The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) is an agency that works with the Central government to recruit candidates for various public sector bank jobs. The exam in discussion in this article is for personnel to be recruited to work in Regional Rural Banks (RRB). The IBPS RRB 2021 exam official notification released on June 7, 2021, has announced a total of 10,676 vacancies for Officer Scales 1, 2, 3 and Office Assistant posts.
IBPS RRB Officer Scale 1 Notification 2021
The IBPS conducts national-level exams for various banking posts every year. Through these exams, the IBPS recruits both Grade A and B post banking personnel. The Officer Scale 1 is a Probationary Officer post that works with Regional Rural Banks. This year, IBPS has announced 4119 openings for the post of IBPS RRB Scale 1 Officer.
In this article, we will make a detailed analysis of the IBPS RRB Officer Scale 1 Exam held in 2020. The objective behind this exercise is to study and analyze the exam pattern while preparing our own strategy for the upcoming exam. In order to avoid missing any deadlines, take a look at the table of important dates for this exam given below.
| Event | Date |
| Online Application start date | June 8, 2021 |
| Payment of Application Fees/Intimation Charges (Online) | 08th to 28th June 2021 |
| IBPS RRB Preliminary Examination (Officer Scale-1 & Office Assistant) |
August 1, 7, 8, 14 and 21, 2021 |
| Result of Online exam- Prelims | September 2021 |
| Officer Scale 1 Mains Exam | September 25, 2021 |
| Interview | October/November, 2021 |
| Provisional Allotment (Final Result) | January 2021 |
IBPS RRB PO Prelims 2020 Exam Analysis
Reviewing and analyzing the previous year’s question paper is an important part of preparing for any exam. By analyzing the previous year’s exam, aspirants can perceive the sectional and overall assessment standard of the exam. We will also look at the thematic distribution of questions, important topics from every section, last year’s cut-off marks and such in this article. The IBPS RRB Officer Scale 1 exam is conducted over 3 phases- Prelims, Mains and Interview. In this article, we will analyze the Prelims and Mains paper in detail so that we can prepare ourselves for this year’s exam.
IBPS RRB Bank PO Prelims 2020
Let us begin with the Prelims paper. This paper consists of 2 sections, namely Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude. Each section is assessed for 40 marks each for which a composite time of 45 minutes is allotted.
Reasoning
| Topics | No. of Questions | Level |
| Seating Arrangement | 10 | Easy-Moderate |
| Puzzles | 10 | Easy-Moderate |
| Coding Decoding | 5 | Easy |
| Inequality | 5 | Easy |
| Syllogism | 5 | Easy |
| Direction | 2 | Easy |
| Blood Relation | 1 | Easy |
| Misc. | 2 | Easy |
| Total | 40 | Easy |
The highest number of questions were asked from Seating Arrangement and Puzzles. Also, since there is a penalty of 0.25 marks for every wrong answer, candidates should not make any blind guesses. In order to ensure that candidates do not leave any questions unanswered, candidates must not spend more than half a minute on any question on average.
Quantitative Aptitude
| Topics | No. of Questions | Level |
| Quadratic Equation | 5 | Easy |
| Data Interpretation- Pie-Chart, Tabular DI | 12 | Easy- Moderate |
| Quantity I & Quantity II | 5 | Easy |
| Series (Missing) | 6 | Easy |
| Arithmetic Word Problem | 12 | Easy-Moderate |
| Total | 40 | Easy-Moderate |
From Quant, the greatest number of questions were asked from Data Interpretation and Arithmetic Word Problems. The question volume for the remaining topics was more or less evenly distributed. As you can see, no questions were asked from Simplification and Approximation, Percentage, Profit and Loss and Time & Work. However, this does not mean that any topic should be left out of the preparation altogether. This topic-wise break-up has been provided so candidates can gauge which topics carry more weightage in the exam. The overall level of assessment was moderate to easy.
Candidates must note that while the syllabus and exam pattern for the Office Assistant exam and Officer Scale 1 exam is the same, the question papers were not common.
