Today was the first day of the IBPS PO Preliminary Exam 2018. 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.
| Section | Total Questions | Level of difficulty | Good Attempts | Time taken (in minutes) |
| English Language | 30 | Easy-Moderate | 18-20 | 20 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | Moderate | 16-18 | 20 |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | Easy-Moderate | 20-22 | 20 |
| Total | 100 | Moderate | 52-58 | 60 |
| Subject | General | SC/ST/OBC |
| English Language (Out of 30) | 5-7.5 | 3-5 |
| Quantitative Aptitude (Out of 35) | 7.5-9.5 | 5-7 |
| Reasoning Ability (Out of 35) | 10-12.5 | 7-9 |
| Overall Objective Test (Out of 100) | 48.5-51.5 | OBC: 47.5-50.5 SC: 38-42 ST: 31.5-33.5 |
| Topic | Number of Questions | Level of Difficulty |
| Reading Comprehension (People of Japan overwork there as compare to other countries) | 7 | Moderate |
| Error Detection-(5 sentences were given, one was correct and other type was one sentence was divided into 5 parts ,error was in one part | 8 | Moderate |
| Replacement of bold words | 5 | Easy-Moderate |
| Fill in the blanks (Single FIB) | 5 | Easy-Moderate |
| Sentence Rearrangement | 5 | Easy |
The English Language section comprised of questions based on Reading Comprehension, Spot the Errors, Sentence Rearrangement, Fill in the blanks, Replacement of bold words. The Reading Comprehension was based on the people of Japan overwork in the office. The replacement of bold words questions were having one bold word, which needs to be interchanged to make the sentence meaningful and grammatically correct. The overall difficulty level of this section was easy to moderate.
| Topic | Number of Questions | Level of Difficulty |
| Number Series (Wrong numbers based) | 5 | Moderate |
| Data Interpretation (Pie chart and Table Based ) | 5 | Easy-Moderate |
| Data Interpretation(Pie Chart) | 5 | Moderate |
| Data Interpretation (Caselet based) | 5 | Moderate |
| Comparison of two quantities: Quantity I and Quantity II | 3 | Easy-Moderate |
| Profit , Loss and Discount | 1 | Easy-Moderate |
| Simple Interest & Compound Interest | 1 | Difficult |
| Average | 1 | Easy-Moderate |
| Partnership | 1 | Moderate |
| Time, Speed and Distance | 1 | Moderate |
| Data Sufficiency | 5 | Easy |
| Mensuration (Cylinder and Cube based) | 1 | Easy-Moderate |
| Probability | 1 | Easy |
The Quantitative Aptitude saw questions from a variety of topics. Some commonly asked topics were Mensuration, Time Speed and Distance, Simple Interest & Compound Interest, Partnership, Probability, and Profit, Loss and Discount. This year one data interpretation set has both pie chart and table. The overall difficulty level of this section was moderate, and most of the questions were calculative.
| Topic | Number of Questions | Level of Difficulty |
| AR (Circular Arrangement) | 5 | Easy |
| Syllogism | 3 | Moderate |
| Ranking Arrangement Set based | 3 | Easy |
| Blood relation Set based | 3 | Easy-Moderate |
| Puzzle (Box based) | 5 | Easy-Moderate |
| Data Arrangement(Different days were given) | 5 | Easy-Moderate |
| Directions (Set based) | 3 | Easy |
| Mathematical Inequalities | 3 | Easy |
| Data Arrangement(3 variables based) | 5 | Moderate |
The Reasoning Ability section was dominated by questions based on Analytical Reasoning. There was a set based on Circular arrangement in which 8 people were sitting who like different flowers. Directions based set was easy and requires no calculation. Three questions based on Syllogism were there in the exam. The overall difficulty level of this section was easy to 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