English Preparation Strategy-IBPS PO 2021

IBPS PO English: The English section in IBPS PO Exam consists of 30 questions of 30 Marks in the Prelims Exam & 35 Questions of 40 Marks in the Mains Exam. To clear this section, you need to make reading a daily Habit, clear the basics of Grammar, work on enhancing your vocabulary, and practice various structures of sentences. The difficulty level of last year’s paper was medium, and this level is expected this year too. But you need to be ready to face tough questions and practice a lot to grab a good score in the upcoming exam.

Exam Pattern-IBPS PO 2021

The IBPS PO Prelims exam tests a candidate with 100 questions of Objective type (MCQ). In the second stage, you will have to face Objective questions (MCQ) of 200 + 25 marls of Objective (MCQ) nature, except for the English Descriptive Paper. The last stage, the interview, will test you with Verbal questions of 100 Marks.

IBPS PO Prelims-Exam Pattern

The prelims exam of IBPS PO consists of a total of 100 questions with a time duration of 60 minutes.

• Question type remains Multiple Choice questions.
• There is a negative marking of 0.25 marks in the exam for each wrong answer.
• This round of IBPS PO exam is only qualifying in nature.

S. No.	Name of Test	No. of Questions	Maximum Marks	Duration
1	English Language	30	30	20 minutes
2	Quantitative Aptitude	35	35	20 minutes
3	Reasoning Ability	35	35	20 minutes
	Total	100	100	60 minutes

Note: As per the official IBPS website, Candidates have to qualify in each of the three tests by securing minimum cut-off marks to be decided by IBPS. An adequate number of candidates in each category as decided by IBPS depending upon requirements will be shortlisted for Online Main Examination.

IBPS PO Mains-Exam Pattern

IBPS PO Mains exam also entertains Multiple Choice type questions with a slightly higher difficulty level. The Number of questions and the duration of the exam is higher as compared to the Prelims Exam. In addition, there is also a negative marking of 0.25 in the IBPS PO main exam for every incorrect answer you will give. Take a look at the table given below to know the No. of Questions asked and the time duration allowed to answer each section of the IBPS PO Mains Exam.

S. No.	Section Name	No. of Questions	Maximum Marks	Duration
1	Reasoning & Computer Aptitude	45	60	60 minutes
2	English Language	35	40	40 minutes
3	Data Analysis & Interpretation	35	60	45 minutes
4	General Economy & Banking Awareness	40	40	35 minutes
	Total	155	200	3 Hours
5	English Language (Letter Writing & Essay)	2	25	30 minutes

Note: As per the official IBPS website, IBPS reserves the right to modify the structure of the examination which will be intimated through its authorized website. Other detailed information regarding the examination will be given in an Information Handout, which will be made available for the candidates to download along with the call letters from the authorized IBPS website.

IBPS PO Prelims Syllabus 2021

The syllabus for the preliminary exam includes three subjects- English Language, Quantitative Aptitude, and Reasoning Ability.

English Language (30 marks)	Quantitative Aptitude (35 marks)	Reasoning (35 marks)
Reading Comprehension	Simplification	Logical Reasoning
Cloze Test	Profit and Loss	Alphanumeric Series
Para Jumbles	Mixtures and Allegations	Ranking/Direction/Alphabet Test
Miscellaneous	Simple Interest, Compound Interest, Indices	Data Sufficiency
Fill in the blanks	Work and Time	Coded Inequalities
Multiple Meaning/Error Spotting	Time and Distance	Seating Arrangement
Paragraph Completion	Mensuration- Cylinder, Cone, Sphere	Puzzle
–	Data Interpretation	Tabulation
–	Ratio & Proportion, Percentage	Syllogism
–	Number Systems	Blood Relations
–	Sequence and Series	Input-Output
–	Permutation, Combination, and Probability	Coding-Decoding
–	Percentages	Statement and Arguement
–	Quadratic Equations	Analogy

Note: Prelims is the first stage in IBPS PO Selection Process and the Marks secured in Prelims will not be considered while calculating the final merit of the candidates. But it is important to qualify for the Prelims stage to reach the Mains stage. The prelims exam has sectional and overall cut-off where candidates must obtain minimum sectional and overall scores as stipulated by IBPS to qualify for the exam.

