Analysis of IBPS CWE Clerk 2016 Main exam held on 1st Jan 2017

After the bouncer of SBI PO Main Exam, here comes a googly from IBPS ie the IBPS Clerk Main Exam 2016.

It has been reported that the online IBPS Clerk VI Main examination held on 1st Jan 2017 was difficult compared to the one held in 2015. Some question types, which had been posed in the SBI and IBPS PO 2016 Main Exams in previous years, were asked in this exam too.

The Reasoning Section was the most difficult of all the five sections; the Quant section was time-consuming; the English section ranged between moderate to difficult; the GA section was easy to moderate and the one on Computers was easy.

The following changes / new question types were noticed in this paper this year.

1. Questions on Data Sufficiency (3 statements) were asked in the exam. It was the first time that questions on 3 statements were asked. In general, questions on Data Sufficiency are a part of Reasoning section. But in this exam, Data Sufficiency questions were asked in Reasoning and Quant sections as well.
2. Questions on Syllogisms, Symbols Notations and Input – Output, which are an otherwise regular future in these exams, were conspicuous by their absence.
3. Questions on Critical Reasoning, which are generally not asked in Clerk exams, found a place in this exam.
4. A different type of Coding-Decoding questions which appeared in the IBPS PO 2016 Main exam, were also presented in this exam.
5. Strangely, the Close test paragraph in the English section was missing this year.
6. New models of questions viz., Para Odd Man Out Questions (choose the inappropriate one from the given jumbled sentences that form a paragraph), Error Identification (pick the grammatically incorrect sentence from the given 5 sentences), FIBs (3 blanks) were introduced in this part of the paper this year.

Question types like Para Odd Man Out and Data Sufficiency have been covered by us in various mock tests that were given to our students as part of our online support. This must certainly have facilitated ease of answering for our, T.I.M.E., students. A part of the bumpy exam ride would have become smoother, due to familiarity with these question types.

The snap shot of the exam is given below:

An analysis of the above mentioned session with its noticeable features, as reported by our students, is given below.

Quantitative Aptitude:

From the information furnished by our students who appeared for this exam, this section can be rated as moderate to difficult and time-consuming.

The questions on DI were quite lengthy and calculation-based. Individual questions in this section were based on topics like Age, Ratio, Time & Work, Time & Distance, Mensuration, Mixtures, Percentages, Profit & Loss, Partnership, Simple & Compound Interest, Probability etc..

Though not direct questions, they were reportedly tricky and long-drawn-out. A complete knowledge of concepts was mandatory in order to solve them. The level of the 5 questions on Data Sufficiency (3 statements) presented in this test was moderate to difficult. There were 5 questions on Quadratic comparisons, which were practicable.

Reasoning Ability:

This section has been branded as difficult.

The emphasis here was on puzzles, which were very tough to tackle. There were no questions on Deductions, Symbols-Notations and Input-Output. Questions on Coding-Decoding were also challenging. The Data Sufficiency topic posed moderate to difficult questions. About 4 questions on Critical Reasoning were asked in the Clerk exam for the first time ever, but these were doable.

English Language:

This section was difficult as compared to the one last year. There were two RC passages with a total of sixteen questions. New question types – Para Odd Man Out questions (choose the sentence that is out of context from among the given ones that form a paragraph), Error Identification (pick the grammatically incorrect sentence from the 5 that were given), and FIBs (a sentence with 3 blanks) were introduced this year. The Para Odd Man Out questions were similar to the ones asked in the IBPS PO and SBI PO 2016 Main examinations.

Questions on Para Odd Man Out, Error Identification, 3-blank FIBs were identified as moderate to difficult. There were no questions on the cloze test passage, which till now had been an essential feature of the test. Overall, this section can be pegged as 'moderate to difficult'.

General Awareness:

Almost half of the questions asked here were on Banking Awareness and Current Affairs. Students reported this as an easy to moderate section. The questions on current affairs were from the last 3 to 4 months.

Computer Knowledge:

There were 40 questions on Computers, and they dealt with MS Office, Networking, Operating system, Internet, Memory, Basics and Computer Architecture etc. Students founds very few, only about 2-3 questions difficult here.

T.I.M.E. students reported that approximately 50-60% questions asked in this section were similar to the ones present in the study material given to them by T.I.M.E. for a comprehensive preparation of the exam.

The analysis of IBPS Clerk 2016 Prelim exam held on 26th and 27th Nov 2016 is presented below. The difficulty level, topic wise split and question types ( in all the three sections) were almost similar on all the days and across all the slots.

Snapshot of the Exam:

No of choices per question – 5
Negative marking – 0.25 of the marks assigned to each question

The analysis of the above mentioned session, as reported by our students, is given below:

Numerical Ability:

According to the feedback received from students who appeared for this exam, this section can be rated as easy to moderate.

The 15 questions on Simplifications and Approximations can be rated as easy. There were 5 questions on Data Interpretation and were easy to moderate.

The 5 questions on Number series ranged between easy to moderate. Individual questions in this section were 10 in number; they comprised of the topics – Percentages, Profit & Loss, Partnership, Time & Work, Time & Distance, Simple Interest, Mixtures & Alligations and Mensuration etc..

