SBI Clerk Exam Pattern 2026: Prelims & Mains Marking Scheme

SBI Clerk is a highly competitive exam conducted by SBI. To crack the exam, candidates need to prepare well. SBI Clerk mock test provides a realistic exam-like environment and help candidates gauge their strengths and weaknesses. The mock tests are designed by experienced subject matter experts and are based on the latest SBI Clerk exam pattern and syllabus. By attempting these tests, candidates can identify their areas of improvement and work on them to enhance their performance.

The prelims and Mains exams of SBI Clerk are conducted online. The prelims exam is conducted in four shifts. The mains exam is held in two shifts. Total marks allotted to the prelims exam are 100. The mains exam carries 200 marks.

SBI Clerk exam is conducted for recruitment of candidates for the post of Junior Associate (Customer Support & Sales). SBI PO exam is conducted for the recruitment of probationary officers. SBI Clerk syllabus is divided into prelims and Mains exams. SBI PO syllabus is divided into prelims exam, Mains exam, psychometric test, group exercises and interview. The difficulty level of SBI PO is easier than SBI Clerk.

In the General Awareness section of SBI Clerk exam, candidates need to cover Current Affairs Static General Awareness, Banking, and Financial Terms, Banking Awareness, Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Important Government Schemes, Awards, and Honours, etc. To prepare this section, candidates need to be thorough with the Current Affairs of past six months or one year. Candidates should read newspapers to know the important national and international events. SBI Clerk syllabus for General Awareness is given below:

• Current Affairs – news on the banking industry, awards, and honours, books, and authors, latest appointments, obituaries, new schemes of central and state governments, sports, etc.
• Static GK – country-capital, country-currency, headquarters of financial organizations (of insurance companies), constituencies of ministers, dance forms, nuclear and thermal power stations
• Banking/Financial terms
• Static Awareness
• Banking and Financial Awareness

Candidates are required to score a minimum percentage marks on aggregate (For SC/ST/OBC/PwBD/XS/DXS candidates, 5% relaxation available thereon). Minimum qualifying marks on aggregate will be as decided by the bank. No minimum qualifying marks for individual subject are prescribed. Section wise marks will not be maintained.

There are many books available in the market, however, candidates must choose those books that have covered the entire syllabus. For Quant, candidates can refer to Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by RS Agarwal. For Reasoning, candidates can refer to A Modern Approach to Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning by R S Agarwal. For English candidates can refer to English Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin. For the General Awareness section, candidates can refer to Banking Awareness by B K Raut and SR Behera.

The Reasoning Ability section tests the knowledge of candidates and their capability of solving the general ability problems with their intelligence. Questions are asked basically from Logical Reasoning and Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning. The Reasoning Ability section of SBI Clerk carries questions from topics such as Puzzle, Seating Arrangement, Blood Relations, Syllogism, Coding-Decoding, Input-Output, Inequalities, Statement and Assumptions, Order and Ranking, Data Sufficiency and Alphanumeric Series.

SBI Clerk Reasoning Ability Syllabus for Prelims

• Alphanumeric Series
• Ranking/ Direction/ Alphabet Test
• Data Sufficiency
• Coded Inequalities
• Seating Arrangement
• Puzzle
• Tabulation
• Syllogism
• Blood Relations
• Input-Output
• Coding-Decoding

SBI Clerk Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude Syllabus for Mains

• Internet
• Machine Input/Output
• Syllogism
• Blood Relation
• Direction Sense
• Inequalities
• Puzzles
• Coding-Decoding
• Ranking
• Statement & Assumptions
• Hardware
• Software
• Generation of Computers
• DBMS
• Networking
• Internet
• MS Office
• Input-Output Devices
• Important Abbreviations

 

Besides English and Hindi, SBI Clerk question paper appears in the regional languages. The languages of SBI Clerk question paper are given below.

Sr.	State/UT	Medium of Exam
1	Andaman & Nicobar	English, Hindi
2	Arunachal Pradesh	English, Hindi
3	Assam	English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali
4	Chhattisgarh	English, Hindi
5	Daman & Diu	English, Hindi, Gujarati
6	Delhi	English, Hindi
7	Goa	English, Hindi, Konkani
8	Gujarat	English, Hindi, Gujarati
9	Haryana	English, Hindi, Punjabi
10	Himachal Pradesh	English, Hindi
11	Jammu & Kashmir	English, Hindi, Urdu
12	Karnataka	English, Hindi, Kannada
13	Kerala	English, Hindi, Malayalam
14	Lakshadweep	English, Hindi, Malayalam
15	Madhya Pradesh	English, Hindi
16	Maharashtra	English, Hindi, Marathi
17	Manipur	English, Hindi, Manipuri
18	Meghalaya	English, Hindi
19	Mizoram	English, Hindi
20	Nagaland	English, Hindi
21	Odisha	English, Hindi, Odia
22	Pondicherry	English, Hindi, Tamil
23	Punjab	English, Hindi, Punjabi
24	Rajasthan	English, Hindi
25	Sikkim	English, Hindi
26	Tamil Nadu	English, Hindi, Tamil
27	Telangana	English, Hindi, Telugu, Urdu
28	Tripura	English, Hindi
29	Uttar Pradesh	English, Hindi, Urdu
30	Uttarakhand	English, Hindi
31	West Bengal	English, Hindi, Bengali

Candidates are required to score a minimum percentage marks on aggregate (For SC/ST/OBC/PwBD/XS/DXS candidates, 5% relaxation available thereon). Minimum qualifying marks on aggregate will be as decided by the bank. No minimum qualifying marks for individual subject are prescribed. Section wise marks will not be maintained.

There is a negative marking in the SBI Clerk exam. 1/4th mark assigned to a particular question is deducted as a penalty for wrong answers. For correct answers in the exam, candidates score one mark. The total marks of candidates are calculated based on the number of correct and incorrect answers. The corrected scores obtained by each candidate in different sessions of the exam are normalised using the equi-percentile method. Scores upto two decimal points are taken for the purpose of calculations. The marks of candidates are calculated as per marking scheme. Candidates should attempt maximum number of questions to secure the desired score in the exam.

No, SBI follows a similar SBI Clerk exam pattern for different states. SBI Clerk exam pattern is such that it comprises prelims exam, Mains exam and language proficiency test. The prelims and Mains exams are conducted online. The prelims exam carries three sections-English Language, Numerical Ability, and Reasoning Ability. The total marks allotted to the test are 100. The Mains exam is conducted for the qualified candidates of the prelims exam. The Mains exam carries four sections: General/ Financial Awareness, General English Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude. The total marks allotted to the test are 200. Candidates qualifying the Mains exam are called for language proficiency. It is mandatory to clear the language proficiency test.

SBI Clerk exam comprises prelims and Mains exams. Total marks allotted to test are 100. Total marks for the mains test are 200. Candidates qualifying the mains exam are also required to appear for LPT. Prelims marks are not counted for the final merit list.

SBI Clerk exam is little tougher than IBPS Clerk. The syllabus and pattern for both the exams are same. The level of questions asked in SBI Clerk exam is high.

Yes, knowledge of computers is required for SBI Clerk exam. This subject appears in the Mains exam of SBI Clerk along with Reasoning. Questions from this section are asked from Basics of Computer: Hardware, Software, Generation of Computers, DBMS, Networking, Internet, MS Office, Input-Output Devices and Important Abbreviations. 

 

A total of 100 questions are asked in SBI Clerk prelims exam. The distribution of questions in SBI Clerk prelims exam is given below.

