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RBI Grade B 2021 Preparation Strategy, Exam Analysis &

Cut Off

Topics Covered: RBI Grade B Cut Off 2021 for Phase 1, Exam Analysis of Phase 1
and Phase 2, Preparation Strategy, Study Sequence, and Week-wise Study Plan

The RBI is India’s apex economic and banking

organization mandated with the task of keeping the nation’s economy
stable.

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Thus, it is needless to say, getting recruited into RBI as a Grade 'B' officer
is no walk in the park. Only the most dedicated, smart, and hardworking
aspirants get to make it through.

Sounds tough?

Well, it isn’t. I tell you, if you go through this article and stick to what’s
written in it to the T, you too will taste success in the RBI Grade B exam. I
guarantee you that.

Having said that, I will also emphasize the fact that if you follow a time-
bound & disciplined study plan, analyze the papers of the past years and
solve them, draw out an intensive strategy and cover the most important
topics from the syllabus, then the exam will not take its toll on you, and
you shall be able to clear it.

Basically, this article will be one of the most important things you will
read in your quest to crack the RBI Grade B exam.

I do not say this out of a misplaced sense of arrogance or anything like

that.

I say this because these updated strategies are based on the same
principles that I taught to my very first batch of students when I started
mentoring for the RBI Grade B exams, and incidentally, all of them were
able to clear the exam that year.

Do you have what it takes to clear the RBI Grade B exam?

Well, if you do, I think you should thoroughly go over this article. So let's
get to the first topic.

Table of Content – RBI Grade B Preparation, Exam Analysis &

Cut Off

1. Preparation
1.1 Preparation Strategy
1.2 How to Prepare
1.2.1 Study Sequence
1.2.2 Week-wise Plan
2. Exam Analysis
2.1 Phase 1 2021
2.2 Phase 2 2021
2.3 Phase 1 2019
2.4 Phase 2 2019
2.5 Phase 1 2018
2.6 Phase 2 2018
3. Cut Off
3.1 Phase 1 2021
3.2 Phase 1 2019
3.3 Phase 2 2019
 3.4 Phase 1 2018
3.5 Phase 2 2018

RBI Grade B Preparation

So, let’s first discuss the best approach for RBI Grade B Preparation, and
to explain better let me take the help of this story from my school days.

You see when I was in school, I used to be an athlete.

I used to compete in 100 meters and cross-country events and I had a

coach who used to train the athletics team that I was a part of.

Now, before every post-summer vacation tournament, he used to make

us train for 3 hours every day after school under the scorching afternoon
sun. That used to be what you can call, our preparation.

After the prep, we used to sit down with our coach and analyze the
teams that were going to compete with us by taking into consideration
their past performances.

That’s how we used to gauge the degree to which we needed to stretch

ourselves during our preparation.

Now I know what must be going on in your head. You are probably
asking,

What has this story got to do with anything?

Well, in this article I have followed the same formula that my athletics
coach used to make us follow.

Preparation first, analysis second.

To start with you should always remember the target date (Date of the
Exam).

Therefore, in this segment, I have talked about the aptest preparation

strategy and how best to prepare for the RBI Grade B exam.

RBI Grade B Preparation Strategy

To start things off, I have prepared a study plan for you that should help
you judge yourself based on what to study, where to study from, and
how much to do it.

This is done so you can be best prepared for the day of the exam.

It’s been set keeping two important aspects in mind:

1. Your Academic Prowess

2. The Number of Hours you can invest in your preparation

Let’s go through some of the basic points so that you can interpret the
image successfully:

Academic Prowess:
According to your academic qualification, you can be placed in one out
of two categories:

Category 1: If you place in the first category, you are either “Above
 average in Phase 1 & new in Phase 2”
Category 2: If you place in the second category, you are “new in both
Phase 1 and Phase 2”.

Number of Hours of Preparation:

The other classification that I have created, is based on the number of
hours you can consistently put into your studies. The delineation of the
total hours you commit per day to your studying as per the RBI Grade B
Phase 1 syllabus, and the same for Phase 2, has been mentioned below.
You can fall into one of the following three categories:

Hours allocated: < 3 hours/day

Hours allocated: 3 to 6 hours/day
Hours allocated: > 6 hours/day

You may also use this guide to create your own Personalised Preparation
Strategy.

Kindly read through the following points, added to further your

understanding:

1. The RBI Grade B Phase 1 syllabus includes:

Topics such as Reasoning & Quantitative Aptitude, English, and General
Awareness.

2. The RBI Grade Phase 2 syllabus includes:

3 Subjects namely, Economic & Social Issues, Finance & Management,
and English Descriptive.

There might be portions of Phase 1 or Phase 2 that you might be good at,
but in the image below, you shall be assumed as one who requires
improvement in some of the other factors.

This assumption has been kept in mind while allocating the time you shall
spend studying for Phase 1 and Phase 2 in your study plan.

