IBPS PO Prelims 2017 Overall Exam Analysis & Expected Cutoff

The Preliminary phase of IBPS PO 2017, which started on the 7th of October, has thrown a lot of unexpected changes for the students. IBPS made sure variations were introduced across different slots of the exam. The level of the exam was also high compared to last year, English section especially troubled the students a lot.

To help students understand the changing level of IBPS Exams as well as assist those who have their exams in the upcoming slots, here is the IBPS PO overall exam analysis based on the all the 3 days of the exam (i.e. 7th, 8th and 14th October). We have covered the type and pattern of questions asked from different sections, varying trend of the exams as well as the expected changes for the IBPS PO exam in this post.

It is important to note that students who are well versed with concepts and have practised across topics have not faced much problems. While the pattern has changed to some extent, but it is still the same topics that you have studied earlier so if you have been doing well in mocks and while practicing, there is nothing to worry about.

Overall Exam Analysis of IBPS PO Prelims 2017

Let us now have a look at the overall exam analysis of IBPS PO Preliminary exam based on different parameters.

Trend Analysis of IBPS PO Preliminary Exam

Before we delve into the details of IBPS PO Prelims 2017, here are the major changes that were introduced by IBPS this year, as compared to last year’s exam.

1. Changing exam pattern across slots

The most startling change was the varying pattern of each slot. In contrast to the same number and type of questions from different topics last year, the questions asked in different slots varied this year. For instance, one slot included questions from Syllogism while the other included questions from Coding-Decoding instead.
Input-Output based questions, which are usually asked in the Mains phase, were also asked in some slots.

2. New Pattern-based Questions

The pattern of Error spotting, Fillers and Sentence Improvement questions was new. These were difficult since there were 3 statements given and the options themselves had one or more statements. Even the type of questions asked from error detection varied in different slots. For instance, on day 1 of the exam, spotting error was more on the lines of theme based and parajumbles questions, while on day 2, students had to figure out the odd one (i.e. grammatically incorrect) statement from the given options.

3. Level of Exam

The overall level of English Language was difficult across all sections. Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude sections ranged from Moderate to Difficult across different shifts of this exam.

Section-wise breakup of topics

English Language

RC and Error detection were common across all slots and had 10 questions each. The remaining 10 questions were from sentence improvement and fill in the blanks. There were some questions where and the options themselves had one or multiple sentences correct. These questions were particularly difficult.

Name of the Topic	Questions asked
Reading Comprehension	10 Questions This topic was common across all slots. 4 questions from Synonym/Antonyms were asked in all the shifts from the passage.
Error Detection	10 Questions This topic was common across all shifts of the exam. However, the pattern of error based questions was changed in different shifts.
Sentence Improvement	10 Questions Asked in some slots. Questions were asked based on new pattern. A portion of the sentence in the question was given in bold and 3 cases were given with it, which could replace the bold content. Students had to chose the appropriate choices from the given options. For Example: The villagers had protested against the corrupt government since 1997. I. had been protesting II. have protested III. have been protesting The options included Only I, I & II None of these etc.
Fillers	10 Questions This topic was asked in certain slots only. New pattern-based questions were introduced in this shift. Questions were similar to that of Sentence Improvement explained earlier, only blanks were given instead of the bold portion here.
Sentence Rearrangement	10 Questions Asked in some shifts of the exam conducted on 14th October. The first part of the sentence in these questions was fixed, while the remaining sentence was divided into various parts named A, B, C, D etc. Studenst had to figure out the correct sequence of the sentence which was gramatically correct.

Quantitative Aptitude

There was no new pattern of questions asked in quant. The only variation across slots was that while some slots had quadratic equations, other had number series. 2 sets of DI were there in all the slots.

Name of the topic	Questions asked
Number Series	5 Questions This topic was asked in some slots only. Questions were the arithmetic combination or double step based and easy to attempt.
Simplification/ Approximation	6 Questions This topic was common across all slots. Questions were easily doable, based on basic BODMAS rules.
Quadratic Equation	5 Questions Asked in some slots only. Questions were easy, based on factorisation or basic formula application.
Data Interpretation	12 Questions (2 sets) Common for all slots. The only difference was the type of DI question asked, i.e. some slots included line graph, while Pie chart was asked in others. One tabular graph was common across all shifts.
Miscellaneous	12 Questions These questions again were common for all shifts. The only variation was the number of questions asked from individual arithmetic topics.

Reasoning Ability

There were at least 20 questions from puzzles in each slot. Input-output was also asked in some slots, a topic that was usually asked in only the main exams.

Name of the topic	Questions asked
Inequality	3-5 Questions Asked in some slots only. Questions were direct and easily doable.
Syllogism	3-5 Questions This topic was asked in some slots only. Questions were based on old pattern and were doable.
Coding-Decoding	4-5 Questions ASked in some shifts only. Questions were asked from Sentence based coding.
Input-Output	5 Questions This topic was asked in a few shifts only. The question was based on double shifting pattern and was doable.
Puzzles & Seating Arrangement	20 Questions This topic was common across all shifts However, the type of puzzles and arrangement questions asked varied for each shift. Common puzzles asked were- Box based puzzle, Floor puzzle, Scheduling puzzle, each with additional parameters. Arrangement questions included Circular, Square as well as Linear arrangement (single as well as double row) based questions.
Miscellaneous Questions	3-5 Questions These topics were common across all sections. Their number however changed for different slots. This included questions from Blood Relations, Direction sense, Alphabet test etc.

Expected Cutoff of IBPS PO Prelims Exam 2017

Based on the feedback we have received from the students and, the safe attempts and the expected cutoff of the exam should be in the following range -

Section	Good Attempts	Expected Cutoff
Overall	56+	49-52 marks
English Language	13 +	6-8 marks
Reasoning Ability	20 +	9-10 marks
Quantitative Aptitude	20 +	9-10 marks

Key Takeaways of IBPS PO Exam & Expected Changes

The pattern and the level of the exam have been increased significantly in the prelims phase of IBPS PO and similar changes can be expected in the upcoming slots of IBPS PO Preliminary exam as well.
But what is more important to note is that the questions asked are not fundamentally different and are similar to questions that have been asked earlier in the SBI and IBPS exams. Rather than thinking about how the pattern may change in your shift, it is important to be well prepared in all the different topics that are asked in different banking exams, a special focus on English is required.
IBPS is expected to replicate this trend for the mains phase of the exam as well. You can expect questions to be on par with that of SBI PO Mains phase. This means more of logical reasoning questions, arithmetic problem-based DI sets, theme-based and other new pattern based questions can be expected in the mains of IBPS PO this year. We will provide you with all the details around t once the Pre Exam gets over.
Earlier the questions in the exam were asked in a set of 5 or 10 questions, in one go, which made choosing the topics easy. However, now the questions, even from the same topic are scattered, and hence, choosing which topic to attempt first as per your convenience is slightly difficult now.
Yes, the pattern has changed to some extent, but it’s still the same topics that you have studied earlier. You just need to follow the approach that suits you best, don't worry about the change in pattern.

All the best for your exams,

Team gradeup!