There are less than 60 days to go for the most awaited banking exam, the IBPS PO CWE VI (2016).It is conducted to hire probationary officers in public sector banks which have announced a total of 8822 vacancies across India for the current year.With more than 15 lakh candidates expected to register, it is important to know about the IBPS PO syllabus & important topics to prepare to crack it.
To get your dream PO job in govt bank, it is important to begin preparations early & stay ahead of others.If you haven’t yet started, there is enough time to get ready for IBPS PO 2016 prelims if you can plan strategically.
IBPS PO Difficulty Level
Before getting into the important topics to concentrate in each section, it is important to know the IBPS PO exam pattern & its difficulty level.
In IBPS PO prelims, the total time duration is 60 minutes & there are no sectional time limits.For every four wrong answers, 1 mark is reduced as negative marking.
SBI PO that was conducted during June 2016 was considered to be difficult.Since the pattern of SBI PO is similar to that of IBPS PO, we can expect the same difficulty level in the IBPS PO exam as well.
IBPS PO Prelims Important Topics
To all those who ask, How to prepare for IBPS PO in short time – here is your answer:
Clearing IBPS PO prelims is more about smart work than hard work.Make sure to follow these 2 rules:
- Select the right questions to answer in the exam.
- For proper selection of questions, know what topics to prepare & practice.
Here are the most important topics of prelims along with tips & shortcuts in each section.
Quantitative Aptitude: There are 35 questions in this section, with each correct answer fetching you 1 mark.
1) Simplification: Approximation Method – Long multiplications, Square cubes/roots & Cube roots.
Using BODMAS rule -combination of all operations question is very common. Learn to solve it in time.
2) Quadratic Equations: Comparison of the variables in it
Solve as many equations as possible.Find their roots in minimal time.
3) Percentages: Splitting – decimal percentages.Percentage change/ increase and decrease.
4) Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency: Pie & Bar charts, Line graphs & Combinations,
Data Sufficiency
Expect minimum of 6 and maximum of 18-20 questions from this area.It also involves all the other topics in quants.
– angle to percentage conversion (pie charts)
– approximating values(line graph)
– on combining, make sure entitites taken are correct
5) Time and Work: LCM method questions – Pipes & Cisterns, Chain rule with wages involved.
Solve time & work problems using LCM method & group of people working together using the chain rule.
6) Permutation and Combination: Arrangements, Ranking etc.,
Practice more problems using fundamental counting principle.Basic arrangement formulas should be known.
7) Probability: Balls, Deck of cards, Dice
Probability is the ratio of total favorable events to the total possible events. Find the total possible events and from that differentiate the favorable and unfavorable events.
8) Other miscellaneous questions: Ratios & Proportions, Profit & Loss, Partnerships, Problems on ages, Number series, Combination of Operations, Problems on trains, boats.
The number of questions that are asked from the above mentioned topics are very minimal, however, it is important to have the basic knowledge on these topics.
For example, knowledge of ratios will help you solve Data interpretation, Time and work problems also.
Reasoning: You need to attend 35 questions in this section too.Some of the topics to focus during your preparations are given under:
1) Data Arrangements: Linear Arrangements, Circular Arrangements, Tabular column
While solving these type of questions, make sure you make the arrangement & then start answering.Learn the basic terms first before solving.
2) Inequalities: Rules and Concepts
Learn the rules & solve questions using it. It involves less practice & more understanding.
3) Blood Relations: Family tree/Relationship representation
In Blood Relation, it is very important to know all the relationship and should be able to draw family tree for the given direction and then you can move to the question.
4) Puzzles: Arrangements,North South arrangements, Caselets, Logical reasoning, Critical thinking
Puzzles are one of the tricky topics in IBPS PO exam.Only tip to crack them is through regular practice with proper time management.
5) Direction sense: Drawing and analyzing directions
The easiest of all, but the questions with 6-8 turns may be slightly time consuming.
The best way to answer these is to draw & solve them neatly in a rough sheet.This will help you in arriving at answers quickly.
English Language: A standard section in banking exams, it contains 30 questions.
1) Reading Comprehension: Story & F actual description
If the given passage is a story, read it completely and go to questions.If not then use the strategies.
2) Cloze test: Fill in the blanks-(2-3 blanks)
Try pro active solving.Guess the answer in the blank & then go to options. It is important to find the context given in the paragraph.
3) Spot the errors: Tenses, Sentence Correction, Subject Verb Agreement, Singular plurals
Basic language knowledge is essential. You should practice right from simple phrases to complex sentences with tenses & subject verb agreement in the mind.
4) Parajumbles: Rearrangement & Anchored paragraphs
For parajumbles look at the question & number of questions and then solve.If they ask to identify the first line, do not waste time on solving it completely.
5) Grammar: Articles,Prepositions,Tenses & Vocabulary
Reading newspaper articles will help in improving vocabulary, sentence formation & word power.
Where to Learn these Topics?
Topic based preparation in the suggested manner is the most effective method to crack IBPS PO prelims.
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We hope this article on the most important topics to cover for IBPS PO prelims 2016 will help you plan for the upcoming tests confidently.