Having comprehended the points above, let us move over to the image
below:
How to Prepare for RBI Grade B Exam 2021?
Preparing for RBI Grade B can be overwhelming but it doesn’t necessarily
need to be. All it really requires is a calculated approach and disciplined
execution.

Since a lot of students have asked me this very question, I have tried to
simplify the process by breaking it down into a two-fold strategy. This
has been prepared utilising a combination of my own knowledge and
the inputs from some of the past toppers of the exam.

So, there are two main aspects to keep in mind here:

1. Study Sequence
2. Week-wise Study Plan

Study Sequence
1. Take Mock Tests: Take RBI Grade B Mock Tests and solve previous
years’ papers of Phases 1 & 2 to identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Scores < 50% shall be considered poor.
2. Identify your Strengths: Categorize subjects falling under the strong
and weak categories, after carefully evaluating which of them you are
strong in and which of them you are weak in. Be honest.
3. Create a Study Timeline: Divide the preparation time into week-wise
phases. Select 2 subjects at a time, one that you are strong in, and the
other you are weak in.
4. Brush up on Current Affairs: You can make use of ‘Spotlight’, ‘PIB247’,
and ‘RBI 247’ to study current affairs.
5. Practice Writing: Attempt a test every week to improve your essay
writing skills.
RBI Grade B Week-Wise Study Plan

Important Note: Considering that every subject listed below has a ‘Week
1’, you need not start all of the subjects concurrently. In fact, make sure to
not attempt more than two subjects together at once.

Quant

Week 1:

HCF & LCM

Ratio & Proportion
Average, Mixtures & Alligations
Percentage
Profit & Loss
Time, Speed & Distance
Time & Work
Pipes & Cisterns
Simple & Compound Interest
Data Interpretation
Number Series
Equations

Reasoning

Week 1:

Blood Relations
Directions
 Venn Diagram
Syllogism
Number Series (can be done in Quant)
Input-Output
Ranking
Coding-Decoding
Data Sufficiency
Statement & Assumption
Statement & Conclusion
Decision Making
Arrangements & Puzzle
Clocks & Calendars
Inequality

English

Week 1:

Reading & Comprehension

Sentence Correction
Cloze Test
Combining Sentence
Sentence Rearrangement
Parajumbles
Fill in the blanks
Phrase Replacement
Common Errors

ESI

Week 1:

Sustainability, Growth, and Development

Macro-economics
1. Growth Measurement
2. Per capita Income & National Income
3. Fiscal Policy
4. Foreign Exchange & Bop

Regional & International Organization

Week 2:

Indian Economic History before 1991

1. Role of Economic Planning
2. Industrial & Labour Policy since 1947
3. Export-Import Policy since 1947
4. Agricultural Policy since 1947

Indian Economic History after 1991

1. Economic Reforms in India since 1991
2. Globalisation
3. Opening up of Indian Economy
4. Privatisation

Social Sectors & Social Movements

1. Social Structure in India
2. Multiculturalism
3. Demography
4. Urbanisation
5. Migration
6. Gender Issues
7. Positive Discrimination
8. Social Movements
9. Human Development
10. Education
11. Health
12. Poverty & Employment
13. Indian Polity

Week 3:

Indices, Census, Forest, GDP forecast

1. Indices & Report
2. Census, SECC, NFHS, Surveys
3. State of Forest Report
4. GDP forecast

Week 4
 Government Schemes
Economic Surveys
Union Budget

Finance Theory

Week 1:

Finance
1. Important Banking Terms

Indian Financial System

1. Introduction
2. Reforms
3. Money Market
4. Capital Market — Primary & Secondary
5. Stock Indices
6. Depository Receipts

Week 2:

Regulatory Bodies in India

1. RBI — History, Structures, Camels, BPSS
2. RBI — Subsidiaries, Monetary, Policy Tools, Quantitative Easing,
Inflation Targeting
3. Banks
4. SEBI — History, Functioning Responsibilities
5. NABARD, NHB, SIDBI, RRB
6. Credit Rating Agencies
7. EXIM & ECGC
8. Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Basics

FOREX Market
1. FOREX Market, Currency Exchange
2. History of FOREX in India
3. Special Drawing Rights
4. FEMA
5. Currency Convertibility
6. EXIM & ECGC
 7. FOREX Risk and Management

Week 3:

Indian Banking System

1. History of Banking, Classification — Banks vs NBFI, Base rate MCLR
2. Priority Sector Lending
3. MCLR, internal vs external benchmarking
4. FEOA, FIU, CRILC
5. Measures of Money — supply, multiplier, creation
6. SARFAESI
7. Universal & Niche Banking
8. Balance Sheet — RBI vs Commercial Banks
9. Payment System, BPSS, PSS
10. Prepaid Payment Instruments
11. FOREX Transactions in Commercial Banks

Inflation
1. Theory & Concepts
2. Stagflation
3. Imported Inflation, Misery Index
4. GDP Deflator

