Last-minute Strategy and Tips to Ace SBI Clerk Quantitative Aptitude Section

Every year, the SBI Clerk (Junior Associates) exam is conducted by the State Bank of India to recruit qualified applicants for Clerical Cadre positions at its various branches across the country. SBI Clerk is one of the most popular bank exams for graduates, with millions of candidates applying each year.

The preliminary and main exams are the two important stages in the selection process for the Junior Associate position at the State bank of India. The final selection, however, depends on the results of the SBI Clerk mains exam results. Additionally, the shortlisted candidates will be required to take a local language test before being offered the joining letter.

The SBI Clerk Prelim exam has 35 quantitative questions that must be answered in 20 minutes, while the SBI Clerk Main test has 50 questions that must be answered in 45 minutes. In the Prelim exam, this section is named ‘Numerical Ability,’ while in the Main exam, it is called ‘Quantitative Aptitude’. Regardless of what you call it, this section can be a deciding factor of your success and failure in the both Prelims and Mains exams.

On that note, let’s discuss a few last-minute tips that can help ace the quantitative aptitude section and increase your probability of cracking the SBI Clerk exam.

Important Topics to Focus on

The students should focus on Simplification, Approximations, Number Series, Arithmetics, Data Interpretation, Quadratic comparisons, Data Sufficiency, and more as the majority of the questions in both prelims and mains will be asked from these topics.

Data Interpretation

• Data interpretation questions are more important in the Main exam than they are in the Prelim exam. Questions on a single graph (Table, Bar Graph, Line Graph, Single Pie Chart) are asked in the Prelim test, but questions on a combination of graphs (Table & Bar Graph, Table & Line graph, Two pie charts, Caselet, etc.) are asked in the Main exam.
• The Caselet-based questions should be attempted last. Questions on Quant-based DI (time & work-based, time & distance-based, conditional probability-based, and so on) have also been asked in recent exams. To correctly attempt these question kinds, one must be well-versed in the fundamental ideas of Quantitative Aptitude.

Simplifications & Approximations

• Questions based on simplifications and approximations appear frequently in the Prelim exam and are given more weight in this section than in the Main exam. About 5 questions can be asked in the main exam. Since these questions are simple to answer, students should not skip them. Learn tables, squares, cubes and practice enough arithmetic questions. This help you solve questions on simplification & approximation easily.

Arithmetic

• These questions put a student’s fundamental concepts to the test. These questions are crucial for both the Preliminary and the Main Exams.
• Ages, Percentages, Profit & Loss, Partnership, Time & Work, Boats & Streams, Trains, Mensuration, Simple & Compound Interest, Averages, Mixtures & Alignments, and so on are all important topics.

Number Series

• There are five questions regarding Number Series in general (Missing & Wrong No.). These are crucial for both the Preliminary and the Main Exams.

Quadratic Comparisons

• In almost all of the positions on the Prelim exam, there are five questions on quadratic comparisons. Around 5 questions may be asked during the main exam at times. These are simple to solve, and students should aim for the highest possible score on this topic.

Data Sufficiency & Data Comparison

• In general, questions focused on data sufficiency and data comparisons appear in the Main exam. These questions are difficult to answer because they require a deep comprehension of the fundamentals. These two types of questions may appear on the Prelim exam at times, although their difficulty level will undoubtedly be substantially lower.

Strategy & Time-Management

• Before going on to questions on Data Interpretation, it’s a good idea to start with questions on simplifications and approximations, number series, quadratic comparisons, individual questions on arithmetic, data comparisons, and data sufficiency. Questions about data interpretation should be saved till last.