Analysis of the IBPS CWE for POs/MTs (Held on 18^th September2011)

The first of its kind, "Common Written Examination (CWE)" for recruitment of POs/MTs in 19 Public Sector Banks was conducted on 18th September2011. The CWE was conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection(IBPS).About 14 lakh candidates had applied for this exam .The examination was conducted in two slots, morning slot from 9.30am to 1pm and evening slot from 2.30pm to 6pm.

The duration of the objective paper was 150 minutes and this was immediately followed by a Descriptive Test of 1 hour duration.

To help you understand the IBPS Bank PO CWE paper better, we provide you with a comprehensive analysis below. First, let us look at the snapshot of the exam.

Now let us take a look at the detailed analysis of the different test areas. The different test areas from which the questions were asked in the exam were Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude, General Awareness, Computer Awareness and English Language. There were 50 questions, all objective type, from each of these 5 test areas.

Analysis of the Objective Test :

(1) Quantitative Aptitude

The type of questions in this section were on lines similar to the questions that have appeared in the different Bank PO exams earlier.The two question types which did not appear in this paper, as compared to the earlier Bank PO exams, are (a) column-wise comparisons of roots of a quadratic and (b) Data sufficiency.

There were 10 questions based on simplification and approximation. At a glance these questions appeared to be easy and every one would have started solving these first. But when students got down to solving themthey would have found them to be lengthy and time consuming. A good student would have attempted 6 to 7 questions in 10 minutes.

There were 5 questions on series.The questions involved finding the wrong number in the given sequence. The students who were aware of this question type, would have solved them comfortably.

3 to 4 correct attempts in 5 minutes is considered to be good.

Coming to the individual questions, there were 10 questions.These questions involved a good mixture of concepts and logic from various topics like Simple Equations, Ratio, Percentages, Simple Interest-Compound Interest and Averages.The questions were aimed at testing basic conceptual knowledge.

As regards to Data Interpretation, there were 4 sets of 5 questions each. Two sets were based on the data given in tabular form, one set on pie chart and one set on Bar graph. Of these the set on Bar graph was very easy. All the five questions on Bar graph were direct and simple without any lengthy calculations. The students who had practiced the basic question types that appear in DI , concepts of percentages and speed maths techniques would have had an added advantage. An attempt of 2 to 3 sets in 15 minutes is considered good.

Overall, in terms of difficulty level, this section can be considered to be moderate to difficult and an attempt of 30-35 questions, with not more than 2-3 wrong is considered to be very good.

The following table gives the topic wise break up of the questions asked in this section.

The question types and the topic wise break up of questions in this section were the same in both the slots. The level of difficulty also did not vary much in the test conducted in the two slots.

(2) English Language

The Bank PO CWE presented the same pattern in both slots, in the Verbal Ability and Descriptive Writing sections.

The Verbal Ability section presented some questions different from what have been seen so far in Bank PO exams.

The section had a total of 50 questions in 6 types, with a total of 25 marks.
There were:

Five Para-completion questions (Verbal Reasoning). These were questions where a paragraph was presented with a blank in place of a sentence that had been removed. From the choices given, and keeping in mind the context of the paragraph, the candidate had to pick the sentence best suited to the blank.


Five Sentence equivalence questions (Vocabulary usage). These were questions where a sentence was presented with a blank in place of a word that had been removed. From the choices given, and keeping in mind the context of the sentence, the candidate had to pick 2 words either of which would fit to the blank.

Five questions on synonymous words/phrases (Vocabulary). These were questions where a given word was followed by choices that present words/phrases. From the choices the candidate had to pick all those that were synonymous with the headword. These 3 question types have not appeared in earlier Bank PO exams.
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Five Para-formation questions (jumbled paragraph), of 7 sentences each. In earlier exams, such questions had upto 6 sentences.

15 questions on Cloze test (a paragraph with blanks to be filled). In earlier exams, cloze test presented upto 10 questions.

15 Reading Comprehension questions (7+8) based on 2 passages.In earlier exams, a passage had upto 15 questions, including 6 vocabulary-based questions. This time, though the passages were of the size previously seen, about 600-700 words, each had 7 to 8 questions, including 2 vocabulary-based questions in each of the passages. The passages were on economic and developmental

aspects, presented a lot of detail, and required careful reading.
While the vocabulary-based questions were moderately difficult, overall, the section was difficult. It required a reasonable level of familiarity with English - the sort of familiarity that comes with regular reading. Clearly, the candidates who had been reading extensively, apart from practice in specific areas, would have been able to perform well.

An attempt of 30-32 questions, with not more than two or three wrong, is a good score.

(3) Reasoning

The reasoning section of the paper was on lines similar to the past PO exams conducted by different banks.The one exception here was critical reasoning questions. The format of the critical reasoning questions had changed though the basic way of handling the question remained the same.

The topic wise break up of the questions is given below.

Students who had worked on the Mock papers conducted by T.I.M.E. would have found that the reasoning section of the CWE was no different from those in the mocks. The new type of questions given on Input-Output and Deductions were on lines similar of those given in mocks conducted by T.I.M.E.

