IBPS PO main exam 2017 admit cards released; Changes in IBPS PO Mains Exam.

Introduction of Differential Marking suggests that the overall difficulty level of the Test may be tougher compared to last year. In fact, going by SBI PO Mains 2017, the difficulty level of questions could be 4 (difficult) and 5 (very difficult) – generally, IBPS PO follows the suit of SBI PO.

Firstly, congratulations to all of you who have qualified for IBPS PO 2017 Mains Examination. Job well done, but only half-done. It is time you now focus on the PO Mains Exam. For those of you who didn’t make it, start preparing for IBPS Clerical Prelims, IBPS Specialist Officer Prelims, etc. Go back to the drawing board and work hard for these exams. This week, we shall discuss the changes in IBPS PO Mains 2017 and as an aspirant, how should you adapt to and prepare for these changes.

How Many Will Appear for IBPS PO Mains 2017?

According to IBPS PO notification, 3562 officer vacancies are to be filled during the year 2018 -19 in govt banks.See below for bank-wise breakup of available posts:

According to the IBPS recruitment process, selections are to happen in the following stages:

Qualify in Prelims & get shortlisted for Mains exam
Qualify in Mains & get chosen for Personal interview
Qualify in Interview & get appointed as PO

Every year, approximately, 8 – 10 lakh candidates appear for the IBPS PO prelims and IBPS fixes cutoffs in such a way they shortlist in the ratio of 1:20 (20 times the no. of vacancies) normally.

IBPS PO Mains 2017 Latest Pattern & Changes

The major change you observe when compared to last year- it has lesser no. of questions – 150 questions for 200 marks as compared to 200 questions for 200 marks. Unlike last year, every question this year will not be of one mark. Instead, there would be some questions which carry more than one mark, most likely – a combination of two and one-mark questions. Do note that the negative marking associated with a 2-mark question would also be higher than with a 1-mark question. With a bit of number crunching – a possible scenario for number of 1 and 2-mark questions across different sections is as follows –

We assume that there would be 45 2-mark questions with majority of them (25 Questions) in Data Analysis & Interpretation – a new section replacing the Quantitative Aptitude & Numerical Ability section from previous years.

Introduction of differential marking suggests that the overall difficulty level of the Test might be tougher compared to last year. In fact, going by SBI PO Mains 2017, the difficulty level of questions could be 4 (difficult) and 5 (very difficult) – generally, IBPS PO follows the suit of SBI PO. However, this does not mean the questions would get tougher, it means they might get trickier.

Given that Differential Marking is a new concept, there is still uncertainty on what kind of questions or areas get higher marks. But, we expect any or all of the below kind of questions to have 2 marks:

Questions which test multiple concepts, like Para Completion questions which test both logical flow and grammar, questions from profit/loss, time/speed/distance involving graphs which test your arithmetic and data analysis, etc. Since, you need to be applying multiple concepts to solve such questions, these might be given higher value.
Questions which are time-consuming. For ex: Puzzles in Reasoning, Data Interpretation Tables in Data Analysis section, etc. Since, these questions need you to patiently invest time and solve a puzzle or table, they might have higher marks.
Question which are of newer/ trickier variety. For ex: Reverse Syllogisms, Para Jumble with an asterisk, Conditional Para Jumbles, etc. The extra marks are purely for the surprise/ shock factor these varieties bring to the test.

Strategy to deal with the changes in IBPS PO Mains 2017:

Our simple strategy at this point of time, with two-three weeks for your PO Mains, would be to Practice More, to Practice Smart!

What do I mean by that? Thanks to differential marking, students have a tendency of focusing only on 2 mark questions in the Examination, with the ambition of increasing their score by attempting only a few questions. While the goal is right, you need to be smart while doing this.

Assess the kind of questions which you can attempt accurately and quickly. This is where Practice More becomes important. The more you practice, the better you can assess the kind of questions you can score from. Sometimes, 2-mark questions might be from areas you are not strong or be extremely time-consuming or very tricky. In such cases you need to avoid those questions to stay safe in the exam. Attempt at least 3 to 4 Mock IBPS PO Mains Full-length Tests every week and analyze them to understand your areas of strength and weakness with respect to the exam. So, that on the D-Day, you know what kind of questions to attempt and what are not be attempted, irrespective of the number of marks allotted to them.
Expose yourself to newer variety of question formats, to reduce the surprise factor when you walk into the Test. Newer question formats need not mean tougher questions. Many a time, students feel them to be tough, purely because of lack of exposure to such variety. This is where Practice Smart becomes important. Next few weeks, focus on exposing yourself to as many atypical models as possible from various sources. It reduces the probability of not knowing a particular question format and reduces the shock element in the test.

Respected Source – Telangana Today