It has been reported by our students that the online IBPS Clerk 2018 Main examination held on 20th Jan 2019 was tedious, time-consuming and difficult when compared to the one held in 2017.

The Reasoning and English sections ranged between moderate to difficult. The Quant section was both time-consuming and challenging, whereas the one on GA was less intense.

The following novel features were observed in the exam this year:

1. A changed format of Puzzle questions (Queue+10 Persons+Symbols+QBR, QBR+Symbols+Ages);
2. New types of Coding-Decoding and Input-Output questions;
3. FIBs (2 blanks) – A pair of suitable words should be picked from 6 words given in two columns;
4. A sentence marked A, B, C, D, E was given where E was fixed. The test-taker had to re-arrange A, B, C, D to form another coherent sentence.
5. The presentation of Cloze test paragraph in the English section was entirely offbeat – a paragraph with 5 questions pertaining to - fill in the blanks, phrase in bold replacement, word in bold etc.. were given.

The snap shot of the exam is given below:

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

Quantitative Aptitude:

According to feedback received from our students who appeared for this exam, this section can be rated as moderate to difficult and it was time-consuming.

Questions on DI were long drawn-out and tough to work out; questions on caselets were difficult. Individual questions in this section were based on topics like Percentages, Simple & Compund Interest, Averages, Mixtures and Alligation, Time & Work, etc.. Though not direct questions, they can be described as tricky, and only an in-depth knowledge of concepts would have helped a candidate to solve them. Questions on Data Sufficiency (2 statements) too ranged from moderate to difficult. The 5 questions on Data comparisons involving two quantities and Quadratic Comparisons were reportedly doable and within reasonable limits.

Reasoning Ability and Computer Aptitude:

This section has also been labelled as 'moderate to difficult'.

The emphasis here was on puzzles, which ranged moderate and difficult. There are two new types of puzzles – Queue+10 Persons+Symbols+QBR, QBR+Symbols+Ages. Among other topics, questions on Coding-Decoding and Input-Output posed new models. There were 3 questions each on Input-Output and Direction Sense, and 2 questions each on Symbols Notations and Deductions. There were about 8 questions on Critical Reasoning.

There were no questions on Computer Aptitude in this section.

English Language:

This section varied between moderate to tough. There were 3 RC passages with a total of 12 questions. Topics here related to importance of a nutritious diet, drinking water and brain health etc..

Sentence Rearrangement: A grammatically meaningful sentence labelled A, B, C, D, E was given in which part E was kept static, and the test-taker had to re-arrange the first four parts in a different sequence to form another logical and coherent sentence.

FIB (2 blanks) – Each sentence with two blanks had to be filled with a pair of words to be picked from the 6 choices given in two columns

Inappropriate usage - A sentence, with one word in bold, followed by 5 sentences framed from that word, in the choices, was given. That sentence was to be marked in which the meaning of this word differed from the one given in the main sentence.

Cloze Test - The Cloze test paragraph with its 5 questions, was very unconventional in its presentation The questions were not consistent with those characteristic of a cloze test, and included a multitude of question types namely, fill in the blanks, phrase in bold replacement, word in bold etc. With in the same set.

On a whole, this section can be rated as ranging between 'Moderate to Difficult'.

General Awareness:

Unlike other years, very few questions were asked from Banking and Inidian Economy. Majority of the questions were related to Current Affairs which presented questions from events that took place from July 2018 to Jan 2019. Students have reported this as a moderate and doable section.