The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) conducted Online Preliminary Examination for the recruitment of Specialist Officers across the country on December 30, 2018.
There were 150 questions in the paper, which had to be answered in 120 minutes. There were three sections in all - English Language, Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude. All the other sections except English Language section were available bilingually, that is, in both English and Hindi. Each question had 5 options. There was negative marking of one-fourth of the marks assigned to that question for all the sections. This year there is sectional timing of 40 minutes.
The detailed break-up of IBPS SO Preliminary Exam 2018 is as follows:
Section |
Total Questions |
Max. Marks |
Level of Difficulty |
Good Attempts |
Time Taken (In Minutes) |
English Language |
50 |
25 |
Easy-Moderate |
35 – 40 |
40 |
Reasoning |
50 |
50 |
Moderate |
30 – 35 |
40 |
Quantitative Aptitude |
50 |
50 |
Easy-Moderate |
30 – 35 |
40 |
Total |
150 |
125 |
Moderate |
95 – 110 |
120 |
Topic |
Number of questions |
Level of difficulty |
Reading Comprehension (Based on Social Inequality) – Main Idea 1 Q., Fact based 2 Qs., Antonym 1 Q. , Synonym 1 Q. FIB 1 Q. |
6 |
Easy-Moderate |
Reading Comprehension (Based on millennials – young and old generation comparison) Conclusion based 1 Q., Fact based 3 Qs., Antonym 1 Q., Synonym 1 Q., Sentence Meaning 1 Q. |
7 |
Easy-Moderate |
Parajumbles/Rearrangement to form a paragraph |
5 |
Easy |
Cloze Test |
6 |
Easy – Moderate |
Phrase Replacement |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
Spot the Error |
9 |
Easy |
Fill in the Blanks (Double FIB) |
5 |
2 Qs. Easy, 2 Qs. Moderate, 1 Q. Difficult |
Correct usage of words |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
Starter type questions |
3 |
Moderate-Difficult |
The questions in this section were easy to moderate in nature. Therefore, a candidate should have attempted around 35 questions with good accuracy to stay safe.
Topic |
Number of questions |
Level of difficulty |
AR (Square Seating Arrangement) |
5 |
Difficult |
AR (Linear Seating Arrangement – Single row) |
4 |
Moderate |
AR (Data Arrangement – height arrangement) |
3 |
Easy |
AR (Linear Seating Arrangement – 2 Parallel rows) |
5 |
Moderate |
AR (Data Arrangement – Month and place of birth) |
5 |
Moderate |
AR (Data Arrangement – 1 organization/departments and job title based) |
5 |
Easy- Moderate |
Input-Output |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
Blood Relation |
2 |
Easy |
Data Sufficiency |
3 |
Easy-Moderate |
Alphabet based – word was LONGITUDE. |
2 |
Easy |
Critical Reasoning – Situation based |
1 |
Moderate |
Miscellaneous - Logical Reasoning based |
3 |
Moderate |
Statement Conclusion/Syllogism |
7 |
Easy- Moderate |
This section primarily saw questions which were moderate in nature. Some of the questions were time consuming. Still, a candidate could have easily attempted at least 30 questions with good accuracy.
Topic |
Number of questions |
Level of difficulty |
Comparison of Quantities - (PLD, Boat and Stream, Probability, Time & work, Numbers) |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
TSD - Boat and Stream |
1 |
Moderate |
Probability |
1 |
Easy |
Simple Interest / Compound Interest |
1 |
Moderate |
Ratio and Proportion |
1 |
Moderate |
Average |
1 |
Easy-Moderate |
Number Series – Missing number based |
5 |
Easy- Moderate |
Mixture and Alligation |
1 |
Easy |
Data Interpretation (Caselet – Venn Diagram based) |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
Simple Interest |
1 |
Easy |
Mensuration |
1 |
Easy |
Data Interpretation (Pie chart) |
6 |
Easy-Moderate |
Data Interpretation (Flow chart based) |
6 |
Easy-Moderate |
Data Interpretation (Table – PLD based) |
6 |
Easy-Moderate |
Simplification/Approximation |
6 |
Easy |
Partnership |
1 |
Easy |
Profit, Loss and Discount |
1 |
Easy |
Linear Equation – Age based |
1 |
Easy |
The difficulty level of questions in this section was easy to moderate because most of the questions were conventional in nature. A candidate could have easily attempted at least 30 questions with good accuracy.
The questions were, basically, based on Number Series, Arithmetic, Comparison of Quantities, Data Interpretation and Approximation.
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