Bonds
1. Debt Market & Types of Bonds
2. Bonds Important Concepts
3. Yield Curve
4. Masala Bonds
5. FCCB, FCEB

Derivative Concepts

Week 4:

Portfolio Inv., DISINV, Public Sector Reforms

1. Foreign Portfolio Investment and P-notes
2. Disinvestment
 3. FDI Limits

Risk Management

BASEL, NPA, IBC, PCA

1. IBC
2. NPA
3. BASEL Norms
4. BASEL-3 Framework on Liquidity Standards
5. BASEL & PCA

GST
1. Basics of GST

Finance Commission & FRBM

1. Finance Commission & FRBM
2. 15th Finance Commission

Financial Inclusion

Alternate Source of Finance

1. Alternate Source of Finance
2. PPP
3. Private & Social Cost-Benefit

Tax or Non-Tax Revenue

1. Receipts & Expenditures of Government
2. Revenue & Capital Receipts

RBI FAQs
1. MSME
2. ATMs; White label ATMs
3. Banking Ombudsman
4. Basic saving bank deposit account
5. Inflation-Indexed bonds
6. PLFS
7. RBI as Banker to the Government
8. External Commercial Borrowings
9. Liberalised Remittance Scheme
10. Types of NRI Accounts
 11. P2P Lending
12. KYC Norms
13. Alternative Investment Funds
14. Large Exposures Framework
15. Unregulated Deposits
16. Sovereign Borrowings
17. Liquidity Risk Management Framework

Financial Numeric

Week 1:

TVM
Present Value
Future Value
Number Series
PV of Annuity
FV of Annuity
Annuity due
Doubling period
NPV
IRR
Equivalent Annuity Method
Payback
MIRR
PI method
CAPM
CML
SML
Bond & Equity Valuation
Cost of Capital
Debt
Equity
Preference Shares
WACC
YTM
Cash Flow Analysis
Leverage Analysis
Derivatives
 Accounting Ratios
CVP Analysis

Management

Week 1:

Organization Theory
1. Organization theory and design, structure, goals, effectiveness
2. Contingency Approach

Organization Behaviour
1. Introduction to OB
2. Values and attitudes, TA, Johari
3. Generational Values & International Values
4. Emotions, emotional intelligence
5. Personality
6. Perception & Decision Making
7. Six hats Model — Decision Making
8. Motivation
9. Leadership

Week 2:

Organization Behaviour
1. Conflict
2. Negotiation
3. Authority, Power, Stress
4. Learning, OB mod video
5. Organization culture
6. Organization groups, change

HRM
1. Intro to HRM, HRM in detail
2. Strategic HRM
3. HRD
4. Planning, Recruitment, Selection, Orientation, Movement
5. Training & Development
6. Career Development
 7. Management Development

Job Analysis, Job Design, Evaluation, etc.

1. Job analysis
2. Job Design
3. Job Evaluation
4. Determination of Wages
5. Performance Appraisal
6. Incentives

Employee Welfare & Morale

1. QWL, CB
2. Employee Welfare Theories
3. Morale
4. Employee Counselling
5. Job Changes
6. Grievance Handling and redressal
7. TQM, Kaizen, Six Sigma

Week 3:

Corporate Governance
1. Kotak Panel
2. Corporate Governance in Banks

Organization Control

Communication

Note:

The week-wise segmentation is based on the time it normally takes to

finish certain topics.
As far as the topic of English descriptive essay writing goes, you can
prepare for it by taking 1 test every week.

Having said that, If you are an enrolled student of ours, your essays will
be checked regularly by our mentors and they will share constructive
feedback to help you improve.
This concludes the segment on RBI Grade B preparation. If you’re in the
last few days before your exam, you should keep an eye out and
download the admit card as soon as it is released.

As I had mentioned at the starting of this segment with the help of the
story about my athletic days, as soon as the preparation portion ends,
you need to start assessing your opponent’s abilities by analysing their
past records.

The opponents, in this case, are the RBI Grade B Exams and the previous
records are the Past Year Papers, their Exam Analysis and Cut Off.

RBI Grade B Exam Analysis

As I have already mentioned before, to ensure victory in any battle or
sport, just the preparation from your side is not enough.

You also need to gauge the abilities of your opponents and also the
playing/battlefield where the clash is to take place by analyzing the past
year’s trends and records.

According to the subsequent findings you’ll get from the analysis you’ll
become aware of how prepared you are and also know how much more
effort you’d need to put in to ensure a sure-shot victory.

This is the formula you’d need to apply to ensure success in the

upcoming RBI Grade B exam as well.

So, let’s begin with the RBI Grade B exam analysis of the year 2021.

RBI Grade B 2021 Exam Analysis for Phase 1

The RBI Grade B Exam involves 3 stages, Phase 1 or prelims, Phase 2 or

Mains, and finally Phase 3 or the interview round.

The 2021 phase 1 exam was held on 6th March 2021.