An attemp of 30 – 32 questions, with not more than two to three wrong, is a good score.

(4) Computer Knowledge

The overall difficulty level of Computer knowledge section was moderate. All the questions asked in this section in the exam conducted in both the slots, were purely based on the fundamentals of topics like Archtecture , Operating Systems, DBMS,Networks,E commerce and MS Office. A large chunk of questions were based on internet terminology.Among these, 5-6 questions were easy, 4-5 questions were of moderate difficulty level and 3 questions were difficult. Other areas which were covered were based on basic computer architecture, memory, Microsoft Office, Operating System, E-Commerce and Computer networks. The questions on basic Computer Architecture were based on I/O devices of Computer, which were easy to answer. Most of the questions on MS office were based on MS word which were of moderate difficulty level. The questions which were asked on

memory concepts were also of moderate difficulty level.The questions on operating systems, Computer networks and E-Commerce were difficult to answer. A student with a good knowledge of the fundamentals would have scored well. An attempt of 35-40 questions, with not more than 3-4 wrong, is a good score.

The topic wise break up of the questions is given below.

(5) General Awareness

The students who were in a suspense over new pattern of GK questions must have heaved a sigh of relief when they saw the General Awareness section.As was announced earlier in the notification, the questions on Banking sector dominated. However the traditional areas of General Awareness like current affairs, Indian economy, Business GK, Sports etc, had their due share of questions.The distribution of questions under different areas is explained below.

The questions that appeared in both the slots were based on a wide range of topics like, banking, economy, current affairs - national & international and a few questions on sports and literature.

In the exam conducted in the morning slot,out of the 50 questions on General Awareness, banking dominated with 17 questions coming from it. Out of these 17 questions , five questions were easy(Who is the largest shareholder of nationalized banks) and 8 questions were of moderate difficulty level.(questions based on fixed & recurring deposits etc..) The remaining 4 questions on core banking, and cross selling by banks etc, were difficult.

There were 10 questions related to economy, three of which were easy (question on increase

in petrol pricing affecting other products prices etc.), four questions were of moderate difficulty level (question on Unique identification number & issuing authority, name of the card etc.) and the balance of three questions were found to be difficult. (What is meant by LLP in context of Foreign Exchange).

Under current affairs - national topics, there were nine questions out of which 4 appeared to be easy (question on Lokayukta). Five questions were of moderate difficulty level (questions like literacy rates as per Census 2011 report etc.) and there was one difficult question on financial inclusion.

Under current affairs-international issues, out of nine questions, four were relatively easy ( like the one on German chancellors visit for receiving Jawaharlal Nehru International prize in May2011) and the remaining five were of moderate difficulty level.(question on USA's debt ceiling limit etc.). There were three questions on sports and two questions on literature, all being moderate toeasy.

An attempt of 35 - 38 questions, with not more than two or three wrong, in about 20 minutes is a good score.

Now let us look at the analysis of this section of the paper conducted in the second slot.

Out of the 50 questions, there were 16 questions related to banking. Out of these 16 questions, six were easy. (question on "interest rate on FDs higher/lower than normal savings accounts, etc.). Of the rest , seven were found to be of moderated difficulty level (questions on KYC norms, & NPAs etc.)The remaining four were difficult (questions on NEFT, and inter bank transfer codes for NEFT etc).

From topics related to economy, there were 10 questions, five of which were easy.(question on Microfinance originator etc.).Among the rest, three were of moderate difficulty level(question on Capital markets, inflation & Price rise etc.).The balance two questions were difficult. (one question on self-help groups, and another one on ASBA (Applications Supported by Block Amounts), a stock /share issue concept).

Under current affairs-national topics, there were six questions out of which three were easy.(question based on West Bengal CM's predecessor, CM of which state resigned in illegal

mining case etc.) and remaining three questions were of moderate difficulty level.(questions on location of copper mines in India, SFIO is under the ministry of --- etc.).

Under current affairs -international issues, there were 10 questions. Five of these were easy. (question on which country's credit rating is down graded from AAA to AA+, attracting world-wide attention etc. ) and the remaining five were of moderate difficulty level(Name of South Sudan's president etc.).

There were four questions on sports, three of which were relatively easy. (Michael Helps plays which sport etc and one question was difficult (Virdhawal Vikram hade, qualified for which sport for 2014 London olympics)

An attempt of 32 - 35 questions, with not more than one or two wrong, in about 20 minutes is a good score.

Analysis of the Descriptive Test :

The Descriptive Writing section did not present any surprises.This test was for 50 marks ( to be scaled to 25).
The tasks that were asked are as follows.

Letter Writing:
The students were asked to write a letter of 150 words , from the given three choices. Two of these were formal letters and one was an informal letter. Marks alloted for this task was 15.

Essay Writing:
An essay of 250 words , from the three given choices.The topics were on social and economic aspects.Marks alloted for this task was 20.

Precis Writing:

A precis in 130 words of a passage of about 300 words. 15 marks was alloted for this task.
Those who had spent some time on regular practice would have been able to perform well in this section.