IBPS PO 2019 Main Exam Analysis

It has been reported by our students, that the online IBPS PO/MT CWE 2019 Main examination held on 30th Nov 2019 was tedious, time-consuming and difficult vis-a-vis with the one held in 2018.

The Reasoning section was difficult while the English section was moderate. The Data Analysis and Interpretation section was very difficult, whereas the one on GA was easy to moderate.

The following changes / new question types were observed in the exam this year:

1. Wrong number series
2. New types of Puzzle questions
3. Word Interchange – 4 words each were given in bold in two sentences. Interchange the bold words in first and second sentences to form a meaningful sentence.
4. Para Forming with sentence jumbling (Appeared in recent SBI PO 2019 main exam)
5. Error Identification with sentence jumbled
6. Word Replacement with sentence jumbled - A sentence with four parts was given. Rearrange the parts to form a meaning sentence and replace the word in any one of the parts with the word given in options.

The snap shot of the exam is given below:

S.No Name of Tests No. of Qs Max Marks Duration
1 Reasoning & Computer Ability $45.00 60 60 Minutes 2 Data Analysis & Interpretation$35.00 60 45 Minutes
3 General Economy / Banking Awareness 40 40 35 Minutes
4 English Language 35 40 40 Minutes
TOTAL 155 200 3 Hours

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 very difficult and was quite time-consuming.

There were 6 sets (about 26 questions) on DI. Questions on DI were long drawn-out and required arduous effort to solve. The questions on Time-Work and Probability based caselets were moderate to difficult. There was one question on Wrong number series.

Topic No. of Questions Difficulty
Data Interpretation (6 sets – Pie chart with four regions Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4 with valid and invalid voters,
Missing Table with Total no. of Applicants,
No. of duplicate applicants,
Average no. of duplicate applications,
Two stacked bar graphs with three companies X, Y, Z actual sales and targeted sales,
Scattered graph with missing table based on total orders taken and delivered ,
Two caselets - one on percentage of batteries and toys and the other on two villages with male and female population)
$26 Wrong Number Series$1 Moderate
Time & Work based Caselet $5 Moderate - Difficult Probability based Caselet 3 Moderate - Difficult Reasoning Ability and Computer Aptitude: This section has been labelled as 'difficult'. The emphasis here was on puzzles, which were a twister. There are seven new types of puzzles – Forty one floors with five lifts (even and odd floor concept); Thirteen boxes in alphabetical order from top to bottom with toffees which are multiples of thirteen and each box is of a different colour; Six persons facing North and each of them is pouring cerain quantity of milk in the containers; Circular arrangement with seven persons. Persons sitting in adjacent positions are not arranged in alphabetical order and their ages; Eleven houses in a row from West to East with three houses vacant, eight persons and their ages; Eight persons their designations with four couples and three cities; Two stacks A and B, ten books to be arranged, example is given with some values involving mathematical calculations (similar to Input-Output model). There were two sets with three questions each on Input-Output, three questions on Direction sense with Symbols (similar to the question type asked in IBPS PO 2017 main exam), two questions on Blood Relations with Symbols (similar to the question type asked in IBPS PO 2017 main exam), two questions on Symbols & Notations (inequalities). There was one question on Reverse Syllogism (similar to the question type asked in IBPS PO 2016 Main exam). About five questions were asked on Critical Reasoning. There were no questions on Computer Aptitude in this section. Topic No. of Questions Difficulty level Puzzles (Forty one floors with five lifts (even and odd floor concept); Thirteen boxes in alphabetical order from top to bottom with toffees which are multiples of thirteen and each box is of a different colour; Six persons facing North and each of them is pouring cerain quantity of milk in the containers; Circular arrangement with seven persons. Persons sitting in adjacent positions are not arranged in alphabetical order and their ages; Eleven houses in a row from West to East with three houses vacant, eight persons and their ages; Eight persons their designations with four couples and three cities; Two stacks A and B, ten books to be arranged, example is given with some values involving mathematical calculations (similar to Input-Output model)$25 Difficult
Direction Sense with Symbols $2 Moderate Reverse Syllogism$1 Moderate
Blood Relations with Symbols 3 Moderate
Symbols & Notations (Inequalities) 3 Easy
Critical Reasoning 5 Difficult
Input-Output 6 Moderate - Difficult

English Language:

This section can be rated as moderate and was a saving grace.

PFQs with Sentence Jumbled – Five sentences were given. Each sentence is in jumbled order. Student has to arrange the parts of the sentences first and then arrange the paragraph. There was on OMO question also. The difficulty level can be pegged between moderate to difficult. This model was asked in the recent SBI PO 2019 Main exam.

Word Replacement – A sentence was divided into fours parts – A/B/C/D. Interchange the four parts to form a meaningful sentence and then replace one of the words in any part with the options given below. (New Model)

Word Interchange – Two sentences each with four words in bold were given. Interchange the words in first sentence with the second sentence to form a meaningful sentence. (New Model)

Reading Comprehension – There were 5 RC passages with approximately 18 questions. All the pasages were easy to read and questions ranged from easy to moderate. In one of the passages, one question on FIB and one question on Word Replacement were asked. (similar to the question type asked in IBPS PO 2018 main exam)

Error Identification with Sentence Jumbled – A sentence was divided into five parts. Identify any two parts with error, replace with the correct part and then interchange the two parts to form a meaningful sentence. (New Model)

Topic No. of Questions Difficulty level
Reading Comprehension 18 ( 5 passages) Easy - Moderate
Para Forming Questions with Sentence Jumbled $5 Moderate Error Identification with Sentence Jumbled$3 Moderate
Word Interchange (Two sentences with four words each) 3 - 4 Moderate
Word Replacement 4 - 5 Easy to Moderate

General Awareness:

This section too was the saving grace in the entire paper. This section can be rated as ‘Easy to Moderate’.

As reported by our students, about 23 to 25 questions were on Current Affairs (based on July to Nov 2019 events), 5 to 6 questions on Banking Awareness. Thus, students who are regularly following the current affairs could have easily attempted 30+ questions.

Test Area Good Score
Data Analysis and Interpretation 8 - 10
Reasoning Ability and Computer Aptitude 13 - 15
English Language 20 - 22
General Economy & Banking Awareness 27 - 29
Overall 68 - 76

(B) Descriptive Test:

This section was conducted for 25 marks, with a time limit of 30 minutes, and comprised Letter and Essay Writing. There were 5 topics for writing essays and 5 for letters, and the test-taker had to pick one topic from each of these to write on.

Essay topics (Choose any one) (250 words):

1. Pros and Cons of 4 day week
2. Influence of Social Media
3. Ethical Banking
4. FDI in retail sector
5. Contribution of unorganised sector in the Indian economy

Letter Writing ( Choose any one) (150 words):

1. Letter to the Editor about Govt initiative and support program for lonely elders
2. Letter to General Manager of a Company regarding issues of post painting of the house. 5 years warranty given but the paint is not intact
3. Letter to the Road Transport Authority compalining about the usage of high beam LED lights in vehicles.
4. You have purchased a TV in EMI scheme. Monthly EMI of Rs.2000/-. The bank has deducted Rs.3000/- by mistake. Write a letter to the Bank Manager to roll back / adjust Rs.1000/- which was deducted by mistake.
5. Letter to cousin explaining about the benefits of taking part-time job at college.