IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) is a recruitment body that conducts bank exams for the recruitment of candidates for many public sector banks and other financial institutions. IBPS conducts four banking exams: IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, IBPS RRB and IBPS SO Exam. All these IBPS Bank Exams are conducted separately in different months and for different posts of banks.
IBPS Recruits Probationary Officer (PO) and Management Trainee (MT) through 2 stages:
1) CWE (Common Written Exam) in online mode and
2) Interview. The online CWE is held in two phases: preliminary and main. Candidates who clear the preliminary examination qualify for the main examination and shortlisted candidates are then called for the interview.
For a total 4252 Posts (SC – 619, ST – 297, OBC – 1237, General – 2099, PWD – 325), IBPS Department will schedule a PO/ MT CWE on 13th, 14th, 20th and 21st October 2018 in all major cities of every state.
Know how to clear IBPS PO 2018 in first attempt
Getting recruited as an IBPS PO is the aspiration of many young graduates and post graduates of the nation. It is the beginning of a prestigious and esteemed career in the banking sector. Banking as a career gives many opportunities for employment and promotion as well. Preliminary exam is the first stage of IBPS PO, it makes you a step closer to attain your desired goal. If you are preparing for the same, here we bring to you section-wise preparation tips for IBPS PO 2018 prelims. Let’s glance through the exam pattern first.
IBPS PO 2018 Prelims Examination Pattern
The Prelims is just qualifying in nature. You are expected to clear the sectional cut-offs in each section and also the overall cut-off (varies for different categories – General/SC/ST) in the prelims exam to get through to the main. The scores you obtain in the main and the interview will be considered for final selection.
The preliminary exam of IBPS 2018 comprises of 3 sections and the duration of the exam is 1 hour. There are total of 100 questions with a penalty of 1/4 mark for each wrong answer. All questions will be MCQ types. Let’s move to Preparation Tips for IBPS PO 2018.
| Sr. No. | Subjects | No. of questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 35 | 1 hour total |
| 2 | English Language | 30 | 30 | |
| 3 | Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 | |
| Total | 100 | 100 |
Preparation Tips for IBPS PO 2018 – English Language
This paper tests the knowledge of the candidates related to English language. For this, candidates need to grab hold of the basics of the language. Major Topics to prepare – Fill in the Blanks, Comprehension Passage, phrases, and idioms, Spotting Error, Preposition, Para Jumbles, Rearrangement of Sentence, Spelling Mistakes, Noun, Verbs, Direct -Indirect, etc. Following is the weightage of major topics that appear in this section:
| English Topics for Prelims | Weightage of question |
|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension | 10 |
| Cloze Test | 5 |
| Sentence Correction | 5 |
| Spot the error | 5 |
| Fill in the blanks | 5 |
| Para jumbles | 5 |
- Major Topics can be practiced well with the help of previous years’ question papers and model practice sets. Solving question from these model test paper will give you an idea about the type of comprehension passage that you might get in the exam.
- Polish your English grammar, learn the rules and skills to score easily in this section.
- Devote more time on Reading Comprehension and Paragraph Completion. For Reading Comprehension Questions, first try and understand the mean of passage then try to answer. It is advisable to read question first and then read the passage to find the answer of the question.
- If you are confused between two-three options for Cloze Test,then you should leave the question and move to the next question.
- Apply the elimination method in Fill in the Blanks to come to the correct answer.
- To mark the answer for Spot the error /Sentence Correction questions, speak the sentence in your mind, whichever sounds perfect, is your answer.
- Develop the habit of reading newspaper. This will help you improve your reading speed and also help you stay in touch with the current affairs.
Preparation Tips for IBPS PO 2018 – Reasoning
Reasoning section is completely based on the power of observation and mental ability of the candidate. It is not simple as you garb the formula and answer immediately after applying it. In reasoning, you should do proper practice of the entire concept to attain good marks. Following is the weightage of major topics that appear in this section:
| Reasoning Topics for Prelims | Weightage of Questions |
|---|---|
| Seating arrangement | 3-10 |
| Coding-Decoding | 3-5 |
| Mathematical Inequalities | 2-5 |
| Blood relations | 2-5 |
| Syllogism | 2-5 |
| Arrangement and Pattern | 0-3 |
| Scheduling | 0-5 |
| Direction and Distance | 1-2 |
| Classification/Analogy | 0-2 |
| Series | 0-5 |
| Ordering and ranking | 1-2 |
With just few days left for the first slot of the exam, start practicing from moderate to heavy weightage reasoning questions. For example: Seating Arrangement, Coding-Decoding, Syllogism, Direction Sense, Blood Relation, Mathematical Inequalities.- These topics are easy to cover and get you good marks in the reasoning section. Know where from you can best practice questions of reasoning section.
- After learning each reasoning topic, take a Diagnostic test to check your progress, to gauge your strength and weakness.
Preparation Tips for IBPS PO 2018 – Quantitative Aptitude
The question in this section will be more of the mathematical nature. Therefore, the candidate needs to be good at calculations and numbers if they want to do well in this section. Following is the weightage of major topics that appear in this section:
| Aptitude Topics for Prelims | Weightage of Question |
|---|---|
| Data Interpretation | 5-10 |
| Data Sufficiency | 2-5 |
| Simplification | 2-5 |
| Mensuration | 1-3 |
| Profit and Loss | 1-3 |
| Time and Work | 1-3 |
| Ratio and Proportion | 1-2 |
| Percentage | 1-2 |
| Number Series for IBPS | 0-5 |
| Quadratic Equations | 0-5 |
| Mixture Problems | 1-2 |
- This section consumes most of your time if you are not familiar with shortcut tricks. Know how to be well prepared in formulas, concepts, properties, shortcuts tricks, etc. to solve higher calculation of this section in less time with 10 Vedic Math tricks.
- Buy some best writer and publication books for Quantitative Aptitude, it will give you the proper analysis of upcoming IBPS PO 2018 and expected questions pattern.
- Check IBPS PO Prelims Previous Years’ Question Papers for a better idea.
- Data Interpretation can be quite difficult and time-consuming if you are not familiar with all kinds of illustrations including graphs, bars, pie charts, etc. Practice more and more with most recommended books for IBPS PO.
Break a leg!
At the end we would suggest you to practice as much as possible from previous years’ papers and mock test papers at this point of time. Take diagnostic tests to know your weak areas and work on it to improve your score. Take Daily Quant Quiz for Bank PO to practice and practice more the most important type of quantitative aptitude questions. Don’t take too much stress on left topics instead focus on your strength. Make Small Notes on important topics, formulas, tricks, points, etc. for last minute revision. Get Arithematics Important Formula Book of the most important formula which can be directly used in questions values to get the answer faster.You should keep negative marking always in mind, so never try doing guess-work, you will be charged 0.25 for every wrong answer from your marks. Don’t answer every question, it is not compulsory for any exam.
Stay focused, go after your dreams and keep moving towards your goals.
Thanks for sharing such informational article. Can you please provide some pdf study notes also.