Quantitative Aptitude or Numerical Ability Syllabus         

• Number System
• HCF & LCM
• Profit & Loss
• Simple Interest & Compound Interest
• Time & Work
• Time & Distance
• Decimal & Fraction
• Averages
• Simplification
• Partnership
• Percentages
• Ratio & Proportion 
• Averages
• Case Studies Charts and Graphs
• Permutation & Combination
• Probability
• Data Interpretation – Bar Graph, Line Graph & Pie chart

Reasoning Syllabus         

• Puzzles – Seating Arrangement: Circular/Direction-based/MISC
• Number Series
• Odd man out
• Coding-Decoding
• Blood Relation
• Analogy
• Syllogism
• Alphabet Test
• Ranking and Time
• Causes and Effects
• Direction Sense
• Figure Series
• Word Formation
• Statement and Assumption
• Assertion and Reason
• Statement and Conclusion
• Statement and Arguments
• Statements and Action Courses

English Language or Hindi Language Syllabus      

• Reading Comprehensions
• Grammar / Vyakaran
• Spotting Errors
• Fill in the Blanks
• Misspelled Words
• Jumbled Words
• Rearrangement of Sentence
• Jumbled up sentences
• Idioms and Phrases
• Cloze Tests
• One word Substitution
• Antonyms and Synonyms

General Awareness Syllabus      

• Current Affairs National & International
• Sports Abbreviations
• Currencies & Capitals
• General Science
• Government Schemes & Policies
• Banking Awareness
• RBI
• National Parks & Sanctuaries
• Financial Awareness Syllabus     
• Current events in Financial World
• Monetary Policy
• Budget
• Economic Survey
• Banking Banking Reforms in India
• Bank Accounts of Special Individuals Loans
• Asset Reconstruction Companies
• Non Performing Assets
• Restructuring of Loans
• Bad Loans
• Risk Management
• BASEL I
• BASEL II
• BASEL III
• Organisations – RBI, SEBI, IMF, World Bank & Others

Computer Knowledge Syllabus

• Fundamentals of Computer
• History of Computers
• Future of Computers
• Basic Knowledge of Internet
• Networking Software & Hardware
• Abbreviations Shortcut Keys
• MS Office
• Database
• Security Tools
• Virus
• Hacking
• Trojans Input and Output Devices
• Computer Languages

Preparation tips for Competitive exams

Syllabi are almost the same but different in questions of difficulty level. SBI PO demands deep knowledge whereas other exams are slightly less difficult to crack. You take to have enough time for preparing for these exams. Prepare a study plan and adhere to the timing and topics

If you want to crack that exam, then ensure that you will not take a gap in preparation and have to be consistent. You have to sacrifice your social media and other deviating activities and maintain a disciplined schedule until you write the exam.

Tips and suggestions are given at the end, now let’s talk regarding the preparation of different topics let’s deal one by one:

Quantitative Aptitude:

Bank Prelims exam demands SPEED & ACCURACY

1. To start with, firstly one should master topics like simplification, approximation, quadratic, missing number series, and wrong number series. These topics can not be ignored as they cover around 15–20 marks. To master these topics, you need to practice them every single day. Because irregularity in these topics will decrease your speed and will also impact other topics in calculations
2. Data interpretation: Data Interpretation and Analysis is the most challenging part of Quantitative Aptitude. This section cannot be ignored as there is no SBI or IBPS exam without this topic. A set of DI Questions easily earns you 5 marks. You have to learn types of data interpretation and practice questions on daily basis at least 5 DI. In the pre-exam, you expect one question minimum and two sets in mains exam from DI section.
3. Other Arithmetic Topics: First, learn all chapters from basic to advanced. Topics like Averages, LCM & HCF, Ratios, and Percentages are the basics for all the topics in aptitude. So, mastering these topics is essential as in pre-exam, you can expect 10 questions and in mains, 80% section form this. You can easily solve the Data Interpretation section if you have a good command of these topics. If you complete one chapter then revise it after 3–4 days. If you do not follow, revision cycle then your hard work in this section may go waste. So keep it in mind that, Revision is very important for arithmetic.
4. Profit and loss, simple and compound interest: The problem with going for questions of the chapter like Profit loss, Compound Interest / Simple Interest is that they require a lot of time to prepare. Basics and Concepts must be clear to master these topics and you cannot expect to complete these chapters in a few days. Try solving and understanding the questions and clues given and analyze the best method to solve, the question may be lengthy, but it can be solved easily in one or two steps. This only comes with a lot of practice. So, never get panic if you find a big question most of them are easy to solve. Once you are clear on this topic you can easily solve the question not taking more than a minute.
5. Time and Distance/ Time and Work: All the suggestions mentioned above are applicable to this topic. Both the percentages and time-related topics require clearing your basics and concepts. You can find some tricky and confusing questions in time and works questions. It is important to note that, If you can analyze what exactly the examiner is asking the question can be easily done, or else, they may waste our time.
6. Permutations and Combinations & Probability: Questions from this topic are often asked in Bank exams you need to practice extensively. Both Permutations and Combinations & Probability have their own strategies for solving. While preparing, you must first focus on Permutations and then Combinations.

