There were 200 questions (4 Sections) in all and the time allotted was 2hrs. The four sections were as follows:
Time allotted | 2Hrs. |
Total no. of questions | 200 |
Marking Scheme | Not disclosed |
Sections | 4 |
Number of choices | 5 |
Negative Marking | ¼ of marks allotted to the question. |
Expected cut-offs* | Attempt of 125-130 with a accuracy of about 80% |
Sr. No. | Sections | No. of Questions | Difficulty Level |
1. | English Comprehension | 50 | Easy to Moderate |
2. | Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation | 50 | Moderate to Tough |
3. | Analytical Reasoning | 60 | Tough |
4. | Issues of Social Concern (GK) | 40 | Easy |
Sr. No. | Area Tested | Description | No. of Question | Difficulty Level /remarks |
1 | Reading Comprehension | Passage on National Statistics & Indian Policy | 29 | Easy-Moderate |
2 | Verbal Ability | Paragraph framing | 6 | Moderate |
3 | Verbal Ability | Fill in the Blanks | 15 | Easy to Moderate |
Overall | 50 |
Evaluation: The major change in this section this year was that the number of questions was increased from 40 to 50 compared to previous year. Rest RC, Vocabulary and Grammar sections were of moderate difficulty level. Fill in the blanks were again included this year.
Comfortable Attempt: 30-35 questions (with accuracy of about 780%) in about 25-30 minutes.
Sr. No. | Area Tested | Description | No. of Question | Difficulty Level /remarks |
1. | DI: Data Interpretation | Line Graph | 5 | Easy-Moderate |
Pie charts | 5 | Moderate | ||
2. | Data Interpretation | Bar Graph | 15(3 sets of 5 questions each) | Moderate |
3. | Data Interpretation | Table | 15(3 sets of 5 questions each) | Moderate |
4. | Miscellaneous | Miscellaneous | 2 | Easy |
5. | Data Sufficiency | Simple Math | 5 | Easy |
6. | QA | Probability | 3 | Moderate |
Overall | 50 | Easy-Moderate |
Evaluation: Speed, clarity of the fundamentals of DI and immaculate time-management were the key to success in this area. It would have been better to attempt the questions on probability, data sufficiency and 2 questions on miscellaneous topics first and then try DI sets. Overall this section was moderate.
Comfortable Attempt: 30-35 questions (with accuracy of about 75-80%) in about 30 minutes.
Sr. No. | Area Tested | Description | No. of Question | Difficulty Level /remarks |
1. | Reasoning/td> | Deductions | 5 | Difficult |
2. | Reasoning | Distribution | 5 | Difficult |
3. | Reasoning | Seating Arrangement (square, circular, letter) |
10 | Moderate |
4. | Reasoning | Operator Based | 5 | Moderate -Difficult |
5. | Reasoning | Data Sufficiency | 5 | Moderate |
6. | Reasoning | Inferences/Assumptions | 7 | Moderate -Difficult |
7. | Reasoning | Input-Output | 5 | Difficult |
8. | Reasoning | DI based Questions | 6 | Moderate |
9. | Reasoning | Odd man out | 5 | Easy |
10. | Reasoning | Miscellaneous | 4 | Moderate-Difficult |
11. | Critical Reasoning | Strengthening, weakening the argument | 3 | Moderate-Difficult |
Overall | 60 | Moderate-Difficult |
Evaluation : This was the toughest section. Level of questions varied from moderate to tough. Questions based on verbal reasoning (Assumptions, Inferences, etc.) were on the tougher side. Graphs of reasoning based questions on DI did not present the clear picture which left most students confused.
Comfortable Attempt: 28-30 questions (with accuracy of about 80%) in about 35-40 minutes.
Evaluation : This year this section was much easier than last year. A lot of questions were direct and were easy. Equal weight age was given to current issues, Indian economy, and rural development. One with an average level of preparation could have easily attempted 30-35 questions.
Comfortable Attempt: 25 questions (with accuracy of about 80%) in about 20-25 minutes.