SBI PO Exam Pattern 2026 for Prelims & Mains

The exam pattern is divided into prelims exam, mains exam, psychometric test, interview and group exercises. 

SBI PO prelims syllabus comprises topics from Reasoning, Quant and English. The syllabus is given below.

Quantitative Aptitude Syllabus	Reasoning Syllabus	English Syllabus
Simplification/ Approximation	Alphanumeric Series	Reading Comprehension
Profit & Loss	Directions	Fill in the blanks
Mixtures & Alligations	Logical Reasoning	Cloze Test
Permutation, Combination & Probability	Data Sufficiency	Para jumbles
Work & Time	Ranking & Order	Vocabulary
Sequence & Series	Alphabet Test	Paragraph Completion
Simple Interest & Compound Interest	Seating Arrangement	Multiple Meaning /Error Spotting
Surds & Indices	Coded Inequalities	Sentence Completion
Mensuration – Cylinder, Cone, Sphere	Puzzle	Tenses Rules
Time & Distance	Syllogism
Data Interpretation	Blood Relations
Ratio & Proportion	Coding-Decoding
Number Systems	Input-Output
Percentage	Tabulation

 

SBI PO syllabus PDF is divided into preliminary and Mains exams. SBI PO syllabus is of utmost importance for candidates who want to join the State Bank of India as Probationary Officers. The appropriate knowledge of SBI PO syllabus helps candidates to frame apt strategy for the exam. It is equitable to mark the weightage given in the SBI PO syllabus. Candidates should be completely familiar with the SBI PO syllabus PDF to fuel their preparations.

Download Here SBI PO Syllabus PDF

Yes, you can prepare for SBI PO exam without taking any coaching. You need to be consistent and serious about your studies. Attempt mock tests, refer to the good study materials and solve previous years question papers. You need to have understanding of English, Quantitative Aptitude, and Reasoning Ability, Computer Ability, Data Analysis & Interpretation, & General/Economy/Banking Awareness and the English Language. SBI PO exam is conducted in several stages-prelims exam, mains exam, psychometric test, interview and group exercises. 

SBI has introduced a Psychometric Test in Phase III of SBI PO exam pattern. The psychometric test is personality profiing of candidates who are selected for Phase III of SBI PO exam. The result of the psychometric test is placed before the interview panel so that they have full understanding of the candidates. SBI PO Psychometric Test determine whether a candidate is psychologically qualified for the position of the banker. The test basically assess logical reasoning, job-specific aptitude, position-specific attributes, personality type, stress management, and much more.

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Yes, there are sectional timings in SBI PO prelims and Mains exam. To answer each section in the prelims exam, candidates get 20 minutes. For descriptive test, candidates get 30 minutes. The duration of the Reasoning & Computer Aptitude is 50 minutes, Data Analysis & Interpretation is 45 minutes, General/ Economy/ Banking Awareness is 45 minutes and English Language section is 40 minutes. 

The distribution of questions in SBI PO Mains exam is given below.

Subject	Number of Questions	Marks	Duration
Objective Test
Reasoning & Computer Aptitude	40	60	50 Minutes
Data Analysis & Interpretation	30	60	45 Minutes
General/ Economy/ Banking Awareness	60	60	45 Minutes
English Language	40	20	40 Minutes
Subjective/ Descriptive Test
English Language (Letter Writing & Essay)	2	50	30 Minutes
Total	157	250	3.5 Hours

The marks obtained in the prelims exam are not counted for the final merit list. Final selection of candidates is done based on the Mains exam and group exercises and interview. The weightage of marks given to the Mains exam are 75 and 25 to Interview & Group Discussion.

 

The prelims and mains exams of SBI PO are conducted online. The prelims exam of SBI PO carries a total of 100 marks. The mains exam of SBI PO carries 250 marks. Candidates qualifying the prelims exam are called for the mains exam. However, the marks of the prelims exam are not counted for the final merit list. Candidates qualifying the prelims exam are called for the mains exam.

 

The preliminary exam of SBI PO comprises the English Language, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning Ability. Total marks allotted to the test are 100. The duration of the test is 60 minutes. The prelims exam is only conducted to screen candidates for the Mains exam. The marks obtained in this stage are not counted for the final merit list. Candidates qualifying the prelims exam are called for the mains exam. The structure of SBI PO prelims exam pattern is given below.

Subject	Number of Questions	Marks	Duration
English Language	40	100	20 Minutes
Quantitative Aptitude	30		20 Minutes
Reasoning Ability	30		20 Minutes
Total	100		1 Hour

 

The maximum marks allotted for Group Exercises and Interview are 50. In the Interview and Group Exercises, candidates are judged on the basis of their personality and intelligence. There are no sectional cutoff marks in SBI PO exam. Candidates need to secure the overall cutoff marks fixed by the examination authority for the different stages of exam. There is SBI PO negative marking for wrong answers in SBI PO exam. One-fourth marks will be deducted as penalty for wrong answers in SBI PO exam. For correct answers, candidates score one mark.

There are no section-wise marks in SBI PO exam. The total marks allotted to the prelims exam are 100. However, there are section-wise marks in the Mains exam. 

SBI PO normalisation is not grace marks. The normalisation of marks is done to adjust the difficulty level of the question papers across various sessions. This process is followed since the exam is conducted in multiple shifts. The difficulty levels of the question papers are different.

For SBI PO English Language important topics are Reading Comprehension, Cloze test, fill in blanks, and spotting error. To prepare for this section candidates must work on concepts of grammar and vocabulary.

The examination authority decides category-wise SBI PO cut off marks to select candidates for the next rounds of selection process. There is no sectional cut off marks. Candifdates need to secure only the overall cut off.

 

After candidates undergo interview, a merit list is prepared by SBI based on the marks obtained in the Mains exam and interview. Based on the final SBI PO cutoff marks and available vacancies, candidates are offered letter of appointment for the post of Probationary Officer. 75 per cent weightage marks of the SBI PO Mains exam (out of 250 marks) and 25 per cent weightage marks of Group Exercise and Interview (out of 50 marks) will be considered. To compile the final merit list the aggregate scores (out of 100) will be calculated.

SBI PO Exam Pattern: Weightage of marks 

The weightage of marks given to the Mains exam and interview & group exercises are given below.

Test	Main Exam	Group Exercise & Interview	Total
Maximum Marks	250	50	300
Normalized Marks	75	25	100

SBI PO Mains exam comprises both objective and descriptive type tests. The objective test consists of four sections and the descriptive test comprises English Language (Letter Writing & Essay). The total marks allotted to the Mains exam are 250. The duration of the test is 3.5 hours. The objective section carries questions from Reasoning & Computer Aptitude, Data Analysis & Interpretation, General/ Economy/ Banking Awareness and English Language. The subjective section carries questions from English Language (Letter Writing & Essay). The test paper carries a total of 157 questions. The structure of SBI PO mains exam is given below.

Subject	Number of Questions	Marks	Duration
Objective Test
Reasoning & Computer Aptitude	45	60	60 Minutes
Data Analysis & Interpretation	35	60	45 Minutes
General/ Economy/ Banking Awareness	40	40	35 Minutes
English Language	35	40	40 Minutes
Subjective/ Descriptive Test
English Language (Letter Writing & Essay)	2	50	30 Minutes
Total	157	250	3.5 Hours