Clerk English: what is asked
| Format | Questions |
|---|---|
| Reading comprehension | 7–10 |
| Cloze test | 5–7 |
| Error detection / sentence improvement | 5 |
| Para jumbles | 5 |
| Word usage, fillers, word swap | 3–5 |
A 5-week clerk English plan
- Week 1: grammar rules — subject-verb agreement, tenses, articles, prepositions — with 10 questions each.
- Week 2: one RC passage and one cloze daily; note every unfamiliar word in context.
- Week 3: para jumbles with a method (opening sentence, then linked pairs); error detection in mixed sets.
- Week 4: 20-minute sectional mocks every other day; analyse time per format.
- Week 5: full mocks; revise only from your wrong answers.
Tips for the 20-minute section
- Target 22–25 attempts with high accuracy rather than all 30.
- If the RC passage is long and dense, do the cloze and error detection first.
- Never leave the section with easy fillers unattempted — they take 15 seconds each.
IBPS & SBI Clerk English — questions students ask
Is there a sectional cut-off for English in IBPS Clerk?
Bank prelims usually set a sectional qualifying mark in addition to the overall cut-off, so the English section must be cleared on its own. Check the notice for your cycle.
What is a good score in clerk prelims English?
It varies by year and category, but 18–22 correct answers out of 30 with few wrong answers is comfortably above most sectional cut-offs.