The IBPS Clerk Prelims was held on December 12, 18 and 19 2021. The Prelims result will be released in December 2021/January 2022.
The candidates clearing the Prelims exam will be called for the Mains exam which will take place in January/February 2022.
With less than a month to go for the second phase of this exam, we hope that you have already started your preparation. If not, don’t worry, as in this article we will be sharing some preparation tips and tricks that will help you in kick-starting your preparation.
IBPS Clerk Exam Pattern
Before jumping in, let us briefly look at the exam pattern-
This exam is conducted in two phases-
- Online Prelims exam
- Online Mains exam
Note-
- There will be no interview.
- For final selection, candidates must pass the Mains exam.
- There is a negative marking of 0.25 for wrong answers.
IBPS Clerk Mains Exam Pattern
| Subject | No. of Questions | Marks | Duration (Separately timed) |
| General/Financial Awareness | 50 | 50 | 35 minutes |
| General English | 40 | 40 | 35 minutes |
| Reasoning Ability and Computer Aptitude | 50 | 60 | 45 minutes |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 50 | 45 minutes |
| Total | 190 | 200 | 160 minutes |
IBPS Clerk Mains: Subject- wise Preparation Tips
To score well in this exam, you need to devote enough time to your preparation as well as revision because your final selection depends solely on your Mains performance.
Therefore, every subject should be prepared well in advance before the actual exam.
Given below is the subject-wise breakdown as well as the tips on how to prepare them-
English Language
- Focus on basics of English Grammar to score high in this section. Good grammar knowledge will help you with questions on error spotting, tenses, active/passive voice.
- Improve your vocabulary by reading the newspapers, articles, magazines and books.
- Develop a reading habit to improve your speed. This will help in the Reading Comprehension questions.
General/Financial Awareness
This section consists of questions based on various topics/ areas such as-
Current Affairs-
- It includes the present and ongoing events of the past one year in different fields like politics, finance, banking, economy, sports, etc.
- Commit to watching/reading the news everyday to stay updated with the current events. Pick one newspaper of your choice and read it diligently.
- Make notes of the most important events/dates as this will make last minute revision easier.
- Analyse your strong areas in this section and prioritise those topics first.
- If you still don’t know where to start, ixamBee provides GK updates in the form of BeePedia. These updates are free and available in Hindi as well.
Static GK
- For Static GK, you can refer to Lucent’s book on General Knowledge. It covers a variety of questions on various topics like- History, Geography, Science and Economy.
- Try including one topic daily and revise regularly.
- Identify the relevant topics and only focus on them as not many questions are asked from this section.
Financial Awareness
- This section carries the maximum weightage of questions. Therefore, special attention has to be given to Financial Awareness.
- Refer to newspapers, articles, magazines for updates.
- Make note of the government policies/schemes relating to the financial/banking sector.
- Also, go through the history of Banking systems, RBI (its functions), Economy, etc.
- If you are still confused, refer to IBPS Clerk Mains previous year papers to understand the type of questions asked and identify those topics.
Reasoning Ability
- Focus on topics like- Syllogism, Ranking, Blood relations, Direction sense, Puzzle, Seating Arrangement, Coding-Decoding, etc.
- Practice seating arrangement and puzzles everyday to improve your speed and accuracy as these questions carry the maximum marks.
- Attempt easy questions first and then go for puzzles/seating arrangement.
- Make notes of short tricks and revise them everyday.
Computer Aptitude
- You can refer to any book for covering the theoretical concepts of computer systems. Revise regularly to ensure that you do not forget the concepts.
- For practical topics like Microsoft Office, keyboard shortcuts, practice on a computer. This will help in better retention and understanding.
Quantitative Aptitude
- Important topics- Quadratic equations, DI, Series, Simplification, Time and Work, Probability, Permutation & Combination, etc.
- Work on clearing your basics before diving into difficult topics.
- Maximum number of questions are asked form DI, so make sure you practice daily.
- Make a note of frequently used formulas and short tricks and revise them daily.
- Develop a habit of doing paperwork to practice instead of solving orally. This will help in improving accuracy and room for error will be minimised.
IBPS Clerk Mains Preparation: General Tips
- Create a timetable that you can easily follow. Divide your time in such a manner that you are able to give time to all the subjects.
- Go through the exam pattern and syllabus properly to identify the easy and difficult topics.
- Start with topics that carry more weightage.
- Understand your attention span to figure out how long you can concentrate productively and make modifications accordingly.
- Take small breaks to refresh yourself.
- Once you have finished the entire syllabus, test yourself by giving the IBPS Clerk Mains Mock Tests. These mock tests are free.
- Don’t burden yourself with new topics just before the exam. Focus on revision of important topics/concepts. This will boost your confidence.
At ixamBee you can find free Online Test Series, GK updates in the form of BeePedia, as well as latest updates for Bank PO, Bank Clerk, SSC, RBI, NABARD and Other Government Jobs.
Also Read
IBPS Clerk Notification 2021-22
2020 Analysis of IBPS Clerk Exam
Previous Year Cut-off for Prelims/Mains: IBPS Clerk Exam 2021