Given that the time between declaration of results (expected any time soon) and the date of the Mains Exam, it is imperative that students continue their preparation for the Mains Exam. Today, let us look at pattern changes and thereby the strategy you need to employ to ace the Mains Exam.
Curtains have now come down on the first step of the selection process for the 7883 Clerk vacancies notified by IBPS. Over the last couple of weekends, 20 lakh plus applicants have appeared for the Preliminary Examination and close to 2 lakh plus candidates are expected to make the cut to the next round – the Mains Exam, scheduled for 21-Jan, 2018.
Given that the time between declaration of results (expected any time soon) and the date of the Mains Exam, it is imperative that students continue their preparation for the Mains Exam. Today, let us look at pattern changes and thereby the strategy you need to employ to ace the Mains Exam.
Changes in the Test Pattern
Compared to last year, aspirants this year will have fewer questions to attempt (190 vs 200) and more time to attempt the same (160 minutes vs 135 minutes). Check out the table below for number of questions in each section and the time allocated for the same.
Almost all sections in the exam have seen a change either in the number of questions asked or the time allocated. Major changes in the paper pattern include
A. Increased focus on General Awareness – an increase in number of questions (50 vs 40) as well as time allocated (35 vs 25 minutes).
B. Reduced focus on Computer Aptitude – last year saw a separate Computer Aptitude section (40 questions accounting for 20 marks) which is now subsumed into the Reasoning Ability section. Though the number of questions has come down (80 down to 50), the time allocated for the merged section remains almost the same as last year (45 vs 50 minutes)
C. Increase in number of questions (50 vs 40 questions) as well as time allocated (45 vs 30 minutes) for Quantitative Ability
What do these changes portend for you? How do your preparation and exam-taking strategies change on account of these changes?
For one, given the increase in time per question in all the sections, you can surely expect a higher percentage of difficult questions.
The paper would still consist of east questions; however, you now need to more vigilant in your selection of questions. Going by the trend noticed in IBPS and SBI PO Mains Exams, Reasoning Ability and Quantitative Aptitude sections could see a higher difficulty.
Two – make sure you are focusing on the general awareness section – this could turn out to be the game changer this year.
Generally, this is a high scoring section and previous trends suggest a higher number of questions from banking related concepts compared to questions based on current affairs. You would do well to brush up your concepts of banking and websites such as ours – www.conduiraonline.com provide you relevant video lessons to help you do so.
Three, expect to see newer question varieties – particularly in the English Language section. While the underlying concepts might be the same, the way you are evaluated on these could change. Ensure that you are taking multiple mock tests so that you are exposed to different question varieties to avoid surprises in the actual exam.
Possible Cut-Offs
Predicting cut-offs is a job fraught with danger and is certainly foolhardy to do before the actual exam is conducted. However, as a test-taker, you should have a figure in mind for the number of questions you need to attempt.
Different states have different cut-offs and last year, the cut-offs ranged between 37 and 42 for General Category (when scaled down to 100). Factors such as an increase in difficulty of questions could bring down the cut-off score while an increase in time allocated could push the cut-offs higher.
Taking these multiple factors in to consideration we believe that a serious aspirant should attempt 115 to 120 questions with high accuracy to clear the cut-offs this year. However, please be warned that this is only a guess estimate and actual cut-offs could vary.
In conclusion, over the course of next one month, ensure that you revise your basics across different sections, put in additional effort in to general and banking awareness concepts and take multiple mock tests to fine tune your test-taking strategies.
Finally, as we come close to the end of the year, let me take this opportunity to thank all our readers for accompanying us on this journey. It has now been more than a year since we have started interacting with you all through this column and it has been a great experience.
On behalf of Conduira Online, I hope that the new year brings you loads of joy, happiness and success – both on personal and professional fronts.
-P V Rama Sasank, Chief Platform Officer, Conduira Online.
SOURCE : https://telanganatoday.com/tips-ace-ibps-clerk-mains-exam
DATED : 25/12/2017
