How to Guess & Reduce Negative Marks [Steps to follow]

Negative marks in common bank exam can create a sense of tension especially with new rules.Earlier, english test was deemed only for qualifying purposes but now it has become a scoring subject with every answer carrying  1 mark.What this means is - the marks of this section will also be added to the final score. 

 

On our facebook page, we ran a poll about negative marks.The results were

• 65% of candidates chose to leave all unknown questions
• 25% said they will decide after looking into the paper.
• 5% wanted to run through all.

Leave & Lose: The 65% of those who intend not to touch the unknown question are the biggest losers here.By fixing your mind not to attend such questions, the chances of improving your score is very low.What should these people do?

 

Three strategies based on a person`s capability could be employed in a test which threatens with negative marks.They are:

1. No risk
2. High risk
3. Calculative risk

Now, lets us see each of the approaches in detail

 

No risk: In this approach, you are not interested to take any risk in trying to answer the unknown questions.The fear of losing marks haunts you more.

• Leaving 4-5 questions wont matter, but not attending 30-40 can hurt you.
• Since you are not willing to take risks,you are losing an opportunity to increase the scores.So following this approach is not good.

High risk: This involves taking the risk by the throat.You are not bothered about the negative marks but rather look at the marks incase most of the guessed answers are correct.The probability of failure is high, as the success.

Incase there are 50 questions that you don't know but plan to guess all.

With all of them turning out to be wrong – you will lose 12 marks!

So, this strategy will also not work as choosing answers blindly just for the sake of attending all the questions will only reduce more marks.

 

Calculative risk: Most experts & coaching institutes recommend this method for competitive exams wherein you take some risk by guessing answers for few questions.For this, you must be sure of the choices made so far are correct. Only then it would be possible to calculate the amount of risk to take.

 

For example, lets say you are not confident enough to answer 50 questions.

As per the common clerk exam pattern, you will lose 50 marks of 250 which is definitely huge.The total would be 200 marks.

What if you try guessing the answer for atleast 40 questions.

If 20 are correct & rest are incorrect, you would gain 15 marks (20-5) which pushes your total score to 215 marks!

By calculating the risks involved, you have increased the score & this will surely help in ranking, considering the high number of candidates.

 

There are also certain things to be kept in mind,

• Don't make random guesses.If you have some knowledge of that subject & can relate the question to the closest choice, then go ahead.
• Do not waste time in thinking about the right answer.Do it or move on & return at last.Time allocation is more important

The main reason why we favor calculative risk is – although the negative mark is 0.25, you will be awarded 1 mark for correct choices.

 

So what is you approach? Share it as comments below,

Negative Marks in Bank Exams

The concept of Negative marks for wrong answers was first introduced in competitive exams like UPSC,Entrance exams,CAT etc.,This was later adopted in bank exams for filtering the candidates to the next level.The candidates appearing for first time,seem to be more concerned about negative markings in bank exams and its impact in the final score.Here are some of the questions asked by our readers during the last few weeks.

 

Q : Why are Negative Marks awarded in Bank exams ?

A : The basic use of negative marks in competitive exams,bank exams & other important exams is to check the real knowledge capacity of the candidate,to avoid guessing in exams & to verify if the candidate really knows what he is answering.

 

Q: Does all bank exams have negative marks ?

A: No.Large banks recruiting in huge numbers will have negative marks for wrong answers in their preliminary test to decrease the number of candidates moving to the next level.(e.g.- SBI will deduct 1/4th marks(0.25) for each wrong answer in the objective tests for recruitment of 11000 clerks -2009).

Such information will be provided in the recruitment advertisement of the banks.

 

Q: Will I get negative marks if I don't answer any question ?

A: No.Negative marks will be awarded only incase of any wrong answers.So,if you have not attended a question,no marks will be reduced.

 

Q: How to avoid Negative marks in objective tests?

A: There is no specific method to avoid negative marks.Leaving the question unanswered in the only way to avoid negative marks.But,skipping too many unknown questions will lower your marks.

 

Q: So what to do incase if I don't know answers for many questions ?

A: In this case,the only option is to take risk & make some clever guesses.To make such a guess,you must have prepared something in all subjects,so that you can think of a probable answer for that question among the given choices.

 

We will be bringing more analysis on the concept of negative marks and tips to overtake negative marks in banks exams & competitive exams.

Negative Marks - Tips to Minimise

Every candidate taking up bank exams for the first time are more concerned about Negative marks.Negative marks in bank exams are awarded to each and every wrong answer ,which ranges from 0.25 - 0.50 marks.If you still have no clue on how to steer clear without negative marks,proceed reading to know about the do`s & don'ts.

What you must do to minimize negative marks ?

# Analyze the Question paper in advance by referring previous question papers.This helps to get a clear picture of the type of questions in each section.For this, previous question papers or question paper blueprints would help in knowing the pattern

# Practice is the only key.Since most bank exams expect you to complete 120-150 questions in 3 hours,its necessary for the candidates to figure out short-cut methods,easy problem solving skills so that precious time could be saved.

# Try attending mock tests using sample bank exam question papers,which will help to decide on the amount of time needed to answer each question.Time management is the most needed skill to answer all the questions in time.

# Prepare short notes of your preparations,formulas,important theorems etc.,so you can refer to it during the last minute preparation rather than reading the books.

# Be cool & calm while writing the exam.Getting tensed on an unknown question or hurrying to complete the exam soon, contribute to negative marks largely.

# Answer the questions that you are confident of being correct ,rather than getting stuck with a question & wasting time trying to answer it.

# Do not guess until you are very sure of the answer.Guessing can drastically reduce the marks without your knowing.

# Do not erase or overwrite frequently.Since the OMR sheets are read by computers,any improper erasing marks will be calculated as wrong answers,leading to negative marks.

In an attempt to avoid negative marks,don't skip all the unknown questions.Take calculated risks & think of the nearest answer,since there is no success without risks
Original post @ www.bankexamsindia.com