Everything you need to prepare for bank exams.

Banking exams aren't won by studying harder. They're won by studying faster — Reasoning, Quant and English where every second counts — and by remembering a huge General Awareness section that most candidates read once and lose.

This guide explains how IBPS and SBI exams are actually built, why their timing structure makes speed non-negotiable, and where the General Awareness load quietly sinks most candidates. Then it shows how the tools in this app turn that into a daily routine built around speed and recall.

How bank exams are structured

The big recruiters — IBPS (which hires for most public-sector banks), SBI, and the RBI — share a common two-stage pattern for their PO and Clerk exams: a short qualifying Prelims, then a deeper Mains that actually counts.

• Prelims is a fast objective test across three sections — English Language, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning Ability — typically around 100 questions in an hour, with sectional time limits and negative marking. It's a screen: clear the cut-off and you advance. Your Prelims score doesn't carry into the final merit.
• Mains is longer and harder. It expands to Reasoning & Computer Aptitude, General/Economy/Banking Awareness, English, and Data Analysis & Interpretation — and for Probationary Officer roles, a descriptive paper (letter and essay writing). Mains is what decides selection.
• Interview / Group exercise follows for PO and officer-cadre roles. Clerk-level exams usually end at Mains.

The RBI's Grade B officer exam adds its own phases and specialist papers (economics, finance and management), but the underlying logic is the same: a fast screen, then depth, then judgement.

Why timing changes how you have to study

The defining feature of bank exams is sectional timing. In Prelims you don't get to pool your time and spend it where you're strong — each section has its own clock, often around twenty minutes. That single rule has consequences:

• You can fully know how to solve a Quant set and still not finish it. Method isn't enough; method recall has to be fast and automatic.
• Negative marking means reckless speed is punished too. The real skill is speed with accuracy — knowing which questions to attempt and which to skip, instantly.
• A weak section can't be rescued by a strong one within the section's own time limit, so you can't afford a genuine blind spot.

This is why "I studied for six hours" tells you almost nothing about bank-exam readiness. What matters is questions solved per minute, at what accuracy, under a clock.

The General Awareness problem

The other place prep quietly fails is General Awareness in Mains — and it fails for a specific reason: it's wide, it's current, and it decays fast. Banking awareness, RBI and monetary-policy announcements, financial news, government schemes, appointments and awards pile up over months, and almost all of it is forgettable on a single reading.

Candidates read it daily, feel productive, and then discover in the exam that the names, dates and figures have evaporated. The fix isn't reading more — it's reading once and then bringing each item back on a schedule, just before you'd forget it, so the base stays warm instead of decaying.

A simple way to structure your prep

1. Build accuracy first. Learn Quant, Reasoning and English methods properly. Don't chase speed before the method is solid.
2. Convert to speed. Move to timed, sectional practice that mirrors the real per-section clock. Train attempt-or-skip judgement, not just solving.
3. Layer in awareness and revision. Add daily current affairs and banking awareness early, and revise it relentlessly so Mains GA is genuinely retained, not crammed.

How Lighthouse Prep fits in

Your study planner structures the day across all five sections, weighted to your exam and stage. You run Quant and Reasoning on the focus timer as speed-and-accuracy sessions, so solving fast becomes a trained habit rather than a hope — and the wastage report shows where your focus actually breaks. The day's current affairs feeds your GA, practice MCQs test it, and spaced revision brings every GA topic back at 1, 3, 7 and 21 days so it's still there on exam day.

It directly targets the two things that decide bank exams — trained speed and durable recall — instead of just logging hours.

Start your banking preparation

Pick your bank exam, set the target date, and start today's first session. Speed work, current affairs and revision all build around your daily plan.