IBPS RRB PO Mains 2020 Exam Analysis
English Language
| Topics | No. of Questions | Level |
| Reading Comprehension | 10 | Easy to Moderate |
| Error Detection | 4 | Easy |
| Rearrangement | 6 | Easy |
| Sentence Correction | 3 | Easy to Moderate |
| Para Jumble | 5 | Easy to Moderate |
| Word Replacement | 4 | Easy to Moderate |
| Fill in the blanks | 4 | Easy |
| Match the column | 4 | Easy |
| Total | 40 | Easy |
The English language paper assessment level was moderate to easy. As is always the case, the maximum number of questions were based on Reading Comprehension wherein candidates are given a passage that they have to read. This is followed by candidates answering a number of questions asked based on the passage. 3-6 questions were asked on various other topics such as Error Detection, Sentence Correction and Word Replacement. If candidates have a strong language front, this section should be easy for them to obtain a good score.
Reasoning Aptitude
The Reasoning section of the IBPS RRB Officer Scale 1 exam was moderate. Let us analyse each topic to understand the weightage given to each in the exam.
| Topics | No. of Questions |
| Seating Arrangement | 10 |
| Puzzles (8 Person likes different food), Box Based Puzzle (8 Box with variable countries) | 10 |
| Coding Decoding (Chinese Coding) | 1 |
| Inequality | 4 |
| Order Ranking (Height arrangement) | 3 |
| Data Sufficiency | 3 |
| Blood Relation | 3 |
| Direction | 1 |
| Alphabet (Meaningful word) | 1 |
| Misc. | 1 |
| Logical Reasoning | 3 |
| Total | 40 |
As you may have noticed, Puzzles and Seating Arrangement topics were given similar weightage in the Prelims paper as well. This is clearly indicative of the importance of the 2 topics for this exam. While candidates should not ignore any other topic, they must give due importance to Puzzles and Seating Arrangement Puzzles so that they can solve them quickly and correctly in the examination.
Quantitative Aptitude
The Quantitative Aptitude section of the IBPS RRB PO exam 2020-21 was moderate to difficult.
| Topics | No. of Questions |
| Data Interpretation | 15 |
| Caselets | 10 |
| Series (Missing) | 5 |
| Arithmetic Word Problem | 10 |
| Total | 40 |
From the Quantitative Aptitude section, the major focus of the paper was on Data Interpretation. Questions based on Bar Graphs and Pie Charts were assessed. As you can see, the same weightage was given to DI and Arithmetic Word Problems in the Mains exam as it was in the Prelims paper. Needless to say, for this exam, DI and Arithmetic Word Problems were the most important topics from Quant.
General Awareness
| Topic | No. of Questions | Level |
| Banking Awareness | 8 | Moderate |
| Current banking Affairs | 10 | Moderate |
| Current Affairs | 15-17 | Easy |
| Static Affairs | 6-7 | Moderate |
| Total | 40 | Moderate |
As you can see, of the 40 questions from this section, a striking majority was dedicated to Current Affairs. Candidates must be up to date with the Current Affairs, particularly, news from the last 6 months before the exam. Since, this is a Banking exam, it is a given that a good number of questions would be dedicated to Banking Awareness and Current Banking Affairs as was the very case. Last but not the least, Static GK is a very scoring topic. Although comparatively fewer questions were asked from this topic, Static GK is easier to prepare. In a highly competitive exam, such as this, every mark matters.
Candidates should be up-to-date with their Current Affairs to ensure they score well in this section. To stay on top of your General Awareness preparation you can find weekly updates on all aspects of general awareness on our BeePedia page. Moreover, these BeePedia updates are comprehensive and free and you can download them from the ixamBee website. BeePedia is also available in Hindi.
IBPS RRB Officer Scale 1 Cut-Off 2020
Let us now look at the Cut-offs for the IBPS RRB Officer Scale 1 exam. Studying the previous year’s cut-offs gives us an idea as to approximately what score needs to be targeted by the candidates. While cut-offs obviously differ from year to year depending on the level of assessment, a rough idea can be devised for the upcoming exam. In this section, we will discuss the cut-offs for the Prelims paper, Mains paper, and a subject-wise cut off for the Mains paper. Lastly, we will look at the Final Cut-off as announced in accordance to which provisional allotments are made.