Given below is the typical breakdown of the Phase 1 Exam :

No. of
Sections Marks Duration
Questions

General
80 80
Awareness

Quantitative
30 30
Aptitude
A total time of 120 minutes is given to
English
30 30 complete the Phase 1 Paper
Language

Reasoning
60 60
Ability

Total 200 200

Having said that, it should be noted that the Phase 1 exam was
conducted in two shifts. The difficulty level of the 2 shifts is given below:

RBI Grade B 2021 Exam Analysis: Phase 1 (Both Shifts)

Shifts Level of Exam Good Attempts

Shift 1 Moderate to Difficult 100-106

 Shift 2 Moderate to Difficult 102-107

After analyzing the papers of both the shifts, it can be said that the
overall level of the 2021 Phase 1 exam was moderately difficult as far as
the difficulty level goes.

I have mentioned the section-wise RBI Grade B 2021 Phase 1 exam

analysis below:

RBI Grade B 2021 Phase 1 Exam Analysis (Section-Wise)

Shifts Subjects Level of Exams Good Attempts

English Language Moderate 23-25

Quantitative Aptitude Moderate 21-22

Shift 1
Reasoning Ability Moderate to Difficult 24-25

General Awareness Moderate 32-34

English Language Moderate 23-24

Quantitative Aptitude Moderate 23-25

Shift 2
Reasoning Ability Moderate to Difficult 29-30

General Awareness Moderate to Difficult 27-28

Now, let’s delve into the detailed exam analysis of the various sections of
the RBI Grade B 2021 phase 1 exam.

RBI Grade B 2021 Exam Analysis for Phase 1: Section-wise

I have mentioned below the topics from which questions were asked
corresponding to each of the sections of the RBI Grade B 2021 Phase 1
exam.

English Language

In the table that I have mentioned below, you’ll get an idea about the
approximate distribution of questions asked pertaining to different topics
of the English Language Section in the 2 shifts of the Phase 1 paper:
 English Language

Topic Number of Questions

Reading Comprehension 12-16

Sentence Rearrangement 4

Cloze Test 4-5

Error Spotting 4-5

Idioms and Phrases 3

The reading comprehensions were based on:

Increasing cases of Tuberculosis and its preventions

The role of smartwatches in detecting cardiac arrests

The overall level of this section was moderate.

Quantitative Aptitude

In the table that I have mentioned below, you’ll get an idea about the
approximate distribution of questions asked pertaining to different topics
of the Quantitative Aptitude Section in the 2 shifts of the Phase 1 paper.

Quantitative Aptitude

Topic Number of Questions

Data Interpretation 10-12

Number Series 5-6

Data Sufficiency 5-6

Quantity Comparison 3-4

Arithmetic Questions 4-5

Quadratic Equations 4-5

The questions that were asked on Data Interpretation were in the

Caselets, and pie chart formats.

They were lengthy questions but were doable.

The problems asked for in the arithmetic section were based on

Mensuration, Time and Work, Percentage, Age problems, etc.

The overall level of this section was between moderate and difficult.

Reasoning Ability

In the table that I have mentioned below, you’ll get an idea about the
approximate distribution of questions asked pertaining to different topics
of the Reasoning Ability Section in the 2 shifts of the Phase 1 paper.

Reasoning Ability

Topic Number of Questions

Reasoning Puzzles 25-30

Machine Input and Output 5

Logical Reasoning 5-10

Alphanumeric Series 2-3

Syllogism 2-3

Direction Test 3

Data Sufficiency 2-3

Coding-Decoding 1-3

Miscellaneous 8-10

I have mentioned below the types of puzzles and seating arrangement

questions that were asked in this section:

Linear Seating Arrangement – 2 Rows

Blood Relations based puzzle
Tabulation based puzzle
Schedule based puzzle
2 Rows that are parallel with 6 people in each row
 Floor based puzzle
Box based puzzle

The overall level of this section was between moderate and difficult.

General Awareness

I have mentioned below a few of the questions that were asked to test
your memory in the General Awareness section, based on the 2 shifts
combined.

First Novel of Amitav Ghosh

Question on Indian Innovation Index
When is the ‘International Tea Day’ observed?
Question on Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
Pradhan Mantri Kushal Yojana
When is the ‘Good Governance Day’ observed?
Questions based on Union Budget 2021
Questions on RBI Financial Report
West Indies and Bangladesh Series

Apart from the questions that I have mentioned above, around 8 to 10

questions were based on Static GK, and in terms of difficulty level, this
section was of moderate difficulty.

That brings us to the end of the analysis of phase 1, let’s now analyze the
phase 2 paper of the 2021 RBI Grade B exam.

RBI Grade B 2021 Exam Analysis for Phase 2

The RBI Grade B 2021 phase 2 exam was held on 1st April 2021 and
consisted of 2 shifts. The morning shift comprised of paper 1, namely
Economic & Social Issues, and paper 3, namely, Finance and
Management.

The afternoon shift comprised of paper 2, namely English Writing Skills.

