IBPS SO Mains & Prelims Exam 2018 Analysis & Reviews by Experts
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A huge no. of aspirants who appeared for the computer-based IBPS SO exam at various exam centres across India for 1590+ seats, must be waiting for the IBPS SO Exam Analysis.
Read the article and get a complete section-wise analysis of IBPS SO Exam.
IBPS SO Mains Exam 2018 Analysis
IBPS SO Main Exam has been successfully conducted on 27th January 2019. The exam was conducted for all the Specialist posts.
Here we have come up with the complete IBPS SO Main Exam 2018 Analysis along with the no. of questions asked from each topic.
Let’s have a look.
IBPS SO Mains Exam Analysis for Marketing Officer
The level of IBPS Marketing Officer Exam was Moderate to Difficult. Below are the no. of questions asked from the topics of Marketing:
| Topics | No. of Questions |
| Finance | 4-5 |
| Segmentation | 3-4 |
| Brand Equity | 2-3 |
| Strategic Planning | 2 |
| Abbreviations | 2 |
| Strategic Units | 1 |
| Product Vertical Integration | 1 |
IBPS SO Mains Exam Analysis for Agriculture Field Officer
The difficulty level of the IBPS Agriculture Field Officer Exam was Moderate to Difficult. No. of questions asked in this year’s exam are given below:
| Topics | No. of Questions |
| Nutrient Related | 2 |
| Water Sensitive Crops | 1-2 |
| Questions related to NABARD | 15-20 |
| Critical Irrigation Stages | 1-2 |
| MSP of Wheat & Rice | 1-2 |
| PM Fasal Bima Yojna | 4 |
| Agriculture Engg Implements Subsidies | 7-8 |
| Green House Classification | 3-4 |
| Plant Pathology | 7-8 |
| Production Data on Horticulture | 3-4 |
IBPS SO Mains Exam Analysis for IT Officer
As compared to the previous year’s exam, the IBPS IT Officer 2018 Exam was difficult. The difficulty level of this exam was Moderate to Difficult. Have a look at the no. of questions asked in the exam:
| Topics | No. of Questions |
| E-R Model | 2 |
| OSI Model | 4-5 |
| Networking | 20 |
| Operating System | 4-5 |
| Discrete Mathematics | 2-3 |
| Sorting | 3-4 |
| Venn Diagram | 3 |
| C Programming | 2 |
| DBMS | 3-4 |
| Data Structure | 8-10 |
| Misc | 15 |
IBPS SO Mains Exam Analysis for Rajbhasha Adhikari
The IBPS Rajbhasha Adhikari Exam was of Moderate level. A bit difficult as compared to last year’s exam where the difficulty level was Easy to Moderate. Given below are the no. of questions asked in IBPS SO 2018 Main Exam:
| Topics | No. of Questions |
| Rajbhasha Adhiniyam | 10 |
| Unseen Passage | 5 |
| Close Test | 5 |
| Error Detection | 5 |
| Hindi to English & English to Hindi Translation | 15 |
| Miscellaneous | 5 |
IBPS SO Mains Exam Analysis for HR Officer
The overall difficulty level of the IBPS HR Officer Exam was Moderate. Questions were asked mainly from these topics:
Motivation Theory
Rewards and Punishments
HR Laws in Banks
Provident Fund Related Acts
Superannuation Benefits
Human Resource Management
Maternity Leave
Review system in Banks
Management Principles
IBPS SO Mains Exam Analysis for Law Officer
Candidates find the IBPS Law Officer Exam of Moderate level. These were the topics from which the questions were mainly asked:
Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002
Banking laws
National Company Law Tribunal
Recent developments in banking laws
Debt Recovery Tribunal
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
RBI Act 1934
IBPS SO Prelims Exam 2018 Analysis
| 29th Dec 2018 – First Shift | 30th Dec 2018 – First Shift |
| 29th Dec 2018 – Second Shift | 30th Dec 2018 – Second Shift |
Highlights of IBPS SO Exam Analysis 2018
This year IBPS SO Prelims Exam little bit difficult as compared to last year. As the time limit for each section is fixed, the candidates were asked to answer within the time limit.
Reasoning Ability and Quantitative Aptitude were calculative.
The level of English Section was moderate.
Reasoning Ability and English Language sections were common for all posts of IBPS SO Prelims Exam 2018.