IBPS RRB PO Prelims Cut Offs 2020
| State Name | Cut-off Gen | Cut-off OBC |
| UP | 47 | 46.75 |
| J& K | 52 | — |
| Rajasthan | 66 | 66 |
| Gujarat | 59.75 | 59.77 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 52.75 | — |
| Odisha | 62.75 | — |
| Jharkhand | — | 54 .25 |
| Haryana | 60.50 | — |
| Bihar | 48 | — |
| Maharashtra | — | 47.25 |
| Tamil Nadu | — | 54 |
| Chhattisgarh | 43.25 | — |
| West Bengal | 52 | — |
The Cut-off marks for the Prelims exam range from the 40s to the early 60s. This indicates that the overall level of assessment was moderate to easy. The lowest mark scored by a qualifying candidate from the General category was 43.25 from Chhattisgarh. The highest cut-off mark for the General category was 62.75 in Odisha. The lowest mark scored by a qualifying candidate from the OBC group was 46.75 from Uttar Pradesh.
IBPS RRB PO Mains Cut Offs
| State/UT | SC | ST | OBC | EWS | General |
| Andhra Pradesh | 61.94 | 52 | 76.38 | 76.38 | 76.38 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | NA | 43.44 | 43.44 | NA | NA |
| Assam | 56.06 | 51.56 | 66.88 | 70.31 | 72.44 |
| Bihar | 52.25 | 46.25 | 77.31 | 77.31 | 77.31 |
| Chhattisgarh | 56.56 | 45.69 | 75.50 | 71 | 75.50 |
| Gujarat | 41.94 | 50.94 | 50.94 | 52.19 | 56.75 |
| Haryana | 67.38 | 40.31 | 79.88 | 90.50 | 91.81 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 65.63 | 68.56 | 69.31 | 83.25 | 88.38 |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 70.50 | 51.25 | 65.06 | 80.81 | 89.88 |
| Jharkhand | 53.13 | 53.75 | 74.88 | 80.25 | 82.25 |
| Karnataka | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Kerala | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Madhya Pradesh | 58 | 44.31 | 74.44 | 77.13 | 77.13 |
| Maharashtra | 71 | 48.94 | 73.56 | 73.56 | 73.56 |
| Manipur | 65.06 | 63.31 | 65.06 | 65.06 | 65.06 |
| Meghalaya | 46.19 | 58.50 | 58.50 | 58.50 | 58.50 |
| Mizoram | 54.44 | 64.06 | 40.63 | NA | 64.06 |
| Nagaland | NA | 44.75 | NA | NA | NA |
| Odisha | 63.25 | 57.94 | 85.63 | 85.63 | 85.63 |
| Puducherry | 67.69 | NA | 63.56 | NA | NA |
| Punjab | 66.88 | 34 | 73 | 81.81 | 92.38 |
| Rajasthan | 39.13 | 47.63 | 36.75 | 47.63 | 47.63 |
| Tamil Nadu | 72.88 | 33.44 | 81.06 | 57.56 | 81.06 |
| Telangana | 64.31 | 60.88 | 70.81 | 70.81 | 70.81 |
| Tripura | 65.50 | 59.69 | 72.19 | 65 | 80.44 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 52.56 | 29.50 | 64.19 | 70.56 | 70.56 |
| Uttarakhand | 100.38 | 59.63 | 82.75 | 100.38 | 100.38 |
| West Bengal | 62.75 | 47.56 | 63.56 | 69 | 80.94 |
In general, the cut-offs ranged between the 60s and 90s. The high cut-off marks reflect the relatively easy nature of assessment of the Mains paper. The highest cut-off mark was 100.38 for Uttarakhand. It is interesting to note that 100.38 was the cut-off for the General, Scheduled Caste and EWS categories in Uttarakhand. The lowest cut-off mark was 33.44 for candidates hailing from Scheduled Tribes of/in Tamil Nadu.
Subject-wise Maximum Scores & Cut Off
| S.No. | Name of Test | Max. Marks | Qualifying Scores SC/ST/OBC/PWD | Qualifying Scores EWS/General |
| 1 | Reasoning | 40 | 08.75 | 12 |
| 2 | Computer Knowledge | 40 | 05.75 | 08.75 |
| 3 | General Awareness | 40 | 02.25 | 04.50 |
| 4 (a) | English Language | 40 | 03.50 | 07.25 |
| 4 (b) | Hindi Language | 40 | 03.50 | 06.25 |
| 5 | Quantitative Aptitude | 40 | 02.25 | 05.25 |
With all subjects being assessed on a total of 40 marks, the highest cut-off mark for any subject was 12 for the Reasoning section. Once again, the subject-wise cut-offs are further divided category-wise. The lowest cut-off mark was 02.25 for General Awareness for candidates belonging to Reserved categories.