Given below is the typical breakdown of the RBI Grade B Phase 2 Exam :
 Time
Paper No. of Questions Marks
Duration

30
Objective - 30 Questions 50
minutes
Paper 1: Economic and
Social Issues
Descriptive - 6 Questions (to 90
50
be attempted - 4) minutes

Paper 2: English (Writing Descriptive - 3 Questions 90

100
Skills) (Precis, RCs, & Essay) minutes

30
Paper 3: Finance and Objective - 30 Questions 50
minutes
Management
(Objective
Descriptive - 6 Questions (to 90
Type Questions) 50
be attempted - 4) minutes

Having said that, according to me the overall difficulty level of the exam
was MODERATE.

Given below is the paper wise difficulty levels of the phase 2 exam:

Paper Name of the Paper/Subject Overall Level

Paper 3 Finance Management Easy to Moderate

Paper 1 Economic and Social Issue Moderate to Difficult

Paper 2 English Writing Skills Moderate

I have mentioned the section-wise RBI Grade B 2021 phase 2 exam

analysis below.

Let’s glance through the Good Attempts for RBI Grade B Phase 2
Objective sections of papers 1 and 3:

Paper Name of the Paper/Subject Good Attempts

Paper 3 Finance Management 13-17

Paper 1 Economic and Social Issue 10-15

Now let’s analyse all the 3 papers, one by one, and in detail.
Economic and Social Issues (ESI) Paper Analysis:

The ESI paper had to be completed within a total time duration of 2

hours. Out of the 2 hours or 120 minutes, 90 minutes were allocated for
the descriptive portion of the paper, and the remaining 30 minutes were
allocated for the objective portion.

In the descriptive portion, you would have needed to write answers to 4

out of the 6 questions asked in the paper (2 out of 3 – 15 marks questions
& 2 out of 3 – 10 marks questions). The word limit for the 15 marks
questions was 600, and for the 10 marks questions, it was 400.

The objective portion consisted of 30 questions. 10 Questions of 1 Marks

each & 20 Questions of 2 Marks each.

As I have already mentioned above, the overall difficulty level of the ESI
paper was moderate to difficult. As far as the difficulty level of the
objective and descriptive portions go, the descriptive part was tougher
than the objective part.

Descriptive Questions asked in the ESI paper:

15 marks questions (word limit of 600):

 How have the different aspects of Globalisation evolved since the
2008’s Global Financial Crisis. Analyse its impact.
What is meant by the vertical & horizontal allocation of resources to
states as per the 15th Finance Commission? How can this objective be
achieved?
Describe the various Poverty Estimation Method in relation to the
following?
Per Capita
Inflation & Consumption
Safety Net Program

10 marks questions (word limit of 400):

What is the influence of Demographic Transition on India’s economic

growth?
What are the 3 measures that are related to the Disinvestment of
Strategic Sectors & Non-Strategic sectors in Union Budget 2021-22.
Discuss.
Rationale
Impact

Discuss India’s commitment to climate change in light of its socio-

economic, health & developmental projects.

Some of the objective questions asked in the ESI paper:

Question on PM KISAN Yojana.

Question on OECD.
India’s GDP is Forecasted by which organization?
Odd One Out Based question on Govt Schemes.
Labour reforms-based comprehension question. (2 Marks)

Finance & Management (F&M) Paper Analysis:

The FM paper had to be completed within a total time duration of 2

hours. Out of the 2 hours or 120 minutes, 90 minutes were allocated for
the descriptive portion of the paper, and the remaining 30 were
allocated for the objective portion.
In the descriptive portion, you would have needed to write answers to 4
out of the 6 questions asked in the paper (2 out of 3 – 15 marks questions
& 2 out of 3 – 10 marks questions). The word limit for the 15 marks
questions was 600, and for the 10 marks questions, it was 400.

The objective portion consisted of 30 questions. 10 Questions of 1 Marks

each & 20 Questions of 2 Marks each.

As I have already mentioned above, the overall difficulty level of the FM

paper was moderate to difficult. As far as the difficulty level of the
objective and descriptive portions go, the descriptive part was tougher
than the objective part.

Descriptive Questions asked in the FM Paper:

15 marks questions (word limit of 600):

Function on the following Regulatory Bodies: SIDBI, EXIM, NABARD,

NHB & RRBs
What are Basel Norms & what are the Pillars of Basel 3 Norms.
Question on Corporate Governance & its key Principles.

10 marks questions (word limit of 400):

 What the major/key announcements of Union Budget 2021-22 (5
Announcements)
Question on the difference between Transformational and
Transactional leadership.
Question on Behavioural Reinforcement. Explain Positive & Negative
reinforcements.

Some of the objective questions asked in the F&M paper:

Question on Government Model for building National Highways for

construction of roads in the country. (2 Questions)
Question related to Depository.
Question on Hybrid Annuity Model.
Question on Organisational Behaviour.
Question on NPCI.
Question on Shares, SEBI & ASBA.

Note: I will update this section as and when I receive more information
regarding the above topics.

