Top 9 Differences between IBPS and SSC Exams

For most Govt. Job aspirants, both IBPS and SSC recruitments carry high significance. These aspirants consider IBPS PO and SSC CGL (Graduate Level) exams their primary opportunities. Needless to say, the aspirants look forward to performing exceedingly well on these exams and put in a lot of hard work. Although both are aptitude exams having many common aspects, yet it’s important to understand the finer points which make them different. To provide greater clarity to aspirants regarding these points, Vidya Guru, the institute for best bank PO coaching in Delhi has come up with a detailed analysis which is as follows:

1. Online Exam

IBPS conducts online exams for recruitment of candidates in PO and Clerk cadre. However, till now SSC has been conducting pen / paper exams. Although, in the recently released notification for CAPF (Sub-Inspector) recruitment SSC has clearly mentioned that the exam will be conducted ON-LINE, if it receives approval from the Government, yet as of now the chances of SSC conducting an online exam are slim.

2. Exam Pattern & Sectional Cut Off

Although the time duration for attempting both IBPS PO & SSC Combined Graduate Level exam is 2 hours, yet the number of sections is different. IBPS PO exam has 5 sections, whereas SSC CGL has only 4. Moreover, to qualify IBPS PO you have to clear the sectional cut off for each of the 5 sections. Even though, SSC does mention about sectional cut off in its notifications, but it does not enforce them strictly.

3. Trigonometry & Geometry

IBPS exams don’t have questions from Trigonometry. Even when it comes to Geometry, you can expect only a couple of questions that too from mensuration. In contrast, there were around 10 to 12 questions from Geometry and nearly 8 questions from Trigonometry in SSC CGL 2014 exam. When appearing for SSC exams, superior performance on these two topics can become your competitive edge.

4. Computer Knowledge

There is a separate section on Computer Knowledge in IBPS bank exams. IBPS PO exam has 20 questions from this section. You may find around 3 to 4 questions appearing from this area in General Awareness section of SSC CGL exam as well, but as a separate section you can find Computer Knowledge only in Bank exams. In fact, in IBPS Clerk exam this section becomes all the more critical as it carries 40 marks.

5. Current Affairs

Current Affairs is an area of immense importance in any IBPS exam. It is one of the most scoring areas in the exam. Questions on contemporary events of national and international relevance are there in sizeable number. However, when it comes to an SSC exam, you will find only 3 to 4 questions based on Current Affairs. SSC does not focus that specifically on this particular area of General Knowledge.

6. Reasoning (Level & Areas of Focus)

The level of Reasoning Ability questions is higher in IBPS exams. In contrast, you will find that Reasoning is undoubtedly the most scoring section of an SSC exam. A marked difference in the Reasoning section is that questions from Non-Verbal Reasoning don’t appear in any IBPS exam. However, SSC exams have around 4 to 5 questions from topics such as paper folding, paper cutting, mirror image, water image, embedded figures, cubes & dice etc. Similarly, you will find certain topics such as input-output, statement-argument, statement-course of action and statement-assumption to be of significance primarily from the perspective of IBPS exams.

7. Weight age of English

English section has 50 questions (out of 200), which means a weight age of 25%, in SSC CGL. But the weight age of this section is only 20% in IBPS PO. Here the section is composed of just 40 questions (out of 200). Certain typical things about English language section in IBPS exams are that the level of difficulty of comprehension passages is higher and cloze test is a regular feature. However, there are some questions such as one word substitution and idioms & phrases which are favorite ones of SSC. Overall, you will experience that in IBPS exams there is comparatively greater stress on assessing your reading and usage skills.

8. Banking Awareness

Banking Awareness is a distinctive feature of IBPS exams. IBPS clearly states in its exam notifications that it will focus on General Awareness (with special reference to banking industry). You will see questions related to RBI, latest financial market developments, banking terms, structure of Indian banking etc. in every IBPS exam. SSC exams may have a question or two related to monetary policy, but nothing beyond that. SSC would rather ask questions from General Studies (Static GK): History, Polity, Geography, Science, Economics, Firsts in India, Art & Culture, etc.

9. Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency

The Data Interpretation (DI) questions which appear in SSC exams are simpler than those in IBPS exams. IBPS exam DI questions are quite complex and involve lengthy calculations. Cracking these questions requires the knowledge of shortcuts, tricks and approximation methods. Besides DI, Data Sufficiency (DS) is another area which you must work on specifically for IBPS exams. Questions from DS are not seen in exams conducted by SSC.

It must be noted that the pattern of competitive exams keeps changing; something new comes up every time an SSC or IBPS exam is conducted. Nowadays questions from quadratic equations are also being asked in IBPS PO. Moreover, IBPS has notified that from this year it will hold two-tier exams for recruitment of PO & MT and Clerks. In such a dynamic scenario, it is essential for a candidate to remain updated. In this regard, the best bank PO coaching institute in Delhi makes sure that it follows the most updated pattern and its students are prepared beforehand to handle all types of changes.

Summary

The major differences in IBPS and SSC exams have been discussed in this article. Yet, there are certain other things that you must try to observe for yourself. For example, you need higher calculation speed to clear IBPS exams as the questions are more calculation oriented. Even within Algebra, an area common to both exams, you will see that IBPS exams have questions mainly from simplification and nothing else. Finally, it is advised that you into consideration the differences mentioned above while preparing for both IBPS and SSC exams.