RBI Grade B Study Plan – For Phase 1 & Phase 2

RBI Grade B Exam is one of the most prestigious exams in the country. It is conducted every year for the recruitment of Grade ‘B’ officers (Managers) in the apex bank of the country. Stating the obvious, the RBI Grade B is a highly competitive exam and it requires dedicated and sincere preparation to clear this exam. The RBI Grade B recruitment can be declared anytime in the year. Therefore lets us be ready for the unforeseen and start early preparations. In this blog, we will give you the detailed RBI Grade B Study Plan 2020 and RBI Grade B Preparation Strategy for both Phase 1 and 2 Exams.

Read about the RBI Grade B Cracker Course Here

RBI Grade B Study Plan

It is advisable to simultaneously prepare for the Phase-I and Phase-II exams, instead of waiting for the Phase-I exam to get over and then beginning with Phase-II preparation.

You must be thinking why?

i. Because after the Phase-I Exam gets over and suppose you clear the exam, there won’t be enough time left to prepare well for the Phase-II exam

ii. The selection process is such that the Phase-I exam is an aptitude test that can be prepared for and improved upon in a comparatively shorter duration. The Phase-II exam, on the other hand, comprises of subjects like Economics & Social Issues and Finance & Management. These topics require persistent focus and attention.

Incorporating the above-mentioned points, we have created the complete day-wise RBI Grade B Study Plan. This study plan will be divided into two parts:

I. RBI Grade ‘B’ Study Plan [Part-I] | Focuses on RBI Grade ‘B’ Phase-I Preparation

II. RBI Grade ‘B’ Study Plan [Part-II] | Focuses on RBI Grade ‘B’ Phase-II Preparation

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1. RBI Grade B Exam Pattern

1.1. RBI Grade B Exam Pattern – Phase 1

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1.2. RBI Grade B Exam Pattern – Phase 2 

 

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2. RBI Grade B Syllabus 

2.1. General Awareness

This section has the highest weightage in the RBI Grade B Phase-I Exam, accounting for 40% of the total marks. Given the nature of the topic, this can be one of the most scoring sections in the exam. And the only key to scoring high here is: daily preparation, reading newspapers, and staying abreast with all the important current affairs especially those concerned with the world of Banking, Finance, and the Economy. Based on the last few years’ papers, some important topics in this section are:-

i. RBI (RBI related Current Affairs & Basic Functions & Responsibilities of RBI)

ii. Cabinet ministers and their constituencies (Read constituencies of all popular MPs of opposition)

iii. Government welfare schemes (Mudra, Ujala, etc)

iv. Banking terms

v. Countries and their currencies

vi. Current affairs for the last 6 months (Read events related to financial institutions carefully)

vii. States of India – CM, Governor and latest events related to the state

viii. Dams, National parks, Thermal power plants, Nuclear power plant

General awareness is a vast and highly factual section. The factual nature of current affairs makes them very confusing, so make sure you revise them 2 to 3 times before the exam.

This will make sure that you score above average in this section.

Everyone prepares well for Quant, English & Reasoning sections but this section, if you prepare well, can catapult you to that top 3.5 percentile of selected aspirants!

Lectures for RBI Grade B Current Affairs

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2.2. Reasoning

To be comfortable with this section, one needs to practice various question types daily. Some important topics for the reasoning section are:-

i. Critical Reasoning

ii. Statements and Conclusions

iii. Puzzle test

iv. Coding and decoding

v. Input-output

vi. Classification

vii. Analogy

viii. Series test

ix. Seating arrangement

x. Statements and Assumptions

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2.3. English Language

The success mantra for this section is undoubted, reading! If you are a regular reader of the newspaper, your knowledge of English will be sufficient for this section. Work on your vocabulary and learn new words daily to increase your confidence level and thus the chances of scoring high in this section. Important topics for this section are:-

i. Reading Comprehension

ii. Cloze Test

iii. Spotting Error

iv. Fill in the blanks

v. Para-jumbles

vi. Sentence Improvement

vii. Vocabulary

3 simple steps to ace this section are:-

i. Understand Grammar Rules and bring them into daily use.

ii. Read a newspaper or any book (for speed reading and making reading long paragraphs comfortable).

iii. Practice all types of questions.

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2.4. Quantitative Aptitude

Practice. That’s the only thing that will help you achieve the speed and accuracy levels required for acing this section. Prepare a topic wise quick problem-solving tips and tricks notebook and practice a lot of questions of each type. Make short notes of things which you think you might forget. Some important topics for this section are:-

i. Data Interpretation

ii. Time and work

iii. and distance

iv. Age problems

v.  Percentage

vi. Ratios proportions

vii. Quadratic equations

viii. Profit and Loss

ix. Partnership

x. and streams

xi. Probability

xii. Permutation and Combinations

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3. RBI Grade B Phase-II Syllabus & Preparation Tips

3.1. Economic and Social Issues

Going through the sample paper released by RBI will give you a good idea of the kind of questions asked in the examination. This will also help you understand how deep you need to go into the topics while preparing. The type of questions asked in the ESI section can be broadly classified as

i. Static: Conceptual questions that test basic knowledge of different concepts of macroeconomics like national income, the repo rate, bank rate, fiscal deficit, revenue deficit, budget, inflation, banking sector in India, etc.

ii. Dynamic: Questions based on current affairs related to Economic & Social issues.