A student could therefore, solve around 15-17 questions in approximately 20 minutes if he chose judiciously.

Reasoning:

This section has been given an 'Easy' tag.

Like last year,this year also there were no questions on Deductions. The topic on Coding - Decoding drew 5 questions. Symbol-Notation were five in number.

There were 3 puzzles, one each on linear arrangements, circular arrangement and linear arrangement with parallel rowa. Puzzles were easy to moderate but more long-drawn than other questions. Thus, almost 18-20 questions could possibly be solved in about 20-25 minutes in this section.

The topic -wise split, as reported by our students, is as given below:

English Language:

This section too was along expected lines and can be rated as easy to moderate.

The 10 questions from the Cloze test passage that appeared in the exam (as reported by our students) can be labelled as easy to moderate.

There was a lone RC passage with a total of ten questions and was easy. The RC and Cloze passage were based on Stories.

There were 10 questions on Grammar. All the 10 questions were on error identification and were easy to moderate.

Thus, about 15-18 questions in the English section could easily be solved in 15 minutes.

The break-up of the questions is as follows:

Over all, the difficulty level of the paper in this particular slot can be rated as Easy to Moderate.

It has been reported that the online SBI Clerk Main examination held on 26th June 2016 (Afternoon session) was moderate to difficult. The Quantitative Aptitude Section was the difficult most section of all the four sections. The Reasoning and English Sections were moderate. GA section was easy to moderate. A similar trend was followed for the exam held in both shifts on 26th June 2016.

For the first time,section wise time limit (as given below) is introduced.The order of the sections is the same that is given in the notification.

Few surprise elements in the exam:

• There were no questions on Syllogisms
• There were no questions on Grammar
• Absence of computer questions in 'Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude' section

The snap shot of the exam is given below.

The analysis as reported by our students, is given below.

Quantitative Aptitude:

According to the feedback received from our students who appeared for this exam, this section can be rated as difficult and time-consuming.

There were two DI sets – one on Table and other on line graph. The questions on DI were easy to moderate. The set on table is lengthy and calculation based. The questions on number series (Missing no) reportedly ranged from moderate to difficult. There were five questions on Quadratic Comparisons (easy).

The individual questions in this section were based on topics of ages, ratio, time and distance, time and work, averages, profit and loss, partnership, plane geometry, mensuration, simple & compound interest and mixtures & alligations. Though not direct questions ,students commented that they were tricky and a complete knowledge of concepts was mandatory in order to solve them. Questions on Data Sufficiency (2 Statements) were present in this test area and were moderate.

Reasoning:

This section has been given an 'Easy to Moderate' tag.

The emphasis here was on puzzles, which were tough to tackle. There were no questions on deductions. The questions on Input/Output were of easy to moderate level. The Data Sufficiency topic posed moderate and lengthy questions. The questions on Coding-Decoding and Blood Relations were easy.The questions based on Symbols-Notations based conclusions were time taking.

There were 2 new questions based on diagram (Dots & Triangles).

English Language:

The pattern of this section was almost in line with what was expected except RC. There were three RC passages with a total of five questions per passage. The questions based on passages were moderate.

The questions asked on Para Jumbled can be termed as moderate.

The cloze test passage that appeared in the exam (as reported by our student) puts the level of the passage as easy to moderate. The questions on FIB (2 blanks) and wrongly/misspelt words were easy. There were no questions on Grammar.

Overall, this section can be rated as moderate.

General Awareness:

About half of the questions asked here were on Banking Awareness and Indian Economy, the others were on Current Affairs and stock GK. Students report this section as easy.

IBPS has changed the selection pattern of RRB CWE – Office Assistant. The exam will be conducted in two stages – Prelim & Main. This was a single exam till last year.

It has been reported that the online RRB Office Assistant V Prelim examination held in November 2016 was easy to moderate in terms of difficulty level. The Reasoning Section was between easy to moderate while the Quant Section was moderate . A similar trend was followed for exams held on all the days and across all the slots.

A snap shot of the prelim exam is given below.

An analysis of the above mentioned session, as reported by our students, is given below.

Numerical Ability:

According to the feedback received from our students who appeared for this exam, this section can be rated as moderate.

There were 5 questions on DI (Table) which were easy. The five questions on number series were moderate as reported by our students. The 15 questions on Simplification/Approximations ranged from easy to moderate.

Individual questions in this section were based on topics like Simple Equations, Ages, Ratio, Time and Distance, Time and Work, Averages, Mixtures & Alligations, Percentages, Profit and Loss, Mensuration, Simple and Compound Interest. Students commented that though some of these questions were not direct ones, they were certainly lengthy and time consuming.

Reasoning Ability:

This section has been tagged as ' easy to moderate'.

The emphasis on puzzles was reportedly low and 10 questions were asked from this topic. Usually 15 – 20 questions have been asked from puzzles in recent bank exams. Questions on deductions were easy. Questions on Symbols Notations, Blood Relations and Coding-Decoding were easy to crack. The five questions on set of numbers ranged from easy to moderate.

Overall, the paper can be rated as easy to moderate.