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Reasoning Ability for IBPS Clerk

IBPS Clerk sets 85 Reasoning Ability questions for 95 marks across 2 stages, so it is worth planning your preparation around the topics below.

85 questions95 marks10 topics

How to approach Reasoning Ability in IBPS Clerk

The puzzles and seating arrangements carry the most marks and take the most time, so the skill is choosing which set to attempt and which to leave. Clear the quick scoring topics — inequality, syllogism, coding-decoding, blood relations — first, then spend the remaining time on one or two puzzles you can actually finish.

Weightage in the paper

How much Reasoning Ability is worth in each IBPS Clerk stage, from the official pattern.

StageQuestionsMarksTimeShare
Preliminary Examination353520 min35%
Main Examination506045 min26%

Reasoning Ability syllabus for IBPS Clerk

Every topic in the official syllabus. The linked ones open a set of solved questions you can practise straight away.

  • Puzzles: floor, box, day and category based
  • Seating arrangement: linear and circular
  • Syllogism
  • Inequality, coded and direct
  • Blood relations and direction sense
  • Order, ranking and comparison
  • Coding and decoding
  • Alphanumeric and symbol series
  • Data sufficiency
  • Statement and assumption

Sample Reasoning Ability questions with solutions

Written to the IBPS Clerk pattern, with the answer key and the method behind it — a look at how the section is actually set before you drill the full topic sets.

Direction sense · solved example

A person starts from point P and walks 8 km east to reach Q. He turns left and walks 6 km to reach R, turns left again and walks 13 km to reach S, then turns left once more and walks 6 km to reach T. How far is T from P, and in which direction?

  • 5 km east
  • 5 km westCorrect
  • 6 km west
  • 7 km east
  • 8 km west

Solution

Track the two axes separately. Facing east, a left turn faces north, the next left faces west, and the third faces south. So the moves are 8 km east, 6 km north, 13 km west and 6 km south. The northward and southward legs are both 6 km and cancel exactly, leaving 8 km east against 13 km west, a net 5 km west. Option A carries the right distance with the direction reversed, which is what happens if the larger westward leg is subtracted the wrong way round.

Direction sense · solved example

A man walks 12 m towards the north, turns right and walks 9 m, then turns right again and walks 12 m. How far is he from his starting point, and in which direction from it?

  • 9 m eastCorrect
  • 9 m west
  • 15 m east
  • 21 m east
  • 12 m north

Solution

Track the two axes separately. Facing north, a right turn points east, and a second right turn points south. So the man goes 12 m north, 9 m east, then 12 m south. The two vertical legs cancel exactly, leaving only the 9 m eastward move, so he ends 9 m due east of where he began. Option C, 15 m, is the hypotenuse you would get by treating the legs as a right triangle, which applies only when the north and south distances do not cancel.

Scheduling puzzle · solved example

Seven people - P, Q, R, S, T, V and W - attend a training programme, each in a different month from January to July of the same year. S attends in the month exactly in the middle of the schedule. Two people attend between S and T. P attends in the month immediately before V. Q attends in the month immediately after T. R attends in the month immediately after S. W attends before S but after Q.

Who attends in the month immediately after W?

  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • SCorrect
  • V

Solution

The schedule is T, Q, W, S, R, P, V from January to July. W attends in March, so the next month, April, belongs to S. April is also the middle month the first clue fixes, which is the anchor the whole arrangement is built from.

Scheduling puzzle · solved example

Seven people - P, Q, R, S, T, V and W - attend a training programme, each in a different month from January to July of the same year. S attends in the month exactly in the middle of the schedule. Two people attend between S and T. P attends in the month immediately before V. Q attends in the month immediately after T. R attends in the month immediately after S. W attends before S but after Q.

Who attends the training in May?

  • P
  • Q
  • RCorrect
  • T
  • W

Solution

Seven months means the middle one is the fourth, April, so S attends then. Two people between S and T places T in either January or July, but Q must attend immediately after T, and nothing follows July, so T is in January and Q in February. W comes after Q and before S, leaving only March. R follows S immediately, so R is in May. P and V take the last two months in that order. The schedule is T, Q, W, S, R, P, V.

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Practise Reasoning Ability

Untimed drills with the method shown after every question — the step between learning a topic and sitting it under a clock.

Reasoning Ability study material

Sit Reasoning Ability under a real clock

Reasoning Ability shows up in every IBPS Clerk mock test, in the same interface, with sectional locking and negative marking.

  • IBPS Clerk: 27-question practice mock

    27 questions | 27 min

    Start

  • IBPS Clerk: full-length mock (100 questions)

    100 questions | 1 hr

    Start

Frequently asked questions

How many Reasoning Ability questions are asked in IBPS Clerk?

IBPS Clerk 2026-27 cycle (CRP CSA-XVI) sets 85 Reasoning Ability questions for 95 marks, split across 35 in the Preliminary Examination and 50 in the Main Examination.

Is there negative marking for Reasoning Ability in IBPS Clerk?

Yes. IBPS Clerk deducts one fourth of a mark for each wrong answer, Reasoning Ability included, so unsure guesses cost you. One fourth of the marks assigned to a question is deducted for a wrong answer. Questions left blank carry no penalty.

Which Reasoning Ability topics matter most for IBPS Clerk?

The IBPS Clerk syllabus lists Puzzles: floor, box, day and category based, Seating arrangement: linear and circular, Syllogism, Inequality, coded and direct, Blood relations and direction sense, Order, ranking and comparison and more. Weight your revision towards the ones you are weakest on and confirm the emphasis against the paper analysis for recent cycles.

How can I practise Reasoning Ability for IBPS Clerk free?

Every Reasoning Ability question on this site is free and written to the exam pattern. Use the topic drills for instant-feedback practice, the daily quiz to keep the section warm, and the IBPS Clerk mock tests to sit it under a real clock with negative marking.