The topics to be prepared for ESI are listed below.

• Growth and Development
• Measurement of growth: National Income and per capita income
• Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation in India
• Sustainable Development and Environmental issues
• Economic Reforms in India
• Industrial and Labour Policy
• Monetary and Fiscal Policy
• Privatization
• Role of Economic Planning
• Globalization
• Opening up of the Indian Economy
• Balance of Payments
• Export-Import Policy
• International Economic Institutions
• IMF and World Bank
• WTO
• Regional Economic Cooperation
• Social Structure in India
• Multiculturalism
• Demographic Trends
• Urbanization and Migration
• Gender Issues
• Social Justice: Positive Discrimination in favour of the underprivileged
• Social Movements
• Indian Political System
• Human Development
• Social Sectors in India, Health, and Education

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3.2. Finance and Management

This is one of the toughest parts of the exam owing to the technical nature. Most people do not have a background in finance and management, so this is the paper you need to prepare for the most. The difficulty level of the 2017 paper was very high. The topics to be prepared for F&M are listed below.

3.2.1. Financial System

• Regulators of Banks and Financial Institutions
• Reserve Bank of India- functions, and conduct of monetary policy
• Banking System in India
• Financial Institutions – SIDBI, EXIM, NABARD, NHB,

3.2.2. Financial Markets

• Primary and Secondary Markets (Forex, Money, Bond, Equity, etc.)
• Functions, instruments, recent developments

3.2.3. General Topics

• Risk Management in Banking Sector
• Basics of Derivatives: Forward, Futures, and Swap
• Changing Landscape of Banking Sector
• Recent Developments in the Financial Sector, Portfolio Investment, Public Sector Reforms, Disinvestments
• Financial Inclusion- use of technology
• Alternate source of finance, private and social cost-benefit
• Public-Private Partnership
• Corporate Governance in Banking Sector, the role of e-governance in addressing the issues of corruption and inefficiency in the government sector
• The Union Budget – Direct and Indirect taxes; Non-tax sources of Revenue, GST, Thirteenth Finance Commission and GST, Finance Commission, Fiscal Policy, Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM)
• Inflation: Definition, trends, estimates, consequences, and remedies (control): WPI, CPI – components, and trends

3.2.4. Management

Management: its nature and scope; The Management Processes; Planning, Organisation, Staffing, Directing and Controlling; The Role of a Manager in an Organisation. Leadership: The Tasks of a Leader; Leadership Styles; Leadership Theories; A successful Leader versus an effective Leader.

Human Resource Development: Concept of HRD; Goals of HRD; Performance Appraisal – Potential appraisal and development – Feedback and Performance Counselling – Career Planning – Training and Development – Rewards – Employee Welfare.

Motivation, Morale, and Incentives: Theories of Motivation; How Managers Motivate; Concept of Morale; Factors determining morale; Role of Incentives in Building up Morale.

Communication: Steps in the Communication Process; Communication Channels; Oral versus Written Communication; Verbal versus non-verbal Communication; upward, downward and lateral communication; Barriers to Communication, Role of Information Technology.

Corporate Governance: Factors affecting Corporate Governance; Mechanisms of Corporate Governance.

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RBI Grade B Study Plan – For Phase-I & Phase-II

1. RBI Grade B Study Plan – Phase 1 Exam

As per the speculations, the RBI Grade B 2020-21 exam might get conducted in the months of March 2021 (Phase-1) and April 2021 (Phase-2)

This study plan is as per this timeline.

This is a 30 Days Plan to Brush up your Basics of Quants, Reasoning, English & GA

 

 

 

2. Mock Tests Schedule for 10 Weeks

We have taken the last week of December too in our plan. You can start your preparations as per the schedule and availability of time. 

 

Week	Mock Test No.
Dec 2020 (Week-4)	Mock Test 1
Jan 2021 (Week-1)	Mock Test 2
Jan 2021 (Week-2)	Mock Test 3
Jan 2021 (Week-3)	Mock Test 4
Jan 2021 (Week-4)	Mock Test 5
Feb 2021 (Week-1)	Mock Test 6
Feb 2021 (Week-2)	Mock Test 7
Feb 2021 (Week-3)	Mock Test 8
Feb 2021 (Week-4)	Mock Test 9
Mar 2021 (Week-1)	Mock Test 10

 

 

3. How many months of Current Affairs should be covered for the RBI Grade B Phase-1 exam?

Current Affairs Coverage for Phase-1

• Prepare current affairs for the last 6-months from the date of the examination. 
• But high priority should be given to the current affairs of the last 3 months. 