English Descriptive Paper Analysis:

The English descriptive paper is framed to test your writing skills,

expression, and understanding of a topic.

There were 3 questions asked in the paper. The three were:

An essay writing question

A precis writing question
A comprehension

Since the paper was online, candidates had to type the answers via a
keyboard.

The overall difficulty level of the English Descriptive paper was moderate.

I have mentioned the questions that were asked in the paper, below:

Precis writing question was based on Sand Mining (Related to

 Urbanisation & Soil Exploitation) – Words Limit of 140
Reading Comprehension Question was based on Counter Economy
(Black Marketing): In this, there were 5 Questions asked based on the
comprehension were of 6 marks each. The word limit for each answer
was 50-60.
Essay Topics (300 Words) that were asked were:
An ounce of prevention is a pound worth of cure.
Future of BPO industries in India.
Importance of Creative thinking in business.
Pros & Cons of teaching Coding/ Computer Language to school
Students.

That brings us to the end of the 2021 RBI Grade B exam analysis of both
phases.

RBI Grade B 2019 Exam Analysis for Phase 1

In this section, I have given tables through which you can get an idea
about the difficulty level of the questions asked in phase 1 of the 2019 RBI
Grade B exam.

I have also provided for your benefit, the topics, and subjects that the
questions belonged to.

Section No. of MCQs Good Attempts Difficulty Level

General Awareness 80 43-50 Moderate

English Language 30 20-23 Moderate

Quantitative Aptitude 30 17-21 Moderate

Reasoning Ability 60 30-34 Moderate

Total 200 (120 Mins) 120-130 Moderate

RBI Grade B 2019 Exam Analysis for Phase 1: Section-wise

I have mentioned below the topics from which questions were asked
corresponding to each of the sections of the RBI Grade B 2019 Phase 1
exam.

General Awareness

Questions Asked

Current Affairs

Nobel Prize 2019

Static & Banking Awareness

Banking Terms

Greta Thunberg

English Language

Topic No. of Questions Difficulty Level

Reading Comprehension 10 Moderate

Error Detection 5 Easy-Moderate

Cloze Test 6 Easy-Moderate

Sentence Rearrangement 5 Easy-Moderate

Word Swap 4 Easy-Moderate

Total 30 Easy-Moderate

Quantitative Aptitude

Topic No. of Questions Difficulty Level

Data Interpretation 5 Easy-Moderate

Quantity 1, Quantity 2 4 Moderate

Data Sufficiency 3 Moderate

Missing Number Series 6 Easy-Moderate

Miscellaneous (Time & Work,

12 Easy-Moderate
Percentage, Boat & Stream, Partnership)
 Total 30 Easy-Moderate

Reasoning Ability

Topic No. of Questions Difficulty Level

Puzzle & Seating Arrangement:

20 Moderate-Difficult
Day-based, Floor Based, Month-based

Syllogism 5 Easy-Moderate

Logical Reasoning 8 Easy-Moderate

Logical Reasoning 8 Easy-Moderate

Blood Relation 5 Easy-Moderate

Direction Sense 5 Easy-Moderate

Inequality 5 Moderate

Machine Input-Output 5 Moderate

Coding-Decoding 5 Easy

Alphanumeric 2 Easy

Total 60 Moderate

RBI Grade B 2019 Exam Analysis for Phase 2

Let us quickly go through the constitution of the RBI Grade B phase 2

exam.

Phase 2 is divided into 3 papers, which are Paper 1 or ESI, Paper 2 or F&M,
and Paper 3 or English Descriptive.

In this section, I have provided an analysis of all the 3 phase 2 papers so

that you can get an idea about the type of questions that are asked in the
phase 2 exam.

RBI Grade B 2019 Exam Analysis for Phase 2: Paper 1 (ESI)

Here I have listed the topics from which questions were asked In the 2019
ESI or the Economics and Social Issues paper:
 Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana
PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana
Ayushman Bharat
Initiatives are taken by the HRD ministry
Robot Bank launched by which bank?
FDI (Advance Question)
SDG Index (Health)
SDG- Global Green Fund
UNCTAD or the UN conference on Trade and Development
GDP estimation according to Economic Survey
India’s GDP forecast according to IMF
MSF/SLR – Definition
Amount of sanctioned issued to Maharashtra Government by ADB
Loan sanctioned to an Indian State by World Bank
Question related to Union Budget (scheme allocation)
Funds allocated in MNREGA
Amount of Capital Infused by the Union Government in Public Sector
Banks

RBI Grade B 2019 Exam Analysis for Phase 2: Paper 2 (F&M)

Here I have listed the questions that were asked in the 2019 F&M (Finance
and Management paper):

Finance:
FRBM Act
Motivation
Capital Market
A Bond with multiple maturities
Managerial Grid
ERG Theory
360-degree app
Risk Management
Commercial Paper

Management:
Corporate Governance
 Communication
Leadership Style
Motivation Theories
Career Path, Development & Management

RBI Grade B 2019 Exam Analysis for Phase 2: Paper 3 (English Descriptive)

Here I have listed the questions that were asked in the 2019 English
Descriptive paper:

Reading Comprehension: IMF & It’s Functionality.

