all, ensure that
you divide time equally (roughly) across all sections. Remember, that you need
to clear the sectional cutoffs in each section. Hence, you cannot ignore any
section. You may give 20 to 25 mins to Quant, 20 minutes to Reasoning and 15 to
20 mins to English. Overall, you should try to attempt around 60+ questions,
with around 20 attempts in each section.

Also, start the exam with your
strongest section. This will ensure that you gain confidence and speed right
from the start of the test.

Section-wise approach:

In each of the sections, you
should chose those 20 questions that you can solve quickly and accurately. Do
not think that you have to solve the first question that you read or the first
5 questions that you read. Instead, remember that in each section you only have
to attempt around 20 questions – which means that you can reject 10 to 15 tough
or time-taking questions in each section. After you have solved the 20 easy
questions in each section, if you still have extra time left, you may then
solve some of the tough/time-taking questions that you had left out earlier.

Let us now look at how you can
choose these 20 easy questions in each section.

Quantitative aptitude:

In this section, if you are
careful with your calculations, you can easily attempt 7 to 8 DI questions
accurately. Similarly, you should be able to attempt at least around 5 to 7
questions from questions based on Arithmetic, etc. Finally, you should be able
to try around 5 to 7 questions from the Number Series + Simplification portion.
This should easily give you a total of 20 attempts in around 20 to 25 minutes.
Do note that in this approach we have completely ignored the quadratic equation
portion, which may appear complicated to some students. Also note that DI
questions can be time-taking but can be attempted with very high accuracy since
they do not require any advanced formulas or complicated logic.

English language:

In this section, RC would
typically include at least 3 questions based on vocabulary only. Similarly,
Cloze test and Fill in the blanks largely depend purely on vocabulary only. Out
of these 13 vocab-based questions, you should be able to attempt at least 10
questions quickly. Similarly, try to attempt at least around 2 to 3 questions
from the Spot the error portion. From Para jumbles, try to identify at least
the first and the last sentence. That is relatively simple to do and would
fetch you another two attempts. This itself gives you close to 20 attempts (in
less time, since vocabulary questions would not be time-taking). Note that to
solve vocab-based questions from the RC portion, you may not need to read the
passage, which would again save you some time.

Reasoning:

In this section, out of the 20
questions from the Syllogism, Coding-Decoding, Inequality, Blood Relations and
others portion, try to attempt at least around 15 questions. These are
standalone questions typically and are not very time-taking. After this, look
at the Puzzles, Arrangement portion and pick the set that appears easiest to
you. Solve the 5 questions from that set and that’s it – you have got 20
attempts in this section as well.

The above is one suggested
approach that can help you manage your time effectively, maximize your number
of attempts and hence, clear the Prelims. Based on which topics you are strong
in, you can come up with your own approach. Do plan out your approach in
advance so that you are fully prepared for the test.

Finally, believe in yourself, be
confident and attempt the test with a relaxed mind!

As always, Team PaGaLGuY wishes
you the very Best of Luck!!!

.