What all topics should be covered in Current Affairs?

• Daily News – For Phase-1 & Phase-2
• Static GK – For Phase-1
• Economic Survey – For Phase-1 & Phase-2
• Union Budget – For Phase-1 & Phase-2
• Census – For Phase-1 & Phase-2
• SECC – For Phase-1 & Phase-2
• Important RBI Notifications, Circulars, Reports – For Phase-2
• Government Schemes – For Phase-1 & Phase-2

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4. RBI Grade B Study Plan – Phase 2 Exam

For Phase-II preparation, you must understand that the syllabus is vast and requires specialized knowledge. Hence, it’s not something that you should start preparing for only after the Phase-I results have been declared. 

Here is a Week-Wise Plan for ESI, Finance & Management 

Week	Subject to be Covered
Dec 2020 (Week-4)	Management
Jan 2021 (Week-1)	Management
Jan 2021 (Week-2)	ESI
Jan 2021 (Week-3)	ESI + Finance
Jan 2021 (Week-4)	ESI + Finance
Feb 2021 (Week-1)	Finance
Feb 2021 (Week-2)	Finance
Feb 2021 (Week-3)	Revision – Management + ESI
Feb 2021 (Week-4)	Revision Finance

 

Attend the Classes/ Video Lectures for the below-mentioned topics under the RBI Grade B 2020 Cracker Course.

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Strategy for RBI Grade B Preparation

In general, while preparing for the exam, you must decide on the following things:-

• Order of attempting various sections
• Time to be spent on each section
• Number of questions to be attempted

Things to be kept in Mind while Preparing

1. Understand that all the 3 things mentioned above are dynamic and would vary from person to person, or sometimes even paper to paper, based on the difficulty level. Attempting a substantial number of mock tests (both sectional & full-length) would help you decide on the above-mentioned things. 
2. Do remember, the mock tests mentioned in the study plan will serve their purpose only if you analyze them and devote sufficient time to that analysis, instead of simply taking a mock test.
3. Understand, that the goal is to clear the individual sectional cutoffs first and then to maximize your overall score. Clearing sectional cutoffs requires a basic level of proficiency in each of the sections whereas, for maximizing the overall score, one can capitalize on their strengths.
4. Apart from the subject knowledge, your time management skills play an equally important role in the exam. Taking mock tests will also provide you with a situation where you can practice making such important decisions, and thus be better prepared for the actual exam.

Once you’ve done all that we’ve mentioned in the above RBI Grade B Study Plan, rest assured that your preparation is complete. Just be confident, and go ace that exam.

Have a look at the detailed preparation strategy by Oliveboard Expert here.

All the Best!

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Download PDF eBooks Here

Register here for free and download the Free eBooks PDF for RBI Grade B Preparation.

1. 50 Management MCQs for RBI & SEBI
2. 100 Finance MCQs for RBI Grade B & SEBI Grade A 
3. RBI Grade B 2020 Topic Test on Government Schemes and Reports-Indices
4. Finance Current Affairs One Liners – September – November 2020
5. Management MCQs – RBI Grade B & SEBI Grade A
6. RBI Grade B 2020 Model Test Paper 
7. Finance Current Affairs One Liners – January-August 2020
8. Free PDF: Union Budget: Terms & Definitions
9. Free RBI Grade B ESI Model Test Paper
10. Free RBI Grade B FM Model Test Paper
11. Introduction to Corporate Governance
12. Financial Inclusion
13. RBI Grade B Phase 2 (ESI & FM) Model Test Paper 
14. Communication: Process, Types & Models
15. Inflation: Causes & Types
16. RBI Grade B January 2020 GA
17. Leadership Theories
18. National Income Accounting
19. Basics of Finance
20. Basics of Economics
21. Basics of Bonds
22. Time Value of Money (TVM)
23. Balance of Payments (BoP)
24. Financial/Accounting Ratios
25. Basics of Derivatives
26. Introduction to Financial/Securities Markets
27. Prompt Corrective Action Framework (PCA)
28. Alternate Sources of Finance 
29. Banking Regulations & Basel Accords
30. Credit Rating Agencies in India 

Study material for RBI Grade B

If you are an RBI Grade B aspirant and also a working professional and find it difficult to find enough time for your RBI Grade B Preparations, do not worry at all. 

Oliveboard has come up with RBI Grade B Online Cracker Course for RBI Grade B Exam. Oliveboard’s RBI Grade B Online Course will be your one-stop destination for all your preparation needs

What all the course offers you:

1. Course Details

RBI Grade B Cracker is designed to cover the complete syllabus for the 3 most important subjects: GA for Phase 1 and ESI + F&M for Phase 2 exam. Not just that, it also includes Mock Tests & Live Strategy Sessions for English, Quant & Reasoning for Phase 1. The course aims to complete your preparation in time for the release of the official notification.

1.1. Features:

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