Order & Ranking Practice Questions – Download Free PDF

Order & Ranking is one important topic asked in banking exams. These questions will test your logical thinking skills on understanding the overall order of a set of people and their rank from any of the sides. Questions from this section are important and are mostly asked in major banking exams. To make it simple, sample the below example of an Order & Ranking question:

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Ques Reena’s rank is 21st from the top and 15th from the bottom in the class. How many students are there in the class? 

(a) 29

(b) 36

(c) 27

(d) 35 

(e) None of these

Please be mindful that this is an extremely simple question and once you have already practised a number of questions on this topic, this question should not take more than 5-7 seconds to solve. Once you have done enough practice, you will be able to come up with your own shortcuts & tricks. A lot of practice will also help you face different types of questions with different difficulty levels. When you come across a problem related to Order & Ranking, read the question carefully making a mental note of what all information has been provided and what is the question trying to ask. If there is no logical link between the two, you can simply mark the option, “Cannot be determined”.

Let’s have a look at the different kinds of Order & Ranking questions which can be asked:

When the Position of the same person from both sides is given or the Total Number of people is given

In this case, you can use the below formulae:

• Total number of persons = Sum of positions of the same person from both sides i.e. left and right side – 1
• Position of a person from opposite side = (Total no. of persons – Position of same person from the given side) +1

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When the person’s position is given from one side and the number of people standing on the other side is given

• Total no. of persons = No. of persons after or before the given person in a row + Position of the same person from the other side
• No. of persons after or before the given person in a row = Total no. of persons – Position of the same person from the other side

When the below info is given:

• Positions of two persons are given from the opposite ends
• Total number of persons

There may be two cases in this kind of situation

1. If there is no overlapping: i.e. the sum of positions of the two persons from opposite ends will be less than the total number of persons. Use the formula: No. of students between two different persons = Total no. of students – (Sum of positions of two different persons from opposite sides)
2. When there is some overlapping: i.e. the sum of positions of the two persons from opposite ends will be more than the total number of persons. Use the formula: No. of students between two different persons = (Sum of positions of two different persons from opposite sides) – Total no. of students – 2

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When positions of different persons from any one side are given

If in a given row, positions of 2 persons from any side are given and the total number of persons has to be calculated, it becomes a case of  ‘cannot be

determined’ or ‘data inadequate’ or ‘can’t say’. This is so because the number of persons between those 2 persons is not known. In other words, we don’t know whether there is an overlapping or not.

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When the positions of 2 persons are given and after their positions get interchanged, the position of 1st person is given from the side where his previous position was

• To find the total no. of persons => Find the person whose position from both sides is known from the given info. Add both his positions from opposite ends and subtract 1.
• To find the number of persons between them => Find the difference in the positions of the person whose position from the same side before and after interchanging; subtract 1 from this difference
• To find the new position of a person from the same side after the interchange => Position of that person from the same side before interchanging + )+(Position of the other person from the other side after interchanging – Position of the other person from the other side before interchanging)

When positions of 2 different persons are given from the opposites sides of a row and a third person is sitting exactly in the middle of the 2 persons

There can be 2 scenarios here

• When the position of the 3rd person is given from either end of the row, find the position of the 3rd person from both sides and then you can easily add those positions and subtract 1 from it to get the total number of persons in that row.
• When the position of the 3rd person is given from either of the 2 persons, add the positions of the 2 different persons, add the 3rd person’s position from either of the persons twice and finally subtract 1 to get the total number of persons sitting in that row.

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When the minimum number of persons in a row is asked

In this case, use the formula: Minimum no. of persons = Sum of positions of the 2 persons from both sides – Persons between them – 2

When you start practicing the questions of Ordering & Ranking we suggest you to use the formulas from this article. Referring to these formulas multiple times will help you remember them. Also, while practicing give it a thought on the logic of these formulae. Once you get the logic behind these formulae, it will be easy for you to face any question of a new pattern in the actual exam.

Order & Ranking Practice Questions- Download Free PDF

Order & Ranking Practice Questions

Directions 1-2: Answer the questions based on the information given below.

Seven persons, P through V have different heights. R is taller than only V. P is taller than U but shorter than T. Q is taller than T. Q is not the tallest person.

Common solution:

R is taller than only V. P is taller than U but shorter than T. Q is taller than T. Q is not the tallest person.

The final arrangement is as follows:

S > Q > T > P > U > R > V

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Question 1: Who is the 3^rd tallest person?

a. Q

b. S

c. T

d. Cannot be determined

e. None of these

Answer: c

Solution:

T is the 3^rd tallest person.

Hence, option c.

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Question 2: Who is the 3^rd shortest person?

a. S

b. U

c. P

d. Either (a) or (b)

e. None of these

Answer: b

Solution:

U is the 3^rd shortest person.

Hence, option b.

More Order & Ranking Practice Questions available in the free PDF. Download the PDF by clicking the link below.

Order & Ranking Practice Questions- Download Free PDF

This brings us to the end of the article. We would like to advise the aspirants to download these free PDFs and keep practicing for the upcoming examinations including SBI PO Prelims, SBI Clerk Prelims and RRB PO, RRB Clerk etc.