IBPS PO EXAM TIP

Time Management and Time Distribution

As you might have noticed above the number of questions are more than time allowed in min.You get less than 1 min to answer a question.So proper distribution of time is important for each section.Each question has equal weight-age in terms of marks.But some sections like Computer Knowledge and General Awareness can be solved in less time (assuming that you know the answer) compared to other section.

So time management and proper time distribution is very important for IBPS PO written exam.The second important thing is order of attempting the sections.Some sections like Reasoning and Quantitative do exhaust your brain.Other sections like Computer knowledge and General Awareness are not that exhausting.It is better to attempt non exhaustive sections first.This keeps you brain fresh while attempting these sections.

Sectional Cut off

Third important point is sectional cut off.For example if I get 45 in one section and 10 in other I am not qualified.I may have more marks than other qualified candidates.Often candidates do forget this during IBPS PO written exam.I have seen few candidates who scored nearly 80% in one section but failed in other section.So clearing sectional cut off in all sections should be first and foremost thing you should do in IBPS PO written exam.

Normally 48% is considered as sectional cut off marks in any section.So your first aim should be to clear the sectional cut off.IBPS has also introduced concept of TWSS (Total Weight age standard score).They create a minimal TWSS score based on performance of candidates that year.You should score above TWSS to get an interview call.So your first aim is to clear sectional cut off and second is to score as much marks as possible.

Question Selection

Fourth important point is each question has same marks.It is not important to give preference to one question than other one.You should avoid time consuming questions in first attempt.If you have solved similar questions before than attempt them.Easy questions should be attempted first and then complex ones.Sometimes one question eats uo too much time and you have to leave few easy ones.This is really important.

Answer marking in Answer sheet

Fifth important point is marking the answers.There are couple of strategy.Some like to mark the answers as they solve it.Some marks the answer in one go at last.Marking answers one by one do consume seconds switching from question sheet to answer sheet.In second method you might make mistakes marking the answers due to time constraint.It is also tough to keep track of all answers.

There is chance of making mistake in marking answers if you have left couple of questions in between two answered questions.In my opinion the best way is to combine both process.Ideally you should mark all the answers after completing a section.This gives you idea about number of questions answered in a particular section.You can come back to sections with less number of answered questions later on.This is important for sectional cutoff.Also the number of answers to be marked in the sheet will also be less.So there will be lesser chance to make mistake.

Negative marking mistakes

IBPS PO written exam has negative marking.Negative marking means one fourth of marks in deducted for every wrong answer.For example out of 10 questions if you have 5 correct answers but two wrong answers then your total marks is (5 – 2* .25) = 4.5.This is really important.In above example if you have left two wrong questions then you would have crossed cut off marks (48%).

So it is very important not to guess answers.Sometimes candidates mark answers of 10 to 20 questions as A or B or C or D.This does backfire.If you have answered decent number of questions to clear sectional cut off then there is no need of all these.Instead of guessing and marking answers try one or two questions which you can solve and are in section you answered less.