For the posts of Rajbhasha Adhikari and Law Officer, the third section was General Awareness.
For the posts of IT, Marketing, Agriculture and HR/ Personnel Officer, Quantitative Aptitude was asked as the third section.
To know more about the sectional and overall difficulty level of different sections, read IBPS SO pre-exam review now!
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis, Review 2018: 29th December- Shift 1
IBPS SO Prelims Shift-1 Exam was of Moderate level. Candidates can check IBPS SO section wise good attempts in the table below.
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis for IT, MKT, AFO & HR
| Subject | Good Attempt | Time |
| English Language | 18-22 | 40 min. |
| Reasoning Ability | 33-36 | 40 min. |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 30-34 | 40 min. |
| Total | 90-96 | 120 minutes |
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis for Law & Rajbhasa
| Subject | Good Attempt | Time |
| English Language | 18-22 | 40 min. |
| Reasoning Ability | 33-36 | 40 min. |
| General Awareness | 23-29 | 40 min. |
| Total | 82-88 | 120 minutes |
IBPS SO Prelims Analysis – Quantitative Aptitude (AFO, MKT, HR & IT)
The overall section was of Easy to Moderate level. 3-4 sets of DI (Tabular, Line, Pie Chart, Caselets) was asked in prelims exam. Below mentioned topics are asked in the exam.
| Topic | No. of Questions | Level |
| Simplification and Approximation | 5 | Easy |
| Number Series | 5 | Easy |
| Data Interpretation | 4 Set (20-25 Questions) | Easy-Moderate |
| Quadratic Equation | 5 | Moderate |
| Miscellaneous | 10-15 | Easy |
| Total | 50 | Easy-Moderate |
IBPS SO Prelims Analysis – English Language
The level of English section was Moderate to Difficult level in comparison with the rest of the exam. The maximum questions were asked from reading comprehensive in the paper.
| Topic | No. of Questions | Level |
| Reading Comprehension | 12-15 | Moderate |
| Error Spotting | 5 | Moderate |
| Sentence Rearrangement | 5 | Moderate-Difficult |
| Fill in the Blanks (New Pattern) | 5 | Moderate |
| Cloze Test (New Pattern) | 10 | Moderate-Difficult |
| Sentence Improvement | 5 | Moderate |
| Phrase Replacement | 5 | Moderate |
| Total | 50 | Moderate-Difficult |
IBPS SO Prelims Analysis – Reasoning Ability
There were four Sets of puzzle & Sitting Arrangement (Circular & Linear) and puzzle on the arrangement of books of different colours. The overall section was of Easy to Moderate level.
| Topic | No. of Questions | Level |
| Alphabetic Series | 5 | Easy |
| Inequality | 5 | Easy |
| Syllogism | 5 | Easy |
| Data Sufficiency | 5 | Easy |
| Sitting Arrangement/Puzzles | 20-25 | Easy-Moderate |
| Course of action | 5 | Easy |
| Total | 50 | Easy-Moderate |
IBPS SO Prelims Analysis – General Awareness (Law & Rajbhasa)
This is one of the most scoring section in the exam. The level of General Awareness was also Moderate. There are 50 Questions of General Awareness related to Banking, Current affairs, Static GK.
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis, Review 2018: 29th December- Shift 2
IBPS SO Prelims Shift-2 Exam was of Moderate level. We will update soon the IBPS PO Prelims exam analysis of 29th December shift 2.
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis, Review 2018: 30th December- Shift 1
IBPS SO Prelims Shift-1 Exam was of Moderate level. Candidates can check IBPS SO section wise good attempts in the table below.
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis for IT, MKT, AFO & HR
| Subjects | Good Attempts | Time |
| Reasoning | 27-34 | 40 min. |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 23-29 | 40 min. |
| English Language | 32-38 | 40 min. |
| Overall | 89-102 | 120 minutes |
IBPS SO Prelims Analysis – Reasoning Section
Seating Arrangement and Puzzles Questions dominated the Reasoning section of IBPS SO Exam. The overall section was of Easy to Moderate level. Below mentioned topics are asked in the exam.
