IBPS Clerk quantitative aptitude syllabus

This section carries two names. IBPS calls it Numerical Ability in prelims, where it is 35 questions for 35 marks in 20 minutes, and Quantitative Aptitude in mains, where the CRP CSA-XVI revision took it from 35 questions to 40, worth 50 marks in 35 minutes. The topic list is the same thing at two difficulties. The IBPS Clerk syllabus hub page covers the rest of the paper.

Pattern

A prelims question is worth one mark and a wrong answer costs 0.25. A mains question is worth 1.25 marks and a wrong answer costs 0.3125. Prelims works out at about 34 seconds per question against about 52 in mains, which is the one section where the mains clock is genuinely kinder than the prelims clock.

Prelims and mains topics

• Simplification and approximation: BODMAS, decimals, fractions, squares, cubes, surds and indices

• Number series: missing term, wrong term and, in mains, double pattern series

• Percentages, ratio and proportion, averages and ages

• Profit, loss and discount, including successive discounts and marked price problems

• Simple and compound interest, instalments and sums comparing the two

• Work problems: time and work, pipes and cisterns, work equivalence

• Speed problems: time speed and distance, trains, boats and streams, relative speed

• Mixtures and alligation, partnership and share division

• Quadratic equations and quantity comparison between two or three quantities

• Mensuration: areas and volumes of standard two and three dimensional figures

• Permutation, combination and probability at a basic level

• Data interpretation: tables, bar graphs, line graphs and pie charts

Mains only topics

• Caselet data interpretation, where the data arrives as prose rather than a chart

• Missing data interpretation, where values must be deduced before the questions can be answered

• Mixed and multi graph sets combining a table with a chart on the same situation

• Data sufficiency applied to arithmetic word problems

• Arithmetic word problems built on two or three combined concepts

• Probability and permutation questions at a level beyond single event counting

What is not in the syllabus

• No trigonometry, calculus, differentiation or integration

• No coordinate geometry, matrices, determinants or vectors

• No statistics beyond averages. Standard deviation and regression are not asked

• No logarithms

• No proof based or theorem based geometry. Mensuration is formula work only

How to spend the time

Calculation speed is the whole game in prelims. Tables to 25, squares to 40, cubes to 20 and the common fraction to percentage conversions remove most of the arithmetic from the arithmetic. Candidates who skip that step lose the section on the clock rather than on the method.

Simplification, approximation and number series are the opening block. Twelve to fifteen of those at 15 to 20 seconds each funds the time you will spend on data interpretation.

Arithmetic word problems are where prelims and mains diverge most. A mains question often stacks two concepts, a ratio inside a time and work problem for instance, so practise combined problems rather than single topic sets once prelims is stable.

Data interpretation in mains deserves separate practice. Caselet and missing data sets need a minute of reading before any calculation starts, and candidates who have only drilled tables and bar charts stall on them. Browse the available IBPS Clerk practice papers.

Common mistakes

• Solving quadratic equations fully when the question only asks which root is larger

• Calculating exact values in approximation questions

• Practising data interpretation only as tables and bar charts, then meeting a caselet in mains

• Leaving mensuration and probability out entirely because they are a small share of the section

• Treating the mains section as prelims with five more questions, when the difficulty of the arithmetic also rises

• Learning tables and squares but not the fraction to percentage conversions, which are what speed up percentage and profit questions

Prelims against mains

Frequently asked questions

Is Numerical Ability the same as Quantitative Aptitude?

Yes. IBPS uses Numerical Ability for the prelims section and Quantitative Aptitude for the mains section. The topics are the same at different difficulties.

How many quantitative aptitude questions are in IBPS Clerk mains?

40, worth 50 marks, in 35 minutes. The previous cycle had 35 questions.

What changed in this section for CRP CSA-XVI?

The question count went from 35 to 40. That increase is what took the mains paper from 155 questions to 160.

What is the negative marking?

0.25 in prelims, where a question is worth one mark, and 0.3125 in mains, where a question is worth 1.25 marks.

How much data interpretation is asked?

Usually one or two sets in prelims and three or more in mains. IBPS does not publish the split.

Is trigonometry in the IBPS Clerk syllabus?

No. The mathematics stops at Class 10 arithmetic, basic mensuration and elementary counting.

Are calculators allowed?

No. Both stages are solved on rough sheets provided at the centre.

Which topics carry the most questions?

Simplification and approximation, number series, arithmetic word problems and data interpretation together make up most of the section in both stages.

Is the mains section harder than prelims?

Yes in content and no in pace. The arithmetic stacks more concepts per question, while the clock gives you about 52 seconds a question against 34 in prelims.

Do I need to learn tables beyond 20?

Tables to 25, squares to 40 and cubes to 20 cover almost everything asked and remove a large share of the working.