NPAT 2020 Exam Analysis

Endeavor Careers Posted on June 26, 2020

Total Questions: 120 | Total Marks: 120 | Total Duration: 100 minutes

Marking System Marking: +1 for Correct, No Negative Marking

NPAT 2020 Exam Paper Pattern

Sr No.	Section	Questions	Marks
1	Proficiency in English Language	40	40
2	Reasoning Ability	40	40
3	Quantitative and Numerical Ability	40	40
	Total	120	120

Regarding the exam format, there were visible changes this year since it was an online proctored (AI+ Human) exam to be taken remotely. Another variant this year was that the order of sections was fixed, i.e., English Language followed by Reasoning Ability and finally Quantitative and Numerical Ability. Unlike last year, students could not switch between sections. They had to submit the first section and then proceed to the next one. There were no limitations of sectional timings and negative marking like last year. The total time allotted was 100 minutes for 120 questions.

Section 1: Proficiency in English Language

No. of Questions: 40

Reading Comprehension:

Just like last year’s exam, this section had 3 Reading Comprehension passages from diverse topics, with 5 questions each.

Passage 1: The first passage (around 300 words) was about Sustainability in the fashion industry, with questions about the source of the passage (journal, editorial, speech, etc.), meaning of a word in the context and inference based questions.

Passage 2: The second passage (around 350 to 400 words) talked about Astrology (Ancient and modern), with questions about the tone of the author, identifying which sentence from the passage justifies the statement made in the question and other inference based questions. This passage was more difficult compared to the other two, with tricky questions.

Passage 3: The third passage (around 350 to 400 words) was about cashless economy. This passage was entirely in the narrative format. The questions were about author’s attitude towards a certain set of people (empathy, pity, apathy, etc.), some specific detail questions and inference-based questions.

Overall 10-12 out of the 15 questions were doable.

Grammar:

Approximately 15 questions on Grammar divided across Fill in the Blanks and Spotting the Error were tested. There were around 10 questions on Fill in the Blanks which mainly tested concepts like prepositions, tenses and conjunctions. These questions were easy to moderate.

Sentence Rearrangement:

There were around 5 questions of sentence rearrangement, with 5 sentences in each question. One question was based on Penguins imitating human voice. The difficulty level of these questions can be considered moderate.

Vocabulary:

There were around 3 to 5 vocabulary based questions like identifying the correct meaning of an idiom/word given in a sentence. Idioms like ‘go dutch’, ‘throw in the towel’ were tested.

VERDICT:

Level of difficulty: Easy to moderate
Ideal attempts: 34+
Ideal correct: 29+
Time to be allotted: 25 to 30 minutes

ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Question Type	Details	Questions
Reading Comprehension	3 passages	15 questions (mainly inference based)
	300 to 400 words
	Moderate
Grammar	Fill in the Blanks (10 questions) (Prepositions, Conjunctions, Tenses)	15 questions
	Spot the Error: Sentence divided into parts. (5 questions)
	Easy to Moderate
Parajumbles	5 sentences	5 questions
	Moderate
Vocabulary/Others	Identify the meaning of the idiom/word in the given sentence.	5 questions
	Moderate
Total	Easy to Moderate	40 questions

Section 2: Reasoning Ability

No. of Questions: 40

Data Interpretation
There were 10 Questions of Data interpretation as part of the Reasoning section. These questions were of Table and Mixed graph. In 10 questions of Data Interpretation 10 Tables with 5 questions were calculative other 5 DI Questions on Mixed graphs were calculative and time-taking as well. The difficulty level of DI questions was moderate to difficult.

Data Sufficiency
There were 3 questions of Data Sufficiency as well and were time-consuming.

Mathematical operations

They contributed 4 questions, most of which were pretty doable.
There were Blood Relations and Chain Relation questions 1 of each. 3 Arithmetic Reasoning was also doable. Direction sense questions, Data Structure, Series, Coding-Decoding questions were not tested.

Verbal Reasoning

Syllogisms- 5 questions with three statements and three conclusions. 2 questions on statement and arguments (strong or weak) were also tested.

It would have taken a prepared student around 40 minutes to make 30-32 genuine attempts and get 26 to 27 marks in this section.

Level of difficulty: Moderate
Ideal attempts: 33+
Ideal correct: 28+
Time to be allotted: 40 min

REASONING
Question Type	Detail	Number of Questions
Data Interpretation	Tables	5
Data Interpretation	Mixed Graph	5
Analytical Reasoning	Arrangement and Puzzle	3
	Decision Making	5
	Blood Relation	1
	Chain Relation	1
Mental Ability	Arithmetic Reasoning	3
	Mathematical Operations	4
	Visual Reasoning	3
Verbal Reasoning	Syllogisms	5
	Statement Arguments	2
	Complete the sequence	3
Others	Data Sufficiency	2

Section 3: Quantitative and Numerical Ability

No. of Questions: 40

This section saw questions from almost all areas of quantitative aptitude. The section was moderate to difficult as questions were quite lengthy and calculative. There were around 4 questions each from Set Theory, Trigonometry, Statistics, and Percentage & its applications. A student could easily manage 2 questions each from these topics, rest was a little lengthy and time-consuming. There were around 3 to 4 questions each from Progressions, Functions, Bodmas, and Numbers. Questions from BODMAS were straightforward and manageable, while the questions from Progressions and Functions were tricky & time-consuming. 1-2 questions from Numbers and its applications were doable, rest were tricky. There were around 1 to 2 questions each from Ratio, Probability, and Mensuration. Questions from Probability and Ratio were manageable. Overall this section was Moderate to Difficult.

Ideal Attempts in 35 minutes would be 20+ and a good score in this section can be 16+

If students could capitalize on their strength areas and identify the right questions to solve, this section could fetch them the right score.

Level of difficulty: Moderate – Difficult
Ideal attempts: 20+
Ideal correct: 18+
Time to be allotted: 30-35 minutes

Topics	Detail	Number of questions approx
Numbers	Formula Based	3
Probability	Dice	2
Progression	AP, GP	4
Function	Composite Function, Inverse Function	3-4
Trigonometry	Based on Trig. Functions	4
Set Theory	Venn Diagram	3-4
Mensuration	Volume-based (Flow rate)	1
BODMAS	Direct (Rule-based)	2-3
Percentage	Mixed with Ratio	2
Profit and Loss	MP, SP, and Discount based	2-3
Simple Interest and Compound Interest	Installments	1
Ratio Proportion	Ratio	1-2
Statistics	Median, Standard Deviation	4

NPAT 2020 Overall Analysis:

NPAT 2020 paper was moderate, considering the changes in standard weightages given year on year to expected topics. But again, that’s one of the points that are tested on any entrance exam; to check whether candidates are able to anticipate and handle the change.

Ideal Attempts – 85+
Good Score – 72+

Sr No	Sections	Questions	Ideal Time	Good Attempts	Good Score	Level of Difficulty
1	Proficiency in English Language	40	25-30 min	34+	29+	Moderate to Difficult
2	Reasoning Ability	40	40 min	33+	28+	Moderate
3	Quantitative and Numerical Ability	40	30 min	20+	18+	Easy to Moderate
	Total	120	100 mins	85+	72+	Moderate