How to prepare for Bank exams
Bank exams (IBPS PO, Clerk and RRB, SBI PO and Clerk, RBI Assistant) have a prelims to filter candidates and a mains that decides the merit. Speed matters more than in any other exam: each section has its own time limit.
Exam pattern
| Stage | Subjects | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Prelims | English 30, Quantitative Aptitude 35, Reasoning 35 (100 questions, 60 minutes) | Separate 20-minute timer per section; 0.25 negative |
| Mains | Reasoning & Computer, Data Analysis, English, General / Banking Awareness | Decides the merit list (with interview for PO) |
| PO only | Descriptive writing and interview | Letter and essay writing |
What each subject asks
- Reasoning: seating arrangements and puzzles (the biggest part), syllogism, inequality, blood relations, direction, coding-decoding, input-output.
- Quantitative Aptitude: simplification and approximation, number series, quadratic equations, data interpretation (tables, bar and pie charts), arithmetic word problems.
- English: reading comprehension, error detection, para jumbles, cloze test, word usage.
- Banking awareness (mains): RBI and its policy rates, types of accounts and banks, financial terms, government schemes, and current affairs of the last 6 months.
How to score well
- Practise puzzles every day: they make or break the reasoning section.
- Learn approximation tricks; simplification questions should take under 30 seconds each.
- Take sectional timed tests, not only full mocks: the separate timers punish slow starts.
- Read one newspaper's business page daily for banking awareness.
A simple 12-week plan
- Weeks 1–2: read the official syllabus and solve one previous year paper without preparation, to see where you stand.
- Weeks 3–8: one subject block a day (for example Maths and Reasoning on alternate days), plus 30 minutes of current affairs and 30 minutes of revision of the previous day.
- Weeks 9–10: one full mock test every second day. After each mock, spend as long reviewing the mistakes as you spent taking the test.
- Weeks 11–12: a full mock every day in the same time slot as the real exam, and revise only your own short notes.
Common mistakes
- Guessing blindly where there is negative marking. Attempt a question only when you can rule out at least two options.
- Collecting many books instead of finishing one. One standard book per subject plus previous papers is enough.
- Skipping the official notification. Age, qualification and the exact pattern are printed there, and they change between years.
- Leaving the photo, signature and documents for the last day. Keep them ready in the sizes the form asks for.
Next steps
- Confirm the exact pattern in the official notification of your exam: it can change from one year to the next.
- Practise with previous year papers and keep your photo, signature and documents ready in the sizes forms ask for.
- See the latest Bank exams notices.
- Other guides: SSC exams, Railway exams, Police exams, Teaching exams, State PSC exams, Defence exams, UPSC exams, Government job exams.