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  • IBPS Clerk exam reasoning section preparation tips

    Updated : 06-Jul-2017

    There are total of five different section in IBPS examination

    • Quantitative Aptitude
    • Reasoning
    • General English
    • General Awareness
    • Computer Knowledge

    How to prepare for reasoning section for IBPS Clerk exam ?

    Pattern of reasoning section :

    There are a total of two types of IBPS clerk examination, namely

    Prelims pattern for Reasoning  of IBPS Clerk Exam :

    Total no. of questions 35
    Total marks 35
    Marks per question 1
    Negative marks/wrong answer 0.25

    Mains pattern for Reasoning  of IBPS Clerk Exam :

    The mains pattern is totally different from the pattern of prelims exam. In prelims exam, all the questions are based on reasoning, but in mains exam, many question are mixed with computer knowledge section’s questions. So before attempting the reasoning section of IBPS clerk, you should also go through the computer knowledge section.  

    Total No. of questions 50
    Total marks 60
    Total allotted time 45 mins
    Marks per  answer 1.2
    Negative Marking per incorrect answer 0.2

    SYLLABUS for reasoning section of IBPS clerk exam :

    • Syllogistic reasoning
    • Relationship Concepts
    • Statement conclusion
    • Seating Arrangement
    • Analogies Space Visualization
    • Similarities and Differences
    • Decision Making
    • Problem-Solving
    • Arithmetical Number Series
    • Differences
    • Arithmetical Reasoning
    • Analysis
    • Judgment
    • Visual memory
    • Observation
    • Discrimination
    • Verbal and Figure Classification
    • Non-verbal series
    • Coding Decoding

    Preparation of each topic particularly

    1. Syllogistic reasoning 

    Deductive reasoning test and is designed to test your logical reasoning abilities and are also known as syllogistic tests. These are only built to test your IQ and you logic based thinking.

    Venn diagrams are the best method to solve these types of questions.

    Syllogisms can have 70-80% accuracy. This means if you attempt 5 questions, you will get around 3-4 right.

    Aim for the above accuracy. Practice 3-4 syllogisms every day.

    2. Relationship Concepts

    They are designed to check your cognitive skills. Relationship concepts questions might seem long and difficult but they are very easy to solve.

    To decide whether you should solve the problem is to find out which type of problem is it:

    •  Single person Blood relation.

    • Mixed blood relation.

    • Coded blood relation.

    If it is a single person blood relation problem, then go ahead and solve it.

    They take less time and have higher (90 %+) accuracy.

    For single person blood relation break the sentence at is/was/as and resolve it from last point toys/was/as to get the solution.

    Use diagrammatic representation to solve it.

    3. Statement conclusion

    This is a very important and to-keep-the-focus-on type of topic. There is no definite right or wrong answer, since it depends on the thought process of the candidate. If you are a 100% sure, then only answer the question.

    The total time to be spend on this topic is not more that 3 minutes.

    Seating Arrangement and Directions

    The topics mentioned above will carry up to 35-40 marks, so this makes the topic very important as it carries loads of marks.

    Sitting arrangement questions are clubbed together so they are somewhat easy to solve. This means they are asked as set of 3-5 questions based on one case.

    So if you get a particular arrangement right, then you should go on and on with a 100% accuracy to get the correct answer.

    If you do not try these questions on a daily basis and do not practice regularly you will spend almost 15 minutes to solve and find the answer. This is going to cost you many deserved marks and will lead onto poor time management and you will not get enough time to solve other sections or topics.

    To be perfect in these topics you should do a lot of practice.

    Start looking for books that cover these topics and also try permutation and combination of 12th NCERT math.

    Start solving almost 2 questions of both the topics daily. This will increase your speed and therefore will help you solve this topic very easily.

    The total time used to solve this topic should not be more than 5 minutes.

    Study Plan

    Do not try to study everything because if you try and study everything you will end up cramming your schedule and ultimately risk being under prepared.

    Accuracy and Speed are the keys for scoring maximum in this section. Give 1 hour daily for reasoning preparation. For the next 2-3 days, go through basic concepts and questions for topics stated above.

    Then take up each topic for 3 days and solve maximum questions possible on that topic. While doing the above exercise, solve at least 50 questions every day. Start giving Mock Tests. Identify topics you are weak in and again attempt those topics.

    Mock Tests will also help you prepare a timing strategy. There are many experts out there, so go and use their knowledge for your benefit. And as “practice makes the man perfect” all the best.