Precis: Capital & Current Account Convertibility
Essay Writing: For the essays, these were the topics that were asked.

Higher Education
Stress among youth
NBFC Loan collection issues.
Importance of a Vote in Democracy
5G scope in India

That brings us to the end of the 2019 RBI Grade B exam analysis.

Now that you know the type of questions that were asked and their
difficulty levels in the 2019 exams, do not make the mistake of assuming
that these are the only types that are asked in every exam.

RBI Grade B Cut Off

The RBI Grade B Cut Off for the Phase 1 exam in 2021 has been released.
We have updated it in the table below. Typically it is released in about 2
weeks’ time after the Phase 1 Exam.

Along with the RBI Grade B Phase 1 cut offs, the RBI Grade B mark sheet
for the phase 1 paper has also been released.

To check your marks, you can go over to the official RBI website and
punch in your date of birth and roll number. This will lead you to your
mark sheet. Download your mark sheet and compare it with the cut off
list, to see how you fared in the Phase 1 paper.

The cut off for the Phase 2 2021 Exam will be released once the selection
process is complete.

RBI Grade B Cut Off 2021

The RBI Grade B Phase 1 exams were held on 6th March 2021. Having said
that the cut offs for the same were declared on the 31st March 2021.

RBI Grade B Cut off 2021 ((DR)-General) – Phase 1

You can check the 2021 RBI Grade B Cut off for Phase 1 in the table below:

Category-Wise Cut Off

Section
General EWS OBC SC ST PwBD (OH/HI/VH/MD

General
16 16 12 10.25 10.25
Awareness

Reasoning 12 12 9 7.75 7.75

English
6 6 4.50 3.75 3.75
Language
 Quantitative
6 6 4.50 3.75 3.75
Aptitude

Total Score 66.75 66.75 63.75 53.50 52.75

Now that you have gone through the cut off for Phase 1, you may want
to look at the previous years’ cut off marks as well.

So, without further ado, let’s get to it.

RBI Grade B Previous Years’ Cut Off

As I have mentioned before, glancing through previous years’ RBI Grade

B cut offs will give you an idea about the marks you’d need to secure in
the upcoming exam in order to clear it.

One extremely important thing that you need to keep in mind while
studying for the exam is that in order to clear it, you’d need to not only
score above the overall RBI Grade B cut off marks but the sectional cut
off marks as well.

This means that the various sections of Phase 1 and Phase 2 papers carry
their own separate cut off marks, implying that to qualify for the phase 2
paper you’d need to score above the sectional cut off of each of the
Phase 1 subjects.

However, in the phase 2 paper, you’d not only need to score above each
of the sectional cut off of the phase 2 subjects but also do so with
a pretty handsome margin.

That is the only way you’d be able to make it to the interview round.

Therefore, to score well above the sectional as well as overall cut off
marks of both the phase 1 & 2 papers, you need to be thorough with the
number of questions you need to attempt and prepare accordingly.
In the sections below I have shared with you the RBI Grade B Cut Off for
2019, and also for the years before that for both the phases.

RBI Grade B Cut Off 2019

The 2019 RBI Grade B Phase 1 exam was held on the 9th of November,
2019, and its result was declared on the 18th of November 2019. The cut
offs for the same were declared a week after the phase 1 result had
come out.

As far as the cut offs of the Phase 2 exam are concerned, they were
declared a fortnight after the final results had come out on the 19th of
October 2020. This uncharacteristic delay in the declaration of the RBI
Grade B 2019 result can be attributed to the corona situation.

Having said that, I have mentioned the RBI Grade B 2019 cut offs for both
the phases below:

RBI Grade B Cut off 2019 ((DR)-General) – Phase 1

You can check the 2019 RBI Grade B Cut off for Phase 1 in the table below:

Category-Wise Cut Off

Section
General EWS OBC SC ST PwBD (OH/HI/VH/MD

General
20 20 16 14.25 14.25
Awareness

Reasoning 15 15 12 10.75 10.75

English
7.5 7.5 6 5.25 5.25
Language

Quantitative
7.5 7.5 6 5.25 5.25
Aptitude

Total Score 122 122 115.5 108 108

RBI Grade B Cut off 2019 ((DR)-General) – Phase 2

You can check the 2019 RBI Grade B Cut Off for Phase 2 in the table below:

RBI Grade B Category-Wise Cut Off

cut off 2019
for Phase 2 General SC ST OBC PwBD

Aggregate Cut
off in all papers
of Phase 2
(Paper-I, II, & III)
taken 172.25
together in (LD, HI,
written 193.25 172.25 172.25 188 MD)
examination for 176.75
shortlisting the (VI)
candidates for
Interview (out
of total 300
marks)

Aggregate Cut
off marks in all
papers of
phase 2 (Paper-
I, II & III) and
Interview taken
together (out of Gen –
total 350 215.75
238.25 206.5 194 215.5
marks) obtained & OBC –
by the last 194.75
recommended
candidate as
per the number
of vacancies
notified in the
advertisement.

