IBPS PO Exam : Reasoning Preparation Tips and Syllabus

IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) yearly publishes notification to recruit candidates for PO (Probationary Officer) post. In October prelims exam of IBPS PO is conducted and in November the mains exam is conducted. For the post of PO, millions of candidates from India appear for this exam. There are a total of three stages in this exam i.e. first the Preliminary exam then the Mains exam and finally the Interview. The Prelims exam consists of three sections from which Quantitative Aptitude section for IBPS PO is the most crucial one, as this section can be scoring for some while some might face difficulty in crossing the sectional cut-off even and is very less theoretical. This section of IBPS PO exam comprises of 35 questions in the question paper where one mark is awarded for every right answer, and 0.25 is deducted for any wrong answer.

IBPS PO REASONING PREPARATION

Preparation of reasoning section of this exam can be done easily if proper attention is paid. Students need to have a very good IQ to be successful in this exam. You can pass this exam by scoring too well or by scoring too bad. There is no grey in this exam but only black or white. This section rewards your hard work and practice. You can only score well if you have prepared well.

DISTRIBUTION OF QUESTIONS ACCORTDING TO TOPICS:

HOW TO ATTEMT  IBPS PO PAPER

If you are excellent in the reasoning section then we recommend you to attempt this section at last. You should try English section at first as it is relatively easy compared to quantitative and reasoning. Mark the easy question and the difficult at the time of reading the question paper and try to finish easy ones as fast as possible without committing any mistake. Attempt hard question at the last as you will have more time.

TIME MANAGEMENT

You should complete this section in about 30 minutes as this section is more about theory and not about practical solutions, so thinking about each and every question in most important. This way you will have approx and even if you are not able to complete many questions so do it at last and do not spend more than 15 minutes at last.

CATEGORIES OF QUESTIONS       

• Easy and less time consuming questions: even if you are strong in this section, you need to try these types of question at first and to do it in quick time. They are quite easy to attempt, take lesser time and have higher chance of getting correct. These questions fall in the following topics mentioned below:
  • Classification/ Odd pair
  • Series Completion/ Analogy
  • Direction based tests/ Direction Sense Test
  • Number, Ranking & Time Sequence Test
  • Alphabet test/ Dictionary

There are almost 10 to 12 questions that fall in this category

• Difficult and time consuming questions: This is the second category of questions in the reasoning section. There are almost 15 to 17 questions that fall in this category. The time taken and percentage f correct answer will depend on how often you have been practicing. There is no need to take extra risk to prepare for the topics in which you are not good. The main aim is to get high accuracy in less time. The medium difficulty level topics are as follows:
• Syllogisms
• Inequalities
• Blood Relations
• Coding Decoding
• Data Sufficiency

Syllabus of IBPS PO Reasoning

IBPS Verbal Reasoning topics

In verbal reasoning test, student’s knowledge is checked to solve the problems quickly and that too with full accuracy is tested so that the ability to make decision power can be judged on the grounds of banking hindrances. It includes number of topics such as-

Number series, Letter & symbol series, Statement, and argument, Logical Reasoning problems, Alphabet test, Passage, and conclusions, Blood relations, Direction sense test, Input output, Coding-decoding, Number Ranking, Making judgments, analogy, classification, series, logical arrangement of words, inserting the missing character, mathematical operations, Venn diagram, clock, calendar, statement and conclusion, situation reaction tests, sitting arrangements, cause and effects, puzzles, course of action, assertion and reason, syllogism, statement and arguments, input and output, analytical reasoning, data sufficiency, statement and assumptions are all the topics that will consist in this section.

IBPS Non-verbal Reasoning topics

This sections demands for patience and skillful mind. It includes – Making series/analogy, Classification, Series test, Odd figures, Mirror images, Figure matrix questions, miscellaneous test, etc

WHAT TO DO BEFORE THE EXAM:

Start solving reasoning section of previous year’s paper and also try to solve reasoning section of IBPS Clerk exam. Use the above given distribution of topics your weak and strong sections and spend time getting familiar with them. Focus on mastering the first two topics as you can surely score more than 20 just by answering those questions only.

Incase your reasoning section is your weakest section to prepare, just aim to clear the cut-offs by practicing first category question regularly and thoroughly and choosing the questions from second category where you are comfortable and can solve accurately. Attempt not less than 17 questions and with accuracy to clear sectional cut-offs.
MISTAKES TO AVOID:

• We rely mostly on pen and paper that even while practicing for an online exam, we tend to write down questions on paper and then solve them. This habit can create a lot of problem during this exam. You will get rough sheets to solve but writing everything down on paper actually wastes time. As we pointed out you will just get 35 to 40 seconds per question, so it makes sense to do the calculations in the brain to complete the solution faster. While practicing try to develop tricks that you understand .For example in some relationship questions you don’t have to write everything. Just develop tricks or signs for Male or Female, sibling relationship etc. and solve them.
• Don’t experiment too much. Whether it is a time division or a new shortcut or trick you have prepared, do not try that in exam because it is not a place to experiment new methods. The more familiar you are with the solution, the better and faster they will get solved. Mock Tests are good place for experimenting as you have nothing to lose. Stick to your strategy and plan with which you have prepared the exam while attempting the final exam.

 Hope you found all the necessary information on IBPS PO reasoning section and If you have any queries, suggestions, complaints or question please mention them in the comment section and we will try to resolve them to make you aware of all the queries. To keep yourself updated, check more articles on our website.