One of the main obstacles in any form of bank exam is negative marking. Fear of receiving low marks makes candidates hesitant to respond to questions in bank exams. The benefits of bank positions have made bank exams more and more competitive throughout time, so applicants must get over their anxiety of receiving low results and develop effective strategies for dealing with it.
Join Best Coaching For Banking In Delhi and get best advice for bank exams. It appears that there are two opposing points of view regarding whether negative marking is good or bad for applicants.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| It produces results that are not inflated by speculation. | The goal of the test may occasionally be defeated by students’ guessing the answer. |
| It inhibits speculative guesses, increasing the reliability of the scores. | It is easily exploitable |
| A useful tool for quickly assessing students’ understanding of the subject |
Now, let’s get back to the topic.
Quick strategies to lessen negative marking in banking exams
1. No Wrong Answer
After two hours into the exam, students start making wild guesses in an effort to attempt more questions, which leads them to attempt questions they are doubtful of. Students must understand that those few hours are not the time to try their luck. Additionally, it is frequently observed that guesswork-based approaches result in low grades. Such students typically don’t make the merit list.
For instance, if you are certain about 50 out of 200 questions, you will receive 400.
If you answer 50 questions incorrectly, you will lose 50 marks, bringing your final score down to (400-50) 350.
The pro tip on this is, you must use guesswork on questions you have some intuition about and absolutely leave the questions you aren’t sure about.
2. Let Your Brain Pick Up The Pace
To reduce stress, choose the simple questions and start your set with these. The ideal strategy is, to begin with simpler questions initially because stress has a negative impact on a student’s confidence. By restoring the student’s self-confidence, this has a direct impact on their psyche. It is comparable to warming up your brain in preparation for upcoming difficult questions. On the other hand, starting with challenging questions increases stress, which prompts students to tick incorrect answers—even to questions they are familiar with.
3. Read the question twice to prevent inaccurate marking.
Read the questions carefully, and pay close attention to words like “not except” and similar phrases. Most often, students overlook these words and mark the incorrect answers. Students must therefore be absolutely certain of the question’s nature.
4. Read Every Option Carefully
“All Of The Above” and “None Of The Above” are the two most confusing options and often the most ignored option.
5. Elimination of Uncertainty
If you are uncertain about a particular question, you can rule out each option one at a time to determine the correct response. If you rule out two possibilities, your likelihood of being right increases to 50%, and if you rule out three options, your chance increases to 100%.
6. Do Three Sets.
Another guideline to minimise low or negative marking is to divide the time effectively. Negative marking will not be an issue if you allow adequate time for revision because you will spend most of your time examining the questions you can answer using your prior knowledge rather than wasting time reading the questions that are entirely foreign to you. Here is an example of how you can divide your time effectively:
| Sets | Question Type | Time | What to do? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set 1 | Easy | First 2.5 hours: | 1. Answer question you are absolute sure of2. Give each question no more than 30 seconds. |
| Set 2 | Hard | Next 50 minutes: | 1. Peruse the marked questions 2. You have one minute for each question. 3. Work with the elimination strategy in mind. |
| Set 3 | Revise | Last 10 minutes: | Have a quick look through all the questions you have attempted.No impromptu adjustments or guesswork |
7. Believe in Educated Risks
Take existing knowledge-based risks without hesitation. There will be more than 180–200 simple questions. The remaining questions are meant to gauge your capacity for analysis. On these, nobody can be completely certain. In keeping with the view of the specialized and experienced trainers of VidyaGuru, known for delivering the Best Coaching For Banking In Delhi, the Bank competitive exams are meant to evaluate your IQ and reasoning skills. Those who attempt 50–80 questions using their reasoning skills using the elimination strategy will be considered qualifying. You risk making a serious error if you give in to stress or hesitate to trust your instincts when answering these questions.
In a recent survey, candidates were asked how they felt about being given the option of receiving negative marks for answering a question in bank exams:
- When asked if they would not attempt if they did not know the answer, 62% of the candidates said yes.
- “I will attempt all the questions, regardless of whether the answer is known or not,” was the response given by 7% of the candidates.
- When asked if they would attempt such a question, 31% of the candidates said they may. Depending on how I perform
The biggest losers here are the candidates who have made up their minds not to respond to the unanswered questions. This is due to the extremely minimal likelihood of boosting your score. Candidates ought to acquire techniques that will enhance their performance.
8. Skip the last-minute rush
Last-minute attempts almost always fail. Experts advise students to turn in their answers 10 seconds early to avoid making irrational guesses.
9. Reverse psychology: Assessing oneself before an exam
The greatest approach to evaluating oneself is through mock exams. Take as many mock tests as possible, with answers marked entirely based on guess-work. Verify your scores to see how many of your predictions were correct. This discourages the students from making irrational guesses when taking the test.
These were a few tips that can save you from scoring negatively. Let us know which of these tips you will include in your upcoming competitive exam.
