Syndicate Bank has successfully conducted its online written exam for its Post Graduate Diploma course in Banking & Finance (PGDBF), which will be offered in Manipal Global Education Services Pvt Ltd. (MaGE), Bangalore and NITTE Education International Pvt. Ltd. (NEIPL), Greater Noida. 

In this article, we will provide you with a detailed, topic-wise analysis for each section in both the examination slots. We will also look at the expected overall and sectional cut-offs for this exam.

Exam Pattern:

The online objective test was a 120-minute exam with 200 questions that carried 200 marks. These questions were asked from four sections. The section-wise analysis of the exam is as follows:

i) Reasoning Aptitude:

Total Marks: 50

Topic                            No. of Questions

Syllogism                                05

Arrangements                        10

Puzzle                                     05

Input-Output                           05

Data Sufficiency                     05

Logical Reasoning                 09

Inequality                                05

Coding decoding                   05

This section had a moderate to high difficulty level. There were two sets of questions based on Seating Arrangement. Both of these sets were quite easy to solve. There was one puzzle set worth a total of 5 marks, which was quite difficult and time-consuming. Candidates have reported that Data Sufficiency questions were very tough due to which many failed to solve these questions correctly. The questions based on Input-Output, Syllogism and Logical Reasoning were of moderate difficulty level and quite time-consuming. Questions from topics like Inequality and Coding-Decoding were quite easy and candidates could solve them quickly. 

ii) Quantitative Aptitude

Total marks: 50

Topic                               No. of Questions

Data Interpretation (DI)              10

Missing DI                                   05

DI Caselets                                 05

Number Series                           05

Quadratic Equation                    05

Approximation                            05

Miscellaneous                             15 

The difficulty level of this section was moderate. Out of the 50 questions, 10 were asked in two DI sets. One set was based on a bar graph, while the other was based on pie chart. One DI caselet with 5 questions of moderate level of difficulty was asked in the exam. Interestingly, another variant of DI was asked in the form of Missing DI questions. Questions based on Approximation and Miscellaneous topics were of moderate difficulty level. However, questions from Number Series and Quadratic Equations were quite easy and could be solved quickly. There were around 15 questions asked from topics like Simple Interest, Age, Boat & Stream, Percentage, Profit & Loss and Mixture & Allegations.

iii) English Language

Total marks: 40

Topic                                No. of Questions

Fill in the Blanks                          05

Para Jumbles                               05

Cloze Test                                    10

Reading Comprehension            10

Sentence Improvement              05

Spot the Error                              05

Correct Spelling                           05

This section had an easy to moderate difficulty level.  This year’s RC was moderately difficult.  The RC passage given in the morning slot exam was based on ‘Global Warming’, while the passage in the afternoon slot was based on ‘Income Disparity’. A large number of questions were based on vocabulary topics such as Cloze Test, Fill in the Blanks and Antonym-Synonym, among others. Also, questions from topics that test grammar skills such as Spot the Error, Sentence Improvement and Spelling Errors were of moderate difficulty level and quite confusing. Many candidates have reported that the Para Jumbles set was very difficult and time-consuming.

iv) General Awareness:

Total marks: 50

In this section, current affairs and banking awareness questions based on last 3-6 months’ news were asked. The difficulty level of this section was moderate to high. Many students have informed that this section was the easiest compared to all others.

As we have analysed each section topic-wise along with their level of difficulty, we will now look at the expected overall and sectional cut-offs for this exam.

Overall Cut-offs:

Category                Cut-off Marks

General                        110-120

OBC                             100-110

SC                                 85-90

ST                                  70-75

Ideal number of Attempts:

Let’s now calculate the minimum number of questions a candidate should have attempted to secure his/her chances of clearing the Syndicate Bank PGDBF 2016 written exam and get selected for interview-round. 

If you need to score 120 marks out of 200 questions, you should have attempted at least 150 -155 questions with 80% accuracy (to be on the safe side). Candidates from other categories can accordingly calculate the required number of attempts. 

In conclusion, we can say that the difficulty level of this exam was somewhere between easy to moderate. You should be confident that your hard work and practice will surely pay off and hope for the best possible results in this case. 

Best of Luck!!!