IBPS Probationary Officers Preliminary Exam (October 03, 2020): Analysis – Slot IV

Today was the first day of the IBPS PO Preliminary Exam 2020. The exam is being conducted in four time slots: 2 each in morning and evening.

A total of 100 questions had to be answered in 60 minutes. All the sections, except English Language, were available in both English and Hindi. Every correct answer will fetch 1 mark, while every incorrect answer will reduce the score by 0.25.

The detailed break-up of IBPS PO Prelims 2020 exam is as follows:

Section Total Questions Level of difficulty Good Attempts Time taken (in minutes)
English Languages 30 Easy-Moderate 20-23 20
Quantitative Aptitude  35 Moderate 20-23 20
Reasoning Ability 35 Moderate 23-25 20
Total 100 Moderate 63-71 60

English Language:

Topic Number of Questions  Level of Difficulty
Spot the Error  5 Moderate
Reading Comprehension (based on Artificial Intelligence) 7 Easy-Moderate
Phrase Replacement  3 Easy-Moderate
Fill in the blanks – Double FIB 5 Easy
Para jumbles   5 Easy
Word Replacement 5 Easy

The English Language section comprised of questions based on Reading Comprehension, Spot the Error, Fill in the blanks, Parajumbles and Phrase Replacement. The Reading Comprehension was based on Artificial Intelligence. The overall difficulty level of this section was easy to moderate.


Quantitative Aptitude:

Topic Number of Questions  Level of Difficulty
Data Interpretation (Line graph) 5 Moderate
Data Interpretation (Table) 5 Moderate
Data Interpretation (Caselet based) 5 Moderate
Simplification/Approximation 5 Easy
Wrong Number Series  5 Easy-Moderate
Mensuration  1 Moderate
Ages  1 Moderate
Mixture  1 Moderate
Ratio  1 Moderate
Partnership  1 Moderate
Quant based word problems (Miscellaneous)  5 Moderate

There were three sets of Data Interpretation of 5 questions each. Some commonly asked topics were Mensuration, Partnership, Ages, Mixture, and Ratio etc. The overall difficulty level of this section was moderate, 

Reasoning Ability:

Topic Number of Questions Level of Difficulty
AR (Linear Seating Arrangement – 6 persons facing north /weights of these persons) 5 Moderate
AR (Square Seating Arrangement – 8 People based) 5 Moderate
AR (Vertical Arrangement – 9 boxes/Colors) 5 Moderate
AR (Data Arrangement – Floor/Flats based) 5 Moderate
Coding – Decoding 5 Easy
Alphabet based 1 Easy
Number based 1 Easy
Syllogism 5 Easy-Moderate
Miscellaneous 3 Easy-Moderate

The Reasoning Ability section was dominated by questions based on Analytical Reasoning. Five questions based on Syllogism were there in the exam. The overall difficulty level of this section was moderate.

Disclaimer: All information on cut-offs, analysis, answer key and scores are based on independent analysis and evaluation made by Career Launcher. We do not take responsibility for any decision that might be taken, based on this information.

All the Best!

Team CL