The IBPS SO exam 2021-22 notification is expected any day now. To help you start your preparation comfortably, we have put together the IBPS SO Prelims 2020 exam analysis for you.
Take a look at the subject-wise analysis below to understand how many questions you can roughly expect per topic and which topics need more of your time and attention.
IBPS SO Prelims Exam
In the Prelims exam, candidates will be assessed on 3 subjects for their aptitude test. They are:
- Reasoning
- English Language
- Quantitative Aptitude
Please note: For Law Officer and Rajbhasha Adhikari, Quantitative Aptitude test will be replaced by a test of General Awareness with special focus on the Banking Sector.
Take a look at the complete IBPS SO Syllabus.
IBPS SO Prelims 2020 Exam Analysis
Reasoning Aptitude
| Topics | No. of Questions | Level |
| Seating Arrangement | 10 | Moderate |
| Puzzles | 10 | Moderate |
| Data Sufficiency | 4 | Moderate |
| Coded Inequality | 3 | Easy- Moderate |
| Syllogism | 5 | Easy- Moderate |
| Direction | 3 | Easy |
| Blood Relation | 1 | Easy |
| Input Output | 5 | Easy |
| Misc. | 7 | Easy- Moderate |
| Assumptions based | 2 | Moderate |
| Total | 50 | Easy- Moderate |
For Reasoning, 10 questions each were asked on Puzzles and Seating Arrangement Questions. This is hardly surprising because we always ask our students to focus their attention toward solving Puzzles and Seating Arrangement questions daily as these many questions are expected every year from these 2 topics.
The Seating Arrangement questions were based on circular and dual arrangement sitting. The puzzles were based on floors and scheduling. In all, the standard of assessment was easy-moderate.
English Language
| Topics | No. of Questions | Level |
| Reading Comprehension | 20 | Easy to Moderate |
| Error Detection | 10 | Easy |
| Rearrangement | 5 | Easy |
| Sentence Correction | 5 | Easy to Moderate |
| Cloze test | 5 | Easy to Moderate |
| Word Replacement | 5 | Easy to Moderate |
| Total | 50 | Easy |
For the English language test, as you can see from the table above, the questions were quite evenly spread out from all the topics. The highest number of questions, i.e, 20, were assessed from the passage that was provided. The overall level of assessment was easy.
So, if you prepare well for the English test, you can score quite well.
Quantitative Aptitude
For Quantitative Aptitude, as is always the case, the highest number of questions (15) were based on Data Interpretation. These DI questions were based on pie-charts, tables and Caselets. 20 questions were based on Arithmetic Word Problems from topics like Profit & Loss, Time & Work, Simple & Compound Interest and such.
The overall level of examination was easy-moderate.
| Topics | No. of Questions | Level |
| Quadratic Equation | 5 | Easy- Moderate |
| Data Interpretation | 15 | Easy- Moderate |
| Simplification | 5 | Easy |
| Data Sufficiency | 5 | Moderate |
| Arithmetic Word Problem | 20 | Moderate |
| Total | 50 | Easy-Moderate |
As you can make out, it is of paramount importance that you practice Data Interpretation problems daily. Moreover, ‘Arithmetic Word Problems’ are a very scoring topic and you should not leave out any topic during your preparation.
IBPS SO Prelims 2020 Cut-off
Section-wise Cut-off
Take a look at the cut-off for each subject in the table below. The highest cut-off mark across all subjects was for the Reasoning test at 13.50 for the General category.
| Subject | General | Reserved |
| Reasoning | 13.50 | 8.75 |
| English Language | 9.50 | 6.75 |
| General Awareness/ Quantitative Aptitude | 11.50 | 7.50 |
Category-wise Cut-off
| Category | Cut-off Mark |
| Unreserved | 81.50 |
| SC | 73.25 |
| ST | 64.50 |
| OBC | 79.50 |
| VI | 57.38 |
| HI | 28.13 |
| ID | 45.38 |
| OC | 71.25 |
| EWS | 80.25 |
The highest cut-off mark across all categories was 81.50 for the unreserved group. The lowest cut-off mark was 28.13 for those with hearing impairment.
IBPS SO Previous Years’ Papers
When you’re looking at the exam analysis, it is always a good idea to also look at the previous years’ papers as you go along.
IBPS SO (Rajbhasha/Law Officer) Previous Year Paper
IBPS SO (IT/HR/AFO/Marketing) Prelims Previous Year Papers
With the exam analysis at your disposal, we hope you now have a fair idea of what you may expect in the IBPS SO Prelims examination. And now that you have a fair idea of what you will face, there is no reason for any delay in beginning your preparation.
If you need any help with your preparation, do take a look at ixamBee’s IBPS SO Prelims Exclusive Course.
Good luck!
At ixamBee, you can find free Online Test Series, GK updates in the form of BeePedia, as well as latest updates for SBI PO, Bank Clerk, SSC, RBI, NABARD, and Other Government Jobs.
Also read
Salary of an IBPS SO Agriculture Field Officer
All About IBPS SO Exam: Exam Pattern, Syllabus & Job Profile
IBPS SO Law Officer: How to prepare in 8 months?