Seven Ways To Minimize Negative Marking In IBPS Clerk Exam

IBPS Clerk exam conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) every year, comprises two stages i.e., Preliminary and Mains exam. A candidate has to clear the individual cut off in each of these successive exams in order to secure a selection, and it isn’t easy. Both Prelims and Mains exam in IBPS Clerk, like any other Banking or insurance exam involves a negative marking scheme, under which a candidate will lose 0.25 or one-fourth marks for each incorrect answer.

Candidates have to make selective choices at every stage of their preparation, starting with the selection of the right  IBPS Clerk Books and study material to refer to and more. Due to the negative marking scheme, this process of selective choosing follows the candidate to the examination, where a candidate has to decide or make a choice of which questions he/she should attempt and which ones should be avoided.

Given below are some ways through which you can reduce the negative marks easily, while attempting the IBPS Clerk exam.

●      Read The Questions and Instructions Properly

Candidates must read the questions properly while attempting them as at times, we fail to see some small details mentioned in the question that can make all the difference between our answer and the correct option. It is very important that a candidate should go through every single detail with care while reading a question, if he/she doesn’t want to lose marks unwisely. Oftentimes, words like not, doesn’t etc and prefixes like un-, non-, in- etc are missed out by us while reading that can cost us negative marking. Not only this, we sometimes also miss out on instructions and direction, taking them for granted and jumping directly to solve the question in the fear of losing time. A careful comprehensive reading of the questions and related instruction should be done before attempting them.

●      Answer The Easy or Familiar Questions First

Upon starting with any section, candidates must immediately scan through the questions, and should first solve the ones which are easy or which a candidate is familiar with. This strategy will let him/her collect the marks of a number of easy questions along with saving time for complex ones. This will also boast his/her confidence and composer to later deal with the difficult questions. With this, the candidate will not have any regret of missing out a question he was familiar with.

●      Don’t Answer in The Final Minutes

The final minutes of the sectional time should be used to check and review the questions attempted. This time should not be utilised for solving or attempting a new question as solving any new question during these final seconds in haste, could lead to an incorrect answer. So, it is recommended to avoid answering any question in the final moments of the exam.

●      Solve Previous Year Question Papers

Previous year question papers give us a blueprint of the exam. Solving them gives a candidate an idea of the pattern of questions and trends in the weightage of different topics in each section. After attempting previous year papers, candidates must make a proper analysis of the mistakes committed by them, make a note of the areas they need to work on, and must incorporate changes in their preparation strategy to improve their performance.

●      Don’t Attempt Questions Which You are Not Confident About

Candidates should avoid answering the questions which they are unsure of and must stick to those questions they are familiar with. Attempting a question whose answer a candidate is not confident about can lead to an incorrect answer and this will bring down his/her score, as for every wrong answer one-fourth marks pertaining to that question will be deducted.

●      Don’t Indulge in Random Guesswork

Indulging  in blind or random guessing can be harmful for a candidate when it comes to banking exams like IBPS Clerk, as they comprise of a negative marking scheme under which a candidate will lose 0.25 marks for every incorrect answer. So, it is highly advised to steer clear of wild guesswork and leave the questions which he/she don’t know the answer to in order to avoid foolishly losing marks.

●      Use Calculated Guesswork

Calculated guesswork refers to reaching the correct answer by eliminating the incorrect options. This type of guesswork can be fruitful sometimes, but not always. It involves calculated risk and has better chances of hitting the correct answer. Candidates can sometimes take this calculated risk while appearing for IBPS Clerk exam, when they are only a few marks away from the sectional cut off. Oftentimes, calculated guesswork plays an important role in helping the candidates to clear the IBPS Clerk Cut Off.