10 Tips to Crack Quantitative Aptitude/ Numerical Ability in IBPS PO Prelims 2016

“Behind every brilliant performance there were countless hours of Practice and preparation”.

In my college days, there was a friend of mine who used to score the highest in “Quantitative Aptitude” section in the entire classroom. I used to constantly wonder how she could solve the Quant questions so effectively when I was not able to do so. I tried to mug up all the formulae and was still unable to attempt the quant section like she did. When I asked her about the secret, the answer was ‘a few hours for dedicated practice’. We believe that ‘practice and practice’ can be the only strategy which can help you overcome all anxieties regarding aptitude questions.

We come across many dialogues in our day- to- day life like: “The Aptitude section is the toughest one”, “If I had a 10 mins more I would have cleared the paper”, “I wish the aptitude section was a bit easier in every exam”. These are the most common complaints or remarks by the students appearing the aptitude section of the IBPS PO exam. But, don’t worry and keep calm. We have come up with a few tips which will help you to score outstanding marks in the “Quantitative Aptitude” section of the IBPS PO Prelims examination.

But before going to the tips, let us take a look at the pattern of IBPS PO Prelims:

IBPS PO Prelims 2016: Pattern

Sl. No.	Sections	Qns.	Marks	Duration
1	Reasoning Ability Paper	35	35	01 hour
2	Quantitative Aptitude Paper	35	35
3	English Language Paper	30	30
	Total	100	100

Now let us take a look at the expected breakup of the sections of “Quantitative Aptitude”:

Arithmetic Questions (Percentage, Profit and Loss, Ration and Proportion, SI & CI, Time and work, TSD, SI &CI, Mixture and allegations, Averages, Problems on Ages etc.)	8-10
Series	5
Quadratic Equations	5
Simplification	5
Probability	0-2
DI [Pie Chart, Bar Graph, Tables etc.)	10 (5 *2)

IBPS PO Prelims Cut-off Category-wise (Expected):

Candidate’s Category	Cut-offs on Total (Out of 100)
Hearing Impaired (HI)	9.5
Visually Impaired (VI)	10
Scheduled Tribe (ST)	17.75
Orthopedically Challenged (OC)	25.25
Scheduled Caste (SC)	30.75
Other Backward Classes (OBC)	37.25
General (Gen)	37.25

Let us take a look at a few tips which will help you score the best in this section:

• Practice makes a man perfect: As we have already demonstrated the importance of practice for this section, trust us there is no other way you can ace this section other than efficient practice. Practice different mock tests and sample papers which will help you increase your speed and accuracy.

• Jot down the formulae: Try to note down all the important formulae or tricks and look at it whenever you are free. This practice will help you in memorizing them and it will not go out of your mind that easily.

• Time allocation matters! : If you are good at solving aptitude section, you may attend this section after attending quant section and then solve this section within 20 minutes. But, we sincerely advise those who are weak in aptitude to attend this section at the end and should dedicate 25 minutes of total time for this. This section will prove to be a “scoring area” which will help you with the overall cut- off marks.

• Easy ones are the first: Always start with the questions from the following sections as they are relatively easy and are less time taking:

• Data Insufficiency
• Simplification
• Arithmetic: Questions on Percentage, Profit and Loss, Ratio and Proportions, S.I. / C.I., Averages, Ages etc.

• Tricky ones at last: Try to solve the questions from those topics after attempting the easy ones. Questions from these sections are generally tricky and time- taking. Approximately, there will be 11- 12 questions from this section:

• Probability
• Quadratic Equations
• Arithmetic Topics : Mixture and allegations , Time Speed, Time and Work and Distance
• Another DI Set
• Number Series

• Questions are cunning! : Students in most of the examinations make a common mistake while solving the questions of numerical ability. In hurry, they don’t read the complete question which actually tricky. As a result of this, they end up making mistakes which were extremely avoidable. So, we advise all the aspiring candidates to go through the questions carefully before solving them.

• Risky shortcuts can be threats! : Avoid risky shortcuts (the tricks which you are not sure about) as they will make you come up with an incorrect answer and you will end up hampering your performance.

• Avoid making random guess: Do not make random guesses unless and until you are 100 percent sure about it. It will adversely affect your total score. So, be careful about this.

• Work hard on weak areas: Make a note of the areas in which you are weak and practice those sections rigorously. This practice will make you confident with these sections and you will able to make an approach to solve the questions from this section with ease.

• Believe in your potential: Self-confidence is the biggest asset which will help you make the most of your calibre. So, believe in yourself that you can definitely do the best and see the magic work!

We hope that this article will prove to be a “performance booster” for the IBPS PO aspirants. Stay connected with us if you wish to read some more interesting stuff. We wish you good luck!