Time Management for IBPS PO V Prelims

Hi readers,

As three weeks are left for IBPS PO V Prelims exams, many readers asked me how to manage time for this exam. As solving a reasoning puzzle or Data interpretation set takes more than 15 minutes, how to solve 100 questions within 60 minutes ?

Ideal Time allocation

English language - 18-20 minutes
Quantitative Aptitude - 20-22 minutes
Reasoning - 20-22 minutes

Expected Cutoff - 42-44

Ideal score - 50

==>> Take full length IBPS PO V test here

I am not giving any sectional target as this would create a undue pressure on your mind.

I highly recommend you to attempt Reasoning at last. Many students who failed SBI PO Prelims exam attempted Reasoning at first and they wasted 15-20 minutes on a single Reasining puzzles, further they were unable to solve that puzzle.

Tip
Before giving my tips, let me tell you that this is an easy exam and selection of right questions is the decision maker.

English Language

I highly recommend you to attempt this section at first. There will be Cloze test and Error detection test, these two parts will fetch you 10 marks. This is the easiest part of the exam.
As there will be two RCs, most of you won't be able to attempt both RCs.
Never answer RC questions without reading comprehension properly.
Choose one RC, read it properly and then answer it.
Sentence re-arrangement is a time-consuming part. I recommend you to skip it.

Quantitative Aptitude

There will be at least 2 Data Interpretation sets. Right now you need to decide whether you are able to solve one exam level DI set within 5 minutes ? If your answer is NO, then select one set and solve it.
Time and work, Time distance, Simple and compound interest, Ratio and proportions, Alligations, Profit and loss are few easy chapters. These chapters will fetch you at least 5-7 marks.
There will be 1-2 questions from Probability. You need to learn just basics and these are easy questions.
Venn diagram questions are trending, must attempt these questions.

Reasoning

This is the trickiest section of the exam. This is section is the biggest reason behind the failure. Difficulty level of puzzles have increased. Give a look at this puzzle. I don't think it's possible to solve puzzles within 10 minutes but after soling this puzzles, you will get only 5 marks while you are targeting 1 mark per minute.

Inequalities is the easiest part of this exam. It is possible to solve 5 inequalities questions within 2-3 minutes. Once you know the technique to solve these questions, your accuracy will be 100%. I have shared the technique here.
Data sufficiency is the easiest part, you don't need to find the exact answer. This question may or may not appear in this exam, but if it appear in the exam, never skip it.
Blood relations, age problems and Direction test are easy chapters, never skip questions from these chapters.
Choose between Seating arrangement and Puzzle. I recommend you to choose Seating arrangement. Before exam practice as many as seating arrangement as possible, so that you can solve the set within 5 minutes in the exam.

Tips

Before taking Exam I recommend you to take at least 4-5 full length tests. Get free tests on Testpanda here.
Never stick to any question. Never get emotional. It's ok if you are not able to solve a simple DI set, there are lot more easier questions in the exam.
English is the easiest part, attempt it first. (Important)
Selection of easy questions will decide whether you are going to pass or fail, so choose questions wisely. All of you know which question types you are going to see in the exam and which questions types are time consuming, so you can make a plan right now to crack the exam.
If possible, skip Reasoning puzzle, as it consume lots of time.
1 question per minute is the benchmark, any question that is taking more than 1 minute is taking you to failure.