The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) conducts the IBPS Clerk Exam every year to recruit candidates for clerical posts. The exam is conducted in two phases- Preliminary and Main. Online Registration for preliminary exam started on September 12, 2017 and the last date for online application is October 03, 2017. The Preliminary exam is scheduled to be held on 2nd, 3rd, 9th and 10th December 2017 and the Main exam on January 21, 2018. Final selection will be done on basis of Personal Interview.
To help the students who are appearing for the IBPS Clerk 2017 exam, here are some tips to prepare for the exam. Candidates can use this 2 months preparation plan to structure your revisions.
Study Plan for Month 1
- Revise the Syllabus and Basic Concepts
The three sections for IBPS Clerk 2017 Preliminary Exam are Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude and English Language. The five sections for IBPS Clerk 2017 Mains Exam are Reasoning Ability, Computer Aptitude, Quantitative Aptitude, English Language and General Awareness.
- Refer Exam Pattern
Candidates should go through the exam pattern once again to score better in IBPS Clerk Exam 2017.
Preliminary Exam Pattern
Preliminary Exam is a qualifying exam for the Main Exam and consists of 3 sections- English Language, Numerical Ability and Reasoning Ability. There are total 100 questions out of which 35 questions are from Numerical Ability, 30 questions of English Language and 35 questions of Reasoning Ability. Total duration of the exam is 1 hour. There will be negative marking of 0.25 for every wrong answer for both Prelim and Main exam. Only those who qualify in the Prelims exam are eligible for the Mains Exam.
| Subject | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks | Duration |
| English Language | 30 | 30 |
1 hr
|
| Numerical Ability | 35 | 35 | |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 | |
| Total | 100 | 100 |
Mains Exam Pattern
The Main exam is of duration of 2 hrs and 40 minutes and consisting of 190 questions. Out of which 40 questions are from English Language, 50 questions from Reasoning & Computer Aptitude, 50 questions from General/Finance Awareness, 50 questions from Quantitative Aptitude and 40 questions from Computer Knowledge.
| Subject | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks | Duration |
| General/ Financial Awareness | 50 | 50 | 35 Minutes |
| English Language | 40 | 40 | 35 Minutes |
| Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude |
50 | 60 | 45 Minutes |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 50 | 45 Minutes |
| Total | 190 | 200 | 160 Minutes |
- Practice
Candidates who looking for a better understanding of the exam pattern, syllabus, type of questions etc should solve the IBPS Clerk Question Paper of previous years and also subscribe to IBPS Clerk Test series online. There are many exam preparation platforms online that provide unlimited practice options to crack the exam with high scores. Candidates can measure their level of preparation and also analyze strong and weak areas based on these papers. Practicing helps in solving the problems in less time and with greater accuracy. It is recommended to solve as many different kinds of problems as possible from different topics.
Study Plan for Month 2
- IBPS Clerk Practice tests online
Attempt IBPS Clerk Mock Test to get an idea of the exam pattern, type of questions asked and also to identify your level of preparation Try to attempt two mock tests every day and analyze them to understand your mistakes. It is also important to evaluate your performance after attempting mock test.
- Revise important topics
English: This section is the highest scoring section of IBPS Clerk Exam. This section can be divided into four parts: Reading Comprehension, Grammar, Vocabulary and Verbal Ability. Syllabus includes Spotting errors, Fill in the blank Cloze Test, Idioms & Phrases, Synonyms and antonyms, Reconstruction of sentence & passage, One word substitution, Phrase Substitution, Jumbled up sentences, Double blanks in a sentence, Commonly misspelled words, Comprehensions, General Grammar and Vocabulary. First, attempt topics like Reading Comprehension, antonyms, synonyms, Fill in the blanks, Spellings, as they are easier than other problems and are less time consuming.
Reasoning: This section is tricky, so to crack this section, candidate should learn all the basic concepts. Candidates should focus on topics like Coding-Decoding, Blood Relations, Alphabets, Direction, and Ranking, Inequalities, Symbols and their relationships, Syllogism and Machine Input –Output, logical Reasoning, Puzzles, Visual memory, Observation, Arithmetical reasoning and Seating Arrangement to score good marks.
General Awareness: Questions will focus mainly on current affairs related to Banking & Finance Sector. Syllabus includes Indian Financial System, History of Indian Banking Industry, Budget Basics and Current Union Budget, International Organizations/ Financial Institutions, Capital Market & Money Market, Government Schemes and Abbreviations and Economic terminologies. Candidates are advised to read newspaper and magazines related to current affairs.
Quantitative Aptitude/ Numerical Ability: The best way to solve this section is to practice hard and also learn to use shortcuts and quick mental calculations. Syllabus includes Decimals and Fractions, Whole Numbers, Relationship between Numbers, Ratio & Proportion, HCF & LCM, Simplification, Profit & Loss, Time and Work, Percentage, Partnership, Simple Interest, Time and Distance, Compound Interest, Permutations & Combinations, Number Series, Probability, Approximate Values, Data Interpretation, Data Sufficiency.
Computer Knowledge: Computer paper covers two sections which are hardware & software. In this section questions are asked from topics related to Operating and DOS, Introduction to Computer and History, Computer Device, Security Aspects for PC, PC and System Software, Advanced Technology Regarding Computer, MS Excel, MS Word, Various Uses of Computer, The Internet Programming Language, Computer Network, Computer Future, E-world, Window.