English Language (30 marks)-Prelims Exam

• Reading Comprehension
• Cloze Test
• Para Jumbles
• Miscellaneous
• Fill in the blanks
• Multiple Meaning/Error Spotting
• Paragraph Completion

English Language (40 Marks)-IBPS PO Mains Exam

• Vocabulary
• Verbal Ability
• Reading Comprehension
• Grammar
• Fill in the Blanks

Note: There will be a descriptive Paper on the English Language where candidates will have to write a Letter and an Essay. Total marks for the paper will be 25 and the duration will be 30 minutes. IBPS will examine the descriptive paper only when the candidate will score minimum marks in the objective paper.

Important & Expected Topics for IBPS PO Prelims Exam

The English section of the prelims exam will comprise 30 questions and they carry a total of 30 marks. The following topics are important for this section as per the previous year’s pattern.

• Reading Comprehension
• Spotting Errors/Sentence Correction/Sentence Improvement
• Cloze Test
• Para Jumbles/Sentence Rearrangement
• Double Fillers

English Preparation Strategy-Prelims & Mains Exams

Here are easy topic-wise strategies to counter some important topics of the IBPS PO English Section:

1. Reading Comprehension

You can expect 8-10 questions in the IBPS PO prelims. The question or the passage may be based on the economy. Keep reading the newspaper like the Economist or Financial Times to counter such passages. 

1.    Spotting Errors/Sentence Correction/Sentence Improvement:

Read the complete sentence carefully and spot the errors of eliminating those questions one by one which you think are completely wrong. You may come across 5-10 questions from this part. You may also have to answer questions on Sentence Improvement instead of spotting errors. Therefore, you need to know grammar rules well to score maximum marks in this section.

Know about 5 Best Banking Exams that Can Design your Destiny In 2021

2.    Cloze Test

Read the passage carefully, understand the ideas or arguments in it and eliminate the odd one out. You need to practice Cloze test questions regularly in order to succeed in doing it. 4-5 Questions may be asked from this part.

3.    Double Fillers

In it, your vocabulary power will be judged, so fill in the most appropriate word. Build up your vocabulary arsenal to counter the blanks. 5 questions are expected from double fillers.

4.    Para Jumbles

In Para Jumbles, you need to read the question carefully from the beginning till the end and try to find out the connecting sentences.

5.    Sentence Correction

In Sentence Correction, you will have to skim through all the options and identify the grammatical errors.

Read how to Crack IBPS, SBI PO/Clerk Exams like a Genius!

6.    Para Jumbles/Sentence Rearrangement

In sentence Para Jumbles/Sentence Rearrangement, you will have to read all the options carefully and try to identify which option matches the idea or theme of the given passage. You may be asked 5 questions on this topic.

3 Simple Tricks to Score Good marks in IBPS PO English Section

Given below are 3 simple tricks to score good marks in English Section:

1.      Analyse previous years’ questions papers

You must properly analyze the syllabus of the given Bank Exam. Make notes, and note down the weightage of various subjects, so that you can decide the topics to give more attention to while studying. By doing so you will get an idea about the exam pattern and your mind will be ready to understand what it needs to do in less time.

2.      Polish the rules of grammar via Mock Test

Polish up the rules of grammar like:

• Subject-verb agreement
• Active and passive voice
• Reported Speech (Direct and indirect speech)
• Spellings
• Tenses
• Articles
• Singulars and plural
• Phrases and idioms
• Noun and pronoun
• Preposition
• Conjunction
• Conditionals
• Question tags
• Adjectives and determiners

Practice a number of examples to learn the application of all the grammatical rules.  This can also be done by reading the newspaper and magazines daily. Practice as many questions as you can on each topic mentioned above.

3.      Fine-tune your Comprehension skills

Fine-tuning your reading skills automatically fine-tunes your comprehension abilities. Reading Comprehension is the most important topic in the English Language section.

You need to read the newspaper articles and editorials regularly to accelerate your reading speed, reading your daily habit.  After reading, try to write the best and shortest summary and check the number of words you have used in it. Try to write it in as minimum words as possible.  This will help you in finding the answers easily from the given passage.

Also read SBI Clerk Mains Exam 2021: 6 Tips to Master Reading Comprehension!

Attempt IBPS PO Mock Tests

After covering every topic from the IBPS PO syllabus, it is essential to test yourself regularly. To make it easy, you must go for Mock Tests. Make a timetable and draw a checklist in it while you are studying, so that you shouldn’t leave any important topic. Mock Tests can be described as the clones to the actual exams, which provide the students with different types of questions. By attempting the, you cover each and every important topic from the syllabus and this helps you in understanding the exact exam pattern and the patterns of questions that the actual exams will test you with. Therefore, you must prepare yourself in a way that you can answer all sorts of questions of every level that the actual exam will entertain. Hence, you should go for as many Mock Tests as you can to clear the exam on the very first attempt.