IBPS PO Mains 2018: Score 110+

Dear Students, as per the tentative schedule of IBPS 2018, the mains examination for the recruitment of IBPS PO will be conducted on 18th of November. You are only left with one week to give the final touch to your preparations and to help you score 110+ marks in the exam, Adda247 is providing you all with an integrated strategy.

The Mains Examination (Online Objective Test) for 200 marks, would be of three hours duration and will consist of 4 sections followed by a descriptive paper (duration: 30 minutes) of 25 marks as follows:

Sr. No.	Name of Tests (NOT BY SEQUENCE)	No. of Questions	Maximum Marks	Medium of Exam	Time allotted for each Test
1.	Reasoning & Computer Aptitude	45	60	English & Hindi	60 minutes
2.	General/ Economy/ Banking Awareness	40	40	English & Hindi	35 minutes
3.	English Language	35	40	English	40 minutes
4.	Data Analysis & Interpretation	35	60	English & Hindi	45 minutes
	TOTAL	155	200		3 hours
5.	English Language (Letter Writing & Essay)	2	25	English	30 minutes

Reasoning & Computer Aptitude Section Strategy

The expected number of questions on Coding-Decoding, Syllogism/ Inequalities, Machine Input-Output, Data Sufficiency is 5 from each topic.
The questions based on Logical Reasoning can range from 10-13.
There can be 10-15 questions on Puzzles and Seating Arrangement, and 3-5 questions on miscellaneous topics like blood relation, direction sense, etc.
The trick to attempt the maximum number of questions in Reasoning Section in minimum time is to attempt the difficult puzzles in the end.
Start with the questions that are not in the form of puzzles, you can choose to start with the questions based on inequalities, direction and distance, syllogism, coding-decoding, alphanumeric series, and other random topics.
Then try to start with puzzles that appear easy to solve and proceed with moderate and difficult puzzles in a similar way. So, this is how you have to manage to attempt this section.

English Language Section Strategy

The number of expected questions on Reading Comprehension, Cloze Test, Phrasal Verbs is 6-10 from each topic.
Odd one out cum para jumbles, Error Detection, Sentence Completion,Connectors, etc can be 3-5 on each topic.
The trick to scoring in the English section can vary from one person to another depending on his/her strengths and weaknesses.
If you are good at vocab and reading then attempt the reading comprehension first and proceed with Cloze Test and other miscellaneous topics like Error Detection, Para Jumbles, Phrase Replacement, Double Fillers, etc.
But if you are good at grammar, attempt Reading Comprehension in the end.
Reading comprehension too should be attempted in a way that you attempt questions based on vocab and phrases first and then the questions that need a deeper penetration through the paragraphs.
The important topics for cloze test are subject-verb agreement, preposition, and verbs. These topics may help you do some other questions too that will be based on grammar. So make sure that you have these topics on your fingertips when you are to attempt the examination.

Data Analysis & Interpretation Section Strategy

The expected number of questions on Number Series, Inequalities (Quadratic Equations, Quantity 1, Quantity 2), Data Sufficiency is 5 from each topic.
Next, there will be 15-20 questions on Data Interpretation and 5-10 from Arithmetic Portion.
The trick to scoring marks in Quantitative Aptitude Section is to attempt the questions on Quadratic Equations, first and then going for Number Series.
After having attempted all these questions efficiently, go for Data Interpretation, you can attempt at least 3 questions from each DI very easily.
The remaining few questions will be based on miscellaneous topics like CI & SI, Time and Work, Pipes and Cisterns, Partnership, etc. Try attempting at least 3-7 questions that are doable from this part.

General/ Economy/ Banking Awareness

So much is happening every day that unless you keep yourself abreast of these changes you cannot adjust yourself to them or tackle the GA section of any exam smoothly and easily.
To save your precious time, we provide you with an alternative that is Adda247’s “Daily GK Update” (Available in both Hindi and English languages) that contains only the news that is important from the point of view of competitive examinations. It contains all the news that is likely to be asked in the IBPS PO Mains Examination.
Go through the Current Affairs of past 5-6 months thoroughly and keep revising them from time to time so that you do not end up lying crushed under a pile of news at the time of examination.
You can go through the Monthly Capsule for IBPS PO Mains Exam that will be provided by Bankersadda for Banking and Static Awareness based on Current Affairs.

Descriptive Test

The descriptive test will be in English and will be conducted online.
All candidates are supposed to obtain a minimum score in each section of the objective test separately to get shortlisted for the Descriptive test evaluation/Interview.
The descriptive test would be conducted after the objective test. This Test is of 30 minutes duration and of 25 marks.
Writing skills are an important part of English Language and Descriptive Test (of English Language) will test your writing skills, understanding, analyzing and summarising skills. Candidates are tested for English Language Writing Skills (Letter Writing and Essay Writing).
One has to put forward the best and the necessary points about the topic that has been asked in a limited number of words.
So, try not to mention the points that are useless from the point of a competitive examination as you will only be wasting your words.