The SBI Clerk 2018 Prelim exam was held in June 2018. The analysis of the same has been presented below. A sectional time limit was introduced for the first time in Prelim exam.

Snap shot of the Exam:

Test Area No. of questions Duration Numerical Ability 35 Questions 20 Mins Reasoning Ability 35 Questions 20 Mins English Language 30 Questions 20 Mins Total no. of Questions 100 Qs 60 Mins

No of choices per question – 5 Negative marking: 0.25 of the marks assigned to each question

Though overall, the exam can be given a moderately easy tag, there were a couple of aspects observed in each of the sections in this year's exam that are worth mentioning. Apart from the fact that the exam was presented with a sectional time limit, thus restricting navigability among sections, there was no uniformity in both the number of questions and question types in each of the sections among any of the slots.

The section wise analysis of the above mentioned session, as reported by our students, is given below:

Numerical Ability: According to feedback received from our students who appeared for this exam, this section can be rated as easy to moderate.

Across all slots, the questions can be classified as simple and doable. Here too, the number of questions and the type of questions were both at variance among all slots. Another novel aspect specific to this section was that questions on two specific areas - Data Sufficiency and Data Comparison - which till last year were considered exclusive areas for the Mains exam, made an appearance here.

Questions on Number series were easy to work out. Individual questions pertained to topics – Profit & Loss, Partnership, Time & Work, Time & Distance, Simple & Compound Interest and Mensuration etc., and these too were elementary.

Since the difficulty level was easy - moderate, candidates would certainly have been able to attempt around 21 - 23 questions within the allocated time limit of 20 minutes, provided if he / she chose judiciously.

Following table depicts the number of questions from various topics, which were asked in this section.

Reasoning: This section also has been given a 'Moderate' tag.

There were no questions on Deductions. The topic on Sequence drew 5 questions in most of the slots. Questions on Set of numbers ranged from 2 to 5, and were conspicuous by their absence in quite a few slots. Questions based on Blood Relations and Analytical Puzzles were consistent in their presence across all the slots, but their numbers stood variously.

The surprise element in this section apart from the general features stated above, was the appearance of questions on Input-output and Data Sufficiency, both of which otherwise are pet areas of the Mains of this exam, in a couple of slots. Thus, about 18 - 20 questions could possibly have been solved in the 20 minutes assigned to this section.

Following table depicts the number of questions from various topics, which were asked in this section.

English Language :

This section too was along expected lines in terms of difficulty level, and can be given an easy to moderate tag.

As common to most areas of the other two sections this year, questions presented here too were not constant in number and presentation among different slots. Though candidates were tested in all the important areas, the weightage varied as a result of the above mentioned change in the manner of presentation, and this is noteworthy.

Unlike in the recent history of Bank exams, there were no new question types here, nor was any of the convention types tweaked and presented, and this must have surely been a breather for all the test-takers.

Thus, about 18 - 20 questions in the English section could easily have been solved in the given 20 minutes. Following table depicts the number of questions from various topics, which were asked in this section.