Probability questions can be of any kind and often get confusing. You should practice previous years’ question papers and attempt mock tests to expertise this area.

4. Mock exams: You are done with practice and revision. Now the next step is to write online mock exams. All your efforts in practice sessions can be monitored and improved only when you write mock exams. Many sites provide mock exams for free or at a very reasonable price. Do not miss writing topic-wise mocks to check your accuracy and speed. Follow simple steps, Practice – Prepare – Revise – Exams.

Important tips for Exams:

1. For any competitive exam it is very important to revise previous years’ question papers. It helps you analyze the changing trends as well as check your preparation levels.
2. Study plan – You should chalk out a study plan giving timing for all the sections of Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning, English as well as Mains preparation in between.  The study plan should be such that you divide equal time to each section of the exam. We will discuss detailed study plan in the next article.
   
   3. You should focus on the revision of critical topics. Maximum effort has to be put into topics with maximum weightage. So, knowing the weightage of topics is very important. Check the weightage of various topics in my previous article.
   4. Section-wise preparation Strategy: As there is a fixed time to attempt each section you need to build a clear section-wise strategy to attempt the maximum number of questions with each section. If you are attempting the Aptitude section then they must pre-decide in mind what types of questions you are about to solve first. For eg: you can devote the first five minutes to questions, that you are an expert in and have a good command of, then the next two minutes to simplifications, number series questions, and so on.
   5. You must be very clear with the concepts. You are clear with the basic concept of Quantitative Aptitude, if you are not clear on the concepts then you will find it difficult to solve tricky questions. In main exams, it will be very helpful only if you are clear with concepts.
   6. Competitive exams are all about time management and accuracy. You should learn shortcuts for solving questions. Since there are sectional timings, learning shortcuts will help you to attempt the maximum number of questions in less possible time. You can practice with more and more sectional tests and take one mock test every day for each section. Since the exams are computer-based, practice the mocks on your desktop or laptop computer for optimum results.

Topic-wise Tips and Tricks in Reasoning

We have discussed topic-wise tips and tricks in Quantitative in our previous article. In a someway it is also important to understand the same in Reasoning to score more marks. Let’s us study the reasoning section topics one by one. 

1. Distance and Directions.

This is one of the easiest and most scoring of all the questions asked in Reasoning. If you can read the statements carefully by focusing on one aspect at a time and making diagrams, then your answer is not far away. You should have a clear understanding of the directional coordinates and facing directions concept. If you are perfect in the concept, then you will never miss a mark.  

2. Analogy

Starting the reasoning session with Analogy, Order and ranking, Alphanumeric Series, and syllogisms will fetch easy marks as these sections are straightforward based on general knowledge and common sense.

In analogy questions, you have to identify the relation between two components and find out if the missing element has a similar relationship with another element. Practicing more questions will fetch you marks.

3. Order & Ranking

In order and ranking, there are a few formulas to solve these types of questions and making diagrams can also help. These questions are given to determine the rank/position of the person from bottom/left-right.

4. Alphanumeric Series

Perhaps one of the most interesting topics in reasoning is a series of questions. These questions are based on the identification of the pattern in a given series

5. Syllogism

There are two methods to choose to solve syllogisms, either you can choose the A, E, l, O rules method, or the traditional Venn Diagram method. It’s up to you to decide which method you will practice, scoring is important. It is important to read the questions before attempting the answers in syllogisms. Be clear regarding the statements and the assumptions.

6. Blood Relations

We can expect two questions from this topic. Read the question carefully and draw a family tree accordingly. It should be noted that generations and relations between the characters asked should not be confused. You can easily score marks if you draw a perfect family tree.

7. Inequalities

Mathematical Inequalities questions are complex expressions with mathematical symbols. You need to determine the relationship between different variables. Coded Inequalities questions consist of expressions coded with symbols. So first, you have to decode the symbols and then find the conclusions.

One of the best ways is to make a table and decode the given symbols. Thereafter rewrite the relationships using the decoded symbols. Combine all the relationships to get the combined statement to draw an accurate conclusion.

8. Seating Arrangements

In seating, there are various models like circular, linear, square, etc. These questions are critical, tricky, and time-consuming. To master the topic there is only one tip “more you practice, the more you gain mastery over this topic”.

9. Puzzles

Year by year the importance of the topic is increasing. More questions are asked about this topic, these are tricky and also time-consuming. Analyze and collect all the statements, do not miss any clue. The only way to master this topic is again the same practice – practice and more practice. You cannot ignore this topic to succeed in Bank exams. Complete your syllabus and do practice and practice & more practice.

10. Input and Output: Questions on Input and Output are not difficult to solve but are time taking. To solve these questions, it’s important to remember that you should not miss any detail when processing the input because that is a common error that leads to a wrong answer.
11. Miscellaneous topics.

There are other small topics that come under reasoning and may need attention such as data sufficiency etc. Practice these topics as they can be handy in fetching one or two marks. Data Sufficiency questions may be of any form. Data Sufficiency questions are likely to take the maximum time in solving them. Hence, with adequate practice and solving mock tests, candidates will be able to score good marks.