RBI Grade B Cut Off 2018

The 2018 RBI Grade B Phase 1 exam was held on the 16th of August, 2018,
and its result was declared on the 5th of September 2018. The cut offs for
the same were declared a week after the phase 1 result had come out.

As far as the cut offs of the Phase 2 exam are concerned, they were
declared a fortnight after the final results had come out on the 20th of
February 2019.
Having said that, I have mentioned the RBI Grade B 2018 cut offs for both
the phases below:

RBI Grade B Cut off 2018 ((DR)-General) – Phase 1

You can check the 2018 RBI Grade B Cut Off for Phase 1 in the table below:

Category-Wise Cut Off

Section
General English Quantitative
Reasoning
Awareness Language Aptitude

General 20 15 7.5 7.5

OBC 16 12 6 6

SC 14.25 10.75 5.25 5.25

ST 14.25 10.75 5.25 5.25

PWD
14.25 10.75 5.25 5.25
(OH/HI/VH/MD)

RBI Grade B Cut off 2018 ((DR)-General) – Phase 2

You can check the 2018 RBI Grade B Cut Off for Phase 2 in the table below:

RBI Grade B cut Category-Wise Cut Off

off 2018 for
Phase 2 General SC ST OBC PwBD

Aggregate Cut off

in all papers of
Phase 2(Paper-I, II, &
III) taken together in
written examination 201.25 186.25 180.25 180.25 180.25
for shortlisting the
candidates for
Interview (out of
total 300 marks)

Aggregate Cut off

marks in all papers
of phase 2 (Paper-I,
II & III) and
Interview taken
 together (out of
GEN –
total 350
235.50
marks) obtained by 248.5 235.5 221.25 219.5
OBC –
the last
223.00
recommended
candidate as per
the number of
vacancies notified
in the
advertisement.

This brings us to the end of the final section of this article.

I hope, through the aforementioned tables showing the cut off marks of
the various years, you’d be able to get a general picture of what the cut
off might be in the upcoming RBI Grade B exam.

Conclusion:
To conclude, I want to say that this article is a very important one as far
as RBI Grade B exams go. Everything that I have mentioned in this article
would be of immense benefit to you provided you go through it with
the utmost sincerity and earnestness.

Having said that, I just want you to know that I have absolute confidence
in your ability to crack the RBI Grade B exam, and I wish you all the very
best for the preparations that lie ahead.

Have a great day!

About Anuj Jindal

━━━━

Anuj Jindal, the founder, is an ex-manager from SBI, with an M.Com from Delhi
School of Economics. He also has a JRF in Commerce & Management and NET in
HRM, along with more than 5 years of experience in the field of Education.

R B I G r a d e B - Re l a t e d Re s o u r c e s

1 Website Coverage

2 Newspaper Coverage

3 Salary, Perks & Emoluments

4 Phase 1 – Time Table

5 Phase 2 – Time Table

6 Static GK Revision 2021

FAQs: RBI Grade B Preparation, Exam Analysis & Cut
Off

Does the RBI Grade B exam has negative marking?

Is there a sectional cut off in the RBI Grade B exam?

How long does it take to prepare for RBI Grade B?

Is there any reserve list Cut Off?

I have scored just above the cut-off. What are my chances for final
selection?

Can I prepare for RBI Grade B by practicing mock tests only?

7 Comments
jyoti saxena on February 1, 2021 at 5:40 am

i haven't filled the form RBI grade b yet. Completed my P.G(science). Is it possible
to crack the RBI grade b exam in 1 month, or should i drop the idea of RBI.

Reply

pankaj kumar on April 9, 2021 at 6:54 am

sir, i want to clear RBI GRADE B exam can you help me with this and i want to
counsel by you about the exam all the questions i have..
thank you

Reply

Anuj Jindal on April 9, 2021 at 11:06 am

 Hello Pankaj,
Kindly reach me on this number +91 9999466225

Reply

Shivam Dubey on April 29, 2021 at 6:22 pm

sir,

I would like to thankyou for the above article.

It is very good gives crystal clear important information needed for one to start off
thier prep journey
It would be a pleasure to be guided by you

thanks

Reply

Anuj Jindal on May 3, 2021 at 4:56 am

Hello Shivam,
You can contact on below mentioned number for further information.
+91 9999466225

Reply

Shashank Mishra on July 21, 2021 at 8:58 pm

Sir,
I am working in public sector bank. I am thirty year old. Can I apply for RBI grade B
exam? How much time I should devote for preparation?

Reply

Anuj Jindal on July 27, 2021 at 12:21 pm

Hello Shashank,
You can ask your query on this number 9999466225 or mail us on
info@anujjindal.in.
 Reply

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