Institute of Banking Personnel Selection has changed the pattern of Common Written Examination for clerical cadre. There will be a total of 200 objective type questions in the exam which should be answered in 2 hours. Examination will be conducted online. Read the article to know more about the syllabus and reference books.
Exam Pattern of IBPS Clerical Exam-2012

Recruitment to post of Probationary Clerks in twenty nationalized banks is carried out on the basis of Common Written Exam conducted by Institute of Banking Personnel Selection. The institute will conduct online examination from this year. Questions will be in multiple choice objective types. There will be a maximum of two hundred questions. Each question carries one mark. Of these, 40 questions will be asked from logical and verbal reasoning, 40 questions from numerical ability, 40 questions from general awareness, 40 questions from English language and 40 marks questions from computer awareness. Candidates will be given five options for a question. They are required to mark the correct answer from these options. There will be negative marking for wrong answer. 0.25 marks will be deducted for each wrong answer. There will be no penalty for unanswered questions. Candidates will be given a maximum of one hundred and twenty minutes so as to answer all questions.

Syllabus of IBPS Clerical Exam-2012

General Awareness: There will be 40 questions from this section. Questions will be asked from top news in business, culture, sports and entertainment. Candidates are advised to have thorough knowledge about the recent happenings in India and neighboring countries. There will be questions about ministers and portfolios, abbreviations, prominent committees and their heads.

Computer Knowledge: This section will contain questions from Computer terminologies and functions, Basic questions about email and internet. In addition to this, there will be questions from MS office package, popular software names and their uses.

Reasoning and Numerical Ability: This section will contain questions from simple mathematics calculations such as number series, profit and loss, ratios, simple interest and problems about work, time distance and speed. There will be questions from Coding and decoding, Syllogism puzzles and arrangements.

English Language: Questions will be asked to evaluate the written communication skills of the candidate. There will be questions from English Grammar, Sentence Corrections and reading comprehension.

Reference Books for IBPS Clerical Exam-2012

Reference Books for Reasoning

• Critical Thinking Skills Success
• Brain Training Puzzles
• How to Crack Test of Reasoning In All Competitive Exam Jaikishan
• A modern approach to verbal and non verbal reasoning by R S Agarwal

Reference Books for Numerical Ability

• Abhijit Guptas bank quantitative aptitude book
• Quantitative Aptitude by R S Aggarwal

Reference Books for Computer Awareness

• Arihant’s objective computer awareness
• Computer Knowledge by Upkar Publications
• Computer Awareness by Alok Kumar

Reference Books for English

• English Language by Lucent’s General English
• English Language by R.S Agarwal, Wren & Martin

Reference Books for General Awareness

• Bank clerical guide with banking awareness & aptitude test by R Gupta
• Prathyogitha Darpan

In addition to this, candidates are advised to read leading national dailies such as The Hindu, Economic Times. They can download notes from various websites also.