In this guide
Your final selection depends on your mains score, and only on it. The mains adds two things the prelims does not have, general and financial awareness and computer knowledge, and it raises the level of English, reasoning and quant.
Many candidates carry their prelims habits into the mains: the same puzzles, the same easy DI, awareness left for "later". That is the most common reason a strong prelims score turns into a narrow miss in the final list.
Where the marks are
| Section | Marks | Time | Marks per question | Seconds per question | Marks per minute |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General / Financial Awareness | 50 | 20 min | 1.25 | 30 | 2.50 |
| General English | 40 | 35 min | 1.00 | 52.5 | 1.14 |
| Reasoning & Computer Aptitude | 60 | 35 min | 1.50 | 52.5 | 1.71 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 35 min | 1.25 | 52.5 | 1.43 |
Reasoning carries the most marks. Awareness pays the most per minute of exam time. Together they are 110 of the 200 marks, and they are where preparation turns into marks most directly.
A worked example: where extra marks come from
Suppose a candidate's awareness in a mock goes like this: 25 attempted, 20 correct, 5 wrong. After six more weeks of steady current affairs and banking revision, the same candidate attempts 32 and gets 28 right, 4 wrong.
- Score before = (20 × 1.25) − (5 × 0.3125) = 25 − 1.5625 = 23.44 (rounded).
- Score after = (28 × 1.25) − (4 × 0.3125) = 35 − 1.25 = 33.75.
- Gain = 33.75 − 23.44 = about 10.3 marks, in the same 20 minutes.
Compare reasoning. Solving one more five-question puzzle correctly adds 5 × 1.5 = 7.5 marks. Both gains are large, and in a state where many candidates are separated by a few marks, either can change the result.
General / Financial Awareness
- About 40 questions in 20 minutes, 30 seconds each. You either know the answer or you do not.
- It usually covers current affairs of the last several months, banking and financial terms, the RBI and regulators, government schemes and some static GK.
- The awareness plan sets out how to build it month by month.
Approach in the exam:
- Go through the section once, answering everything you know with certainty.
- Make a second pass on the ones you half-know, and eliminate options.
- Leave pure guesses. With five options and a quarter-mark penalty, they gain nothing on average.
Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude
- Harder puzzles and seating arrangements than in the prelims, often with three or four variables, floors with flats, or uncertain numbers of people.
- Mains-type formats: input–output, data sufficiency, coded inequalities, logical statements.
- Computer questions are usually direct and quick. Answer them first to bank time for the puzzles.
A workable order: computer questions, then single reasoning questions, then the puzzle that looks most settleable, then the next. Cap each puzzle at about six or seven minutes in the mains; if it has not settled, move on.
General English
- Longer reading passages and more varied formats than in the prelims.
- Start with quick formats (fillers, error detection, connectors, word swap), then reading comprehension.
- Keep an eye on the clock. English is the easiest section to overstay in, because every question feels answerable with one more read.
Quantitative Aptitude
- More DI sets and harder arithmetic than the prelims. The DI may be caselet-based or mix two charts.
- Choose DI sets with clean numbers and familiar formats first.
- Skip long word problems you have not practised; come back if time remains.
- Simplification is less common in the mains, so the speed you built for the prelims now goes into DI.
Plan for the weeks after the prelims
Do not wait for the prelims result to begin mains preparation. The gap between the prelims and the mains is short; reports for 2026 put the mains in late December after an October prelims.
| Week | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Awareness: revise banking basics; start current affairs revision month by month |
| 2 | Mains-level puzzles and DI; computer knowledge basics |
| 3 | Sectional mains mocks; English RC and newer formats |
| 4 onward | Full mains mocks (two or three a week) with analysis; daily awareness revision |
Daily routine (about six hours if studying full time)
| Hours | Activity |
|---|---|
| 1.5 | General and financial awareness |
| 1.5 | Reasoning (mains-level puzzles) and computers |
| 1.5 | Quant (DI and arithmetic) |
| 1 | English (RC and newer formats) |
| 0.5 | Revision of notes and your error notebook |
Adjust the split according to your mock results. If awareness is below the level you need, it gets the extra hour.
Common mistakes
- Starting current affairs only after the prelims.
- Practising only prelims-level puzzles.
- Ignoring computer knowledge because it looks minor. It is part of your highest-scoring section.
- Taking full mocks without analysis.
- Spending 12 minutes on one puzzle in reasoning and failing to reach the computer questions.
Practice set
- How many seconds does the awareness section allow per question? 20 × 60 ÷ 40 = 30 seconds.
- A candidate gets 30 right and 6 wrong in mains reasoning. What is the score? (30 × 1.5) − (6 × 0.375) = 45 − 2.25 = 42.75.
- What does one wrong answer cost in quant? 0.3125 marks (a quarter of 1.25).
- Which two sections together carry 110 marks? Reasoning & Computer Aptitude (60) and General/Financial Awareness (50).
What to do next
- Start a monthly current affairs file today, even if the prelims is still weeks away.
- Solve one mains-level puzzle every day from now on.
- Take a sectional mains mock in awareness and note your accuracy.
- Read the last month plan for the final run-in.
A note on dates and numbers. Exam patterns, vacancies and schedules change from year to year. Always confirm the current details in the latest notification on the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection website .
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