IBPS Clerk · Bite-size lessons
Seating Arrangement
About 7 min · Reasoning Ability · English
Time worked out from the lesson's 497 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.
Seating Arrangement is one of the most important and frequently tested topics in IBPS Clerk Prelims Reasoning section. Mastering this topic can significantly boost your score because the questions, once the arrangement is correctly decoded, become straightforward.
Key ideas
- Linear Arrangement: Persons sit in a single row, all facing the same direction (usually North or South). Left-right relationships are critical. "To the left of X" means towards X's left hand.
- Circular Arrangement: Persons sit around a round table. Two sub-types exist—facing the centre (common at Clerk level) and facing outward. The direction of left/right reverses when facing outward.
- Immediate vs Non-immediate Neighbours: "A sits next to B" means they are adjacent. "A sits to the left of B" (without "immediate") may mean anywhere to B's left, not necessarily adjacent.
- Fixed Position Clues: Statements like "A sits at one of the ends" or "B sits exactly in the middle" are anchor points—start your arrangement with these.
- Relative Position Clues: "A is two places to the right of B" or "There are three persons between A and B"—these define distance but need an anchor to place absolutely.
Watch out for
- Confusing left/right when facing direction changes → In linear arrangements facing South, left and right flip relative to your perspective as the reader. Always consider the person's own left/right hand.
- Miscounting "between" as "from" → "Two persons between A and B" means A and B are 3 positions apart, not 2. Between excludes A and B.
- Ignoring multiple cases → When early clues allow two configurations, students often pick one randomly. Track both cases; a later clue will eliminate one.
Quick reference
- Linear: Draw a row; note facing direction; left = anti-clockwise from person's view if facing North.
- Circular facing centre: Right of a person = anti-clockwise direction.
- Circular facing outward: Right of a person = clockwise direction.
- "X persons between A and B" → A and B are (X + 1) positions apart.
- Always start with fixed-position clues (ends, middle, opposite).
Check yourself: 3 questions
1. Five friends A, B, C, D and E are sitting in a row facing North. A sits at one of the extreme ends. B sits second to the right of A. C sits between B and D. Who sits at the other extreme end?
2. Six persons - A, B, C, D, E and F are sitting in a straight line facing north. A sits third to the left of D. B sits second to the right of A. E sits to the immediate left of F. C does not sit at any of the extreme ends. Who sits at the extreme right end?
3. Seven people A, B, C, D, E, F, and G are sitting in a straight line facing north. C sits fourth to the right of G. A sits at one of the extreme ends. E sits second to the left of B. D is an immediate neighbor of G. How many people sit between A and F?
This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 17 Oct 2026: an AI-assisted check of this note against cited sources; the errors it found were corrected that day. Some errors may remain. The questions are from Shishya's validated question bank.
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