Is RBI Grade B Officer Exam Tough? Pattern & Cutoffs Explained

Bank jobs have become the hot career choice for many young Indians during the past few years.Among the various jobs in govt. sector, RBI Grade B Officers Recruitment notification is one important event eagerly awaited by bank job aspirants. Candidates selected for this post get to work in the nation`s highest authoritative organization – Reserve Bank of India.

Due to the large number of registrations, Govt. of India along with other public sector banks implemented various measures to streamline the entire process.It included bringing in changes at various levels of the selection procedure.

Now, RBI has changed the exam process for grade B officers recruitment so that they can select & appoint the best available talent across its branches.

2 Stage Exam goes Online

You may know that IBPS conducts its written test in two stages – preliminary & main exam.From 2015 onwards, RBI Grade B officers exam will also be held as Phase I & Phase II – through online mode only.

Phase I would contain objective type questions under four sections – General awareness, English language, Quantitative aptitude & Reasoning.This online test is for a total of 200 marks & you need to complete it within 2 hours.

Phase II shall be conducted three weeks after the Phase I, only for those candidates who successfully qualify in the Ist phase.It comprises of three papers.

• Paper I – English (descriptive type to be answered online)
• Paper II – Economic & Social Issues
• Paper III – Finance & Management/ Economics/ Statistics (select any one)

Each paper carries 100 marks with a duration of 1 hr 30 mins.While the first two are compulsory, you are allowed to choose the subject for paper III.

Cutoff Scores:

Just like previous years, there will be section-wise cutoffs in Phase I exam.Therefore only those candidates who have secured the minimum total score will become eligible for the IInd stage.

Based on your scores in Phase II only, shortlisting for interview will be done.

Similarly, the final merit list is to be prepared by taking into account the total marks secured in Phase II (paper I + II + III) & Interview.

Eligibility Conditions also Changed

There are certain criteria fixed by the organization for every recruitment & it determines who can apply & who cannot.So these conditions are the first things that a person looks in a notification.

RBI has brought in sweeping changes in its qualification rules for grade B recruitment exam.As per it,

• Age limit will be 21 – 30 years (category-wise relaxations apply)
• The upper age for M.Phil & Ph.D candidates is 32 & 34 years respectively.
• Must have secured 60% marks in Degree, Std.12 & Std.10 (50% for SC/ST/PWD)

Did you write the exam before? The maximum no. of attempts belonging to general category has been increased to 6.There are no such restrictions for candidates from other categories.

RBI Grade B – A Tough Nut to Crack

From the newer procedures, its clear that the Reserve Bank of India is looking to only hire candidates who have a sound knowledge about the Indian financial scene.

The syllabus specified by RBI provides insight on the type of skillset that it is looking for in aspirants.Some of the topics mentioned under economic issues subject are Growth reforms, planning, functions of RBI, policy matters, reforms etc.,

Similarly, the bank is very specific to test candidates on the latest trends in banking sector.That is the reason why they have provided list of latest topics to cover under each section along with the necessary reference books to prepare.

All this points to one thing – RBI grade B recruitment exams are not going to be the same hereafter.A strict eligibility criteria coupled with an elaborate syllabus makes it one of the toughest bank exam in India.