Speed and accuracy are the major contributing factors to your success in the bank exams. Aspirants who score high or qualify the competitive exams such as bank exams and government exams have worked effectively on their speed and accuracy. If you want to score qualifying marks and rank in bank exams, this article is for you. In this article, we have provided tips and tricks for boosting your calculation speed for the bank exams.
Tips & Tricks to improve your calculation speed for the bank exams
Check your basics
To improve any skills, you must first check if you are strong enough with your basics. As bank exams majorly involve calculation, you must strengthen your arithmetic skills – basics of arithmetic operations, including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Every mathematical problem can be solved based on the use of the combination of these four basic mathematical operations. And your calculation speed is affected by your efficiency in using these 4 mathematical operations. Therefore, work on improving your basic arithmetic skills, and then you can think next.
Learn multiplication tables up to 25
Tables can seem boring, but their fast application can help you solve problems in minutes. Therefore, practice multiplication tables by writing and revising them to boost your overall calculation speed during the exam. This can be of great help to you in solving questions within less time. Make a habit of learning tables the first thing in the morning after waking up and before going to bed at night. Aspirants must find patterns in the tables to effectively learn, remember tables faster and make the learning process interesting.
Keep your brain active all the time
It’s not necessary to practice calculations only during your study hour. During your free time, you can exercise your brain by recollecting multiplication tables and trying addition and subtraction mentally. This will keep your brain aware and active all the time and boost your calculation speed immensely. Start with simple numbers and then proceed to complex ones based on your level of comfort.
Learn all cubes and squares till 30
Note down all the cubes and squares of numbers till 30. This will help you a lot during time-work numericals or anything that has to be solved with multiplication and division. These can be effective tricks and shortcuts to find solutions that have perfect squares or square roots, cubes or cube roots in them.
Learn all the fractions and their equivalent percentages till 15.
Questions from the Quantitative section have the majority of problems related to percentage profit and loss. Therefore, aspirants must be well-versed with fractions and their equivalent percentage to 15 for a faster solving speed. Also, to solve Data Interpretation questions quickly, you need to know fractions. You will lag in the calculation in the quantitative aptitude section if you are not fast with fractions. It is crucial to work on improving your calculations by learning fractions and percentages.
Stick to a timetable
Plan your day, as every minute during the preparation is critical. Make a schedule that accommodates every section equally or based on your strengths and weaknesses. You can attempt topics that need to be calculated or solved during the morning hours. This will activate your brain and keep you fresh throughout the day. Other topics and sections can be planned based on your feasibility and grasping power.
Raise the bar of your questions
Once you are confident about a certain set of questions, raise the bar one level up and try solving difficult questions from that section. This will help you apply different approaches and arithmetic skills efficiently and brush up your knowledge of topics in-depth. Aspirants who can solve more complex questions easily have higher chances of getting selected for the exam over their competitors. Therefore, keep increasing your standard and limit of questions.
Sectional time management
The majority of bank exams have sectional time limits. Suppose there are three sections in the Prelims exam, namely English Language, Quantitative Aptitude, and Reasoning Ability. There will be a total of 100 questions from 3 sections. The time allotted for each section is 20 minutes, and as per the sectional time limit, you cannot swap between three sections. You have to solve that particular section within that time frame.
Important links:
IBPS Mock Tests | SBI Mock Tests |
RBI Grade B Mock Tests | RBI Assistant Mock Test |
Once the given time for the section ends, you will not be allowed to solve its questions again. It is, therefore, important to practice the questions of calculative sections accordingly with effective time management. Practise solving questions by keeping track of starting time and the total time to have enhanced speed and accuracy.
Try to solve questions mentally. Whenever you are attempting any question, try to calculate it in your mind first. You can resort to pen and paper only when it is too difficult to calculate the problem mentally. Aspirants can use the above tips and strategies to improve their overall calculation speed in bank exams.
Related Links:
Verbal Ability | Logical Reasoning |
Quantitative Aptitude | Banking Awareness |
Static GK | Current Affairs |
SBI PO Question Papers | SBI Clerk Question Papers |
IBPS Question Papers | RBI Previous Year Question Papers |