IBPS RRB PO MAINS Final Cut Off 2020-21
| State/UT | SC | ST | OBC | EWS | General |
| Andhra Pradesh | 50.25 | 53.55 | 56 | 52.20 | 70.10 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | NA | NA | NA | NA | 46.65 |
| Assam | 46.92 | 46.32 | 49.18 | 47.92 | 62.25 |
| Bihar | 52.45 | 47.82 | 62.72 | 52.75 | 64.75 |
| Chhattisgarh | 48.18 | 39.65 | 49.30 | 49.22 | 62.85 |
| Gujarat | 49.08 | 44 | 47.60 | 42.48 | 69.50 |
| Haryana | 57.48 | 37.88 | 58.08 | 58.10 | 72.48 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 48.72 | 48.18 | 57 | 54.68 | 62.80 |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 61.48 | 52.05 | 56.08 | 59.12 | 72.82 |
| Jharkhand | 55.72 | 41.12 | 55.28 | 52.50 | 63.25 |
| Karnataka | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Kerala | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Madhya Pradesh | 51.88 | 49.55 | 54.75 | 53.55 | 69.58 |
| Maharashtra | 53.42 | 46.08 | 59.92 | 50.42 | 69.62 |
| Manipur | 41.95 | 40.02 | 48.95 | NA | 54.35 |
| Meghalaya | 33.02 | 39.32 | 43.62 | NA | 45.60 |
| Mizoram | NA | 41.58 | 39.48 | NA | 40.48 |
| Nagaland | Na | 50.30 | NA | NA | NA |
| Odisha | 43.85 | 54.50 | 52.10 | 51.25 | 71.52 |
| Puducherry | 43.42 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Punjab | 52.40 | 39.92 | 61.15 | 58.60 | 70.35 |
| Rajasthan | 56.95 | 55.45 | 53.58 | 55.75 | 75.55 |
| Tamil Nadu | 51 | 45.95 | 66.05 | 52.18 | 64.82 |
| Telangana | 53.80 | 49.28 | 58.22 | 49.60 | 64.32 |
| Tripura | 47.52 | 36.62 | 50.02 | 35 | 53.48 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 52.15 | 46.68 | 52.70 | 51.02 | 72.55 |
| Uttarakhand | NA | 40.12 | NA | NA | 66.12 |
| West Bengal | 53.42 | 56.68 | 50.38 | 49.70 | 64.18 |
The Final Cut-off is calculated by adding the marks scored in the Mains examination and Interview round. This score is calculated out of 100. The range of cut-offs was between 40 and 70. The highest Final Cut-off was 72.82 for the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Across all categories, the least cut-off mark scored by a qualifying candidate hailing from a Scheduled Tribe was 39.32 from Meghalaya. The lower cut-off marks for the reserved categories is indicative of the accommodation made for them in the Banking exams.
A good way to gauge this exam’s pattern is by going through the IBPS RRB Officer Scale 1 previous year paper. This will allow you to study the exam pattern carefully while also understanding where you stand in your exam preparation.
Preparing for IBPS RRB Officer Scale 1 Exam and don’t know where to begin? Don’t worry, we have got you covered. At ixamBee you can find all the study material coupled with guidance from subject experts in our online courses. If you are on the edge about whether you should prepare for this exam or not, take a free mock test to evaluate your standing.
ixamBee has launched a ‘Get Vaccinated, Get Rewarded‘ offer to provide a flat 18% off to candidates who are preparing for competitive examinations and would like to buy any of our courses. To avail of this offer, all you have to do is upload a picture of yourself getting jabbed.
Stay Home, Stay Safe!
Also read:
IBPS RRB 2020 Office Assistant Exam Analysis
IBPS RRB Notification 2021: Check All Details
At ixamBEE you can find free Online Test Series, GK updates in form of Beepedia, as well as latest updates for Bank PO, Bank Clerk, SSC, RBI, NABARD and Other Government Jobs.
The post <strong>IBPS RRB 2020 Officer Scale 1 Exam Analysis</strong> appeared first on ixambee-blog.
source https://www.ixambee.com/blog/ibps-rrb-2020-officer-scale-i-exam-analysis/
