IBPS Clerk Exam Analysis 2025: Detailed Review and Insights
The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) conducted the IBPS Clerk Prelims Exam 2025 on October 4 and 5 across multiple shifts. This comprehensive exam analysis covers all shifts completed on Day 1, providing candidates with insights on section-wise difficulty levels, good attempts, and memory-based questions. This analysis will help aspirants strategize effectively for upcoming shifts and prepare for the IBPS Clerk Mains exam.
Overview of IBPS Clerk Prelims 2025
The IBPS Clerk Prelims exam is conducted in four shifts per day, assessing candidates in three key areas: English Language, Reasoning Ability, and Quantitative Aptitude. Each section plays a crucial role in determining candidates’ eligibility for the mains exam.
Exam Schedule and Format
- Dates: October 4 and 5, 2025
- Number of Questions: 100 (English – 30, Reasoning – 35, Quantitative Aptitude – 35)
- Duration: 1 hour per shift
- Shifts: Four shifts per day (9:00 AM to 5:30 PM)
Candidates must arrive at the exam center at least one hour before the shift for document verification and handwriting sample collection.
Section-wise Difficulty Analysis
The overall difficulty level for the Day 1 shifts was reported as easy to moderate, with English being the most straightforward section. Numerical Ability and Reasoning had a mix of easy and moderate questions, especially in puzzles and arithmetic.
| Section | Shift 1 | Shift 2 | Shift 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | Easy | Easy | Easy to Moderate |
| Reasoning Ability | Easy to Moderate | Easy | Easy to Moderate |
| Quantitative Aptitude | Easy to Moderate | Easy to Moderate | Easy to Moderate |
| Overall | Easy to Moderate | Easy to Moderate | Easy to Moderate |
Good Attempts: How Many Questions to Attempt?
Good attempts influence the cutoff marks significantly. For Shift 1, the recommended good attempts ranged between 75 to 81 out of 100.
| Section | Number of Questions | Good Attempts (Shift 1) |
|---|---|---|
| English Language | 30 | 24-26 |
| Numerical Ability | 35 | 25-27 |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | 26-28 |
| Total | 100 | 75-81 |
Detailed Shift-wise Analysis
Shift 3 Exam Analysis (October 4)
Reasoning Ability: The section featured a variety of puzzles, including floor-based, square seating, and floor-flat puzzles. Other topics covered inequalities, word-based questions, mix series, directions, syllogism, and pair formation.
Numerical Ability: Focused on simplification, arithmetic problems (including SI-CI, boat and stream, average, partnership), missing number series, and data interpretation through tables and bar graphs.
English Language: Included reading comprehension based on fictional passages, error detection, single fillers, misspelt words, para jumbles, and column-based questions.
Shift 2 Exam Analysis (October 4)
Reasoning Ability: Dominated by puzzles such as comparison, floor-flat, box-based puzzles, along with syllogism, blood relations, and coding questions.
Quantitative Aptitude: Emphasized simplification, arithmetic calculations, and data interpretation involving tables and line graphs.
English Language: Focused on reading comprehension, cloze tests, grammar topics such as error detection, word swaps, and sentence rearrangement.
| Reasoning Topics | Quantitative Topics | English Topics |
|---|---|---|
| Comparison Puzzle (8 persons) | Simplification (10-12 Qs) | Reading Comprehension (10 Qs) |
| Month-based Puzzle | Data Interpretation (Line/Table) | Cloze Test (5 Qs) |
| Floor + Flat Puzzle | Arithmetic (13 Qs) | Word Usage, Sentence Rearrangement, Error Detection |
Section-wise Questions Breakdown
Reasoning Ability Questions (Shift 1)
- Box Based Puzzle: 5
- Month & Date Based Puzzle (8 months): 5
- Certain Number of Persons Seating Arrangement: 3
- Circular Seating Arrangement: 5
- Inequalities: 3
- Blood Relation: 3
- Alphanumeric Series: 5
- Direction and Distance: 3
- Odd One Out: 1
- Pair Formation: 1
- Meaningful Words: 1
Numerical Ability Questions
- Simplification: 12
- Arithmetic (Partnership, Boat & Stream, Mensuration, Mixture, Time & Work): 13
- Table Data Interpretation: 5
- Line Data Interpretation: 5
English Language Questions
- Reading Comprehension (Army dog): 9
- Word Rearrangement: 5
- Error Detection: 5
- Cloze Test: 6
- Word Usage: 1
- Phrase Replacement: 4
IBPS Clerk Shift Timings 2025
| Shift | Reporting Time | Handwriting Sample | Exam Start | Exam End |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shift 1 | 08:00 AM | 08:55 AM | 09:00 AM | 10:00 AM |
| Shift 2 | 10:30 AM | 11:25 AM | 11:30 AM | 12:30 PM |
| Shift 3 | 01:00 PM | 01:55 PM | 02:00 PM | 03:00 PM |
| Shift 4 | 03:30 PM | 04:25 PM | 04:30 PM | 05:30 PM |
Candidates are advised to arrive early and follow the schedule strictly to avoid any last-minute issues.