| Topic | No. of Questions | Level |
| Puzzle and Seating Arrangement | 18 | Moderate |
| Syllogism | 4 | Moderate |
| Inequality | 5 | Easy |
| Data Sufficiency | 5 | Moderate |
| Coding Decoding | 4 | Easy-Moderate |
| Machine Input Output | 5 | Moderate |
| Order and Ranking | 2 | Easy |
| Logical Reasoning | 3 | Moderate |
| Alphabet Based | 1 | Easy |
| Blood Relation | 3 | Easy- Moderate |
| Total | 50 | Easy-Moderate |
IBPS SO Prelims Analysis – Quantitative Aptitude
The overall section was of Moderate level. In this, there were three types of Data Interpretation was asked.
| Topic | No. of Questions | Level |
| Data Interpretation | 15 | Easy-Moderate |
| Quantity1, Quantity2 | 5 | Moderate |
| Missing Number Series | 5 | Easy-Moderate |
| Approximation | 5 | Easy-Moderate |
| Miscellaneous Word Problems | 15 | Moderate |
| Data Sufficiency | 5 | Moderate |
| Total | 50 | Moderate |
IBPS SO Prelims Analysis – English Language
The level of English section was Moderate level in comparison of the rest of the sections. Two sets of reading comprehension were asked in the paper.
| Topic | No. of Questions | Level |
| Reading Comprehension | 12 | Moderate |
| Close Test | 5 | Easy-Moderate |
| Para Jumbles | 5 | Moderate |
| Phrase Replacement | 5 | Moderate |
| Double Fillers | 5 | Moderate |
| Error Detection | 5 | Moderate |
| Starters | 5 | Moderate |
| Word Usage | 5 | Moderate |
| Miscellaneous | 3 | Moderate |
| Total | 50 | Moderate |
IBPS SO Prelims Analysis – General Awareness
This is one of the most scoring section in the exam. The level of General Awareness was also Moderate. Most of the current affair questions were asked from September to December Month 2018.
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis, Review 2018: 30th December- Shift 2
IBPS SO Prelims Shift-2 Exam was of Moderate level. Candidates can check IBPS SO section wise good attempts in the table below.
IBPS SO Prelims Exam Analysis for Law & Rajbhasa
| Subject | Good Attempt | Time |
| English Language | 27-32 | 40 min. |
| Reasoning Ability | 29-36 | 40 min. |
| General Awareness | 21-26 | 40min. |
| Total | 77-88 | 120 minutes |
IBPS SO Prelims Analysis – Reasoning Section
There were 4 sets of puzzles and Seating Arrangement, 2 questions from Circular Seating Arrangement and 2 Variable based Puzzle. The overall section was of easy to moderate level. Below mentioned topics are asked in the exam.
| Topic | No. of Questions | Level |
| Puzzle and Seating Arrangement | 20 | Moderate |
| Syllogism | 05 | Moderate |
| Logical Reasoning | 05 | Easy- Moderate |
| Direction Sense | 03 | Easy |
| Blood Relation | 02 | Easy-Moderate |
| Alphabet Based | 03 | Easy |
| Coding Decoding | 05 | Easy |
| Miscellaneous | 07 | Easy-Moderate |
| Total | 50 | Easy-Moderate |
IBPS SO Prelims Analysis – English Language
The level of English section was Easy to Moderate level in comparison with the rest of the exam. There were 3 sets of reading comprehensions that included around 4 vocabulary-based questions of synonyms and antonyms.
| Topic | No. of Questions | Level |
| Reading Comprehension | 15 | Moderate |
| Connectors | 05 | Easy-Moderate |
| Column Based | 05 | Moderate |
| Word Replacement | 05 | Easy-Moderate |
| Sentence Rearrangement | 05 | Moderate |
| Double Fillers | 05 | Easy-Moderate |
| Phrase Replacement | 05 | Moderate |
| Error Detection | 05 | Easy-Moderate |
| Total | 50 | Easy-Moderate |
IBPS SO Prelims Analysis – General Awareness
This section was easy to moderate. Many questions were asked from last 3 month’s Banking Awareness and Current Affairs. Questions from static awareness were also asked in the examination.
Here, we have discussed the complete IBPS SO Prelims Exam analysis based on the expert’s review and feedback received from the students. We hope that IBPS SO Prelims Exam analysis will help you in starting preparation and make a strategy for the IBPS SO Preparation.
The aspirant can get an idea about the paper difficulty level and questions asked in the paper through the IBPS SO Exam Analysis discussed in the above article. However, if you have any queries or suggestions, let us know in the comment section below.
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