RBI Grade B Officers Phase I Exam was conducted today (August 16, 2018). There were 200 questions, which had to be answered in 120 minutes. There were four sections – General Awareness, English Language, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning. All the sections except English Language were available bilingually, that is, both in English and in Hindi. Each question had 5 options and 1 mark was awarded for every correct answer while 0.25 marks was deducted for every incorrect answer.
| Section | Total Questions | Level of difficulty | Good Attempts | Approximate time taken (in Minutes) |
| General Awareness | 80 | Moderate – Difficult | 40 – 45 | 30 |
| English Language | 30 | Easy-Moderate | 18 - 20 | 20 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 30 | Easy -Moderate | 13 – 15 | 20 |
| Reasoning | 60 | Moderate- Difficult | 32 – 34 | 50 |
| Total | 200 | Moderate – Difficult | 110 – 120 | 120 |
| Subject | General | OBC | SC | ST | PWD (OH/HI/VH) |
| General Awareness (Out of 80) | 15 – 17 | 11 – 13 | 10 - 12 | 10 - 12 | 10 - 12 |
| English language (Out of 30) | 6.5 – 7.5 | 5 – 6 | 4 – 5 | 4 – 5 | 4 – 5 |
| Quantitative Aptitude (Out of 30) | 6 – 7 | 4.5 – 5.5 | 3.5 - 5 | 3.5 - 5 | 3.5 - 5 |
| Reasoning (Out of 60) | 14 – 15 | 11 – 12 | 9.5 – 10.5 | 9.5 – 10.5 | 9.5 – 10.5 |
| Overall Phase I (Out of 200) | 82 – 85 | 71- 74 | 68 - 71 | 68-71 | 68-71 |
Most number of questions came from the current affairs – both national and international. It has to be noted that a number of questions totaling 21 came from banking. Other areas that were covered in this section were sports, business, science and technology, and books and authors. Very few questions, around 4 in number, came from the static portion of GK. It is also to be noted that maximum current affairs questions came from the events and happenings that occurred from May to July 2018. Rest of the questions from the dynamic section of GK came from the events and occurrences that took place in the last one year. Overall, the difficulty level of this section can be categorized as easy to moderate.
| Topics | Number of Questions | Level of Difficulty |
| Current Affairs – National | 11 | Easy |
| Current Affairs – International | 12 | Moderate to difficult |
| Current Affairs – Banking | 21 | Easy to Moderate |
| Current Affairs – Business | 5 | Moderate |
| Current Affairs – Sports | 4 | Easy |
| Current Affairs – Miscellaneous | 12 | Moderate to difficult |
| Current Affairs – Important dates | 2 | Easy |
| Current Affairs – Science and Technology | 5 | Easy to Moderate |
| Current Affairs – Books and Authors | 4 | Moderate to difficult |
| Static – History | 2 | Difficult |
| Static- Geography | 1 | Difficult |
| Static- Economy | 1 | Difficult |
The section comprised 11 RC questions in total. There were two RC passages which had 4 and 7 questions in each passage. One RC passage was based on exchange rate and the second RC passage was on life events based. Most of the questions were inference based and so, took a long time to figure out the answer. Other topics that came in the exam included Sentence correction, Statement Connection, etc. No para jumble and cloze test questions came this time. Overall, the level of difficulty of the questions was moderate to difficult.
| Topics | Number of questions | Level of difficulty |
| Reading Comprehension (4 + 7) | 11 | Moderate to difficult |
| Sentence Correction (Spot the Error) | 5 | Moderate |
| Match the sentences (Two columns, three sentences) | 3 | Moderate to difficult |
| Para Completion (4 sentences) | 2 | Moderate to difficult |
| Statement Connection | 3 | Moderate |
| Jumbles words ( In 6-7 paragraphs, bold words misplaced) | 6 | Moderate |
There were questions 5 questions each based on Wrong numbers in series and Comparison of two quantities in this section. There were 10 questions on Data Interpretation which were split into two sets of 5 questions each. Apart from that, there were 10 quantitative aptitude questions which were lengthy, calculative and time consuming.
| Topic | Number of questions | Level of difficulty |
| Data Interpretation (Bar graph) | 5 | Moderate |
| Data Interpretation (Table) | 5 | Easy to Moderate |
| Number Series (Wrong numbers based) | 5 | Easy to Moderate |
| Comparison of two quantities (Quantity I and Quantity II) – Topics were: TSD, Quadratic Equation, geometry etc. | 5 | Easy to Moderate |
| Time and Work | 1 | Easy to Moderate |
| Mensuration (Cone and cylinder based) | 1 | Moderate |
| Partnership | 2 | Moderate |
| Time, Speed and Distance - Boat and Streams | 1 | Easy to Moderate |
| Mixture and Alligation | 1 | Easy to Moderate |
| Profit, Loss and Discount | 1 | Easy to Moderate |
| Simple Interest/Compound Interest | 1 | Easy to Moderate |
| Time, Speed and Distance | 1 | Easy to Moderate |
| Ratio and Proportion | 1 | Easy to Moderate |
This section comprised of 6 AR sets (Puzzles) which were of moderate level in nature. Rest of the questions could have been attempted easily to maximize the score. No questions were there based on input-output. However, the overall section was quite time consuming.
| Topic | Number of Questions | Level of Difficulty |
| Analytical Reasoning (Linear Seating facing north in single row – two variables) | 5 | Easy |
| Analytical Reasoning (Box Arrangement – two variables) | 5 | Moderate |
| Analytical Reasoning (Blood Relation) | 5 | Easy |
| Analytical Reasoning (Data Arrangement – Nine people's department, name, projects based) | 5 | Easy to Moderate |
| Analytical Reasoning (Data Arrangement – Birth year, age and company) | 5 | Moderate |
| Analytical Reasoning (Sitting Arrangement – Square table, both sides facing) | 5 | Moderate to Difficult |
| Mathematical Inequalities | 5 | Easy to Moderate |
| Data Sufficiency – 2 statements based | 5 | Moderate |
| Directions (Set Based) | 3 | Moderate to Difficult |
| Alphabet - symbol based (Singlets) | 3 | Easy |
| Logical Reasoning ( Inference, CR, Decision Making, Strong & Weak Argument, Statement Conclusion, Statement and Course of Action and logical based) | 12 | Moderate to difficult |
| Miscellaneous | 2 | Easy to Moderate |
Disclaimer: All information on cut-offs, analysis, answer key and scores are based on independent analysis and evaluation made by Career Launcher. We do not take responsibility for any decision that might be taken, based on this information.
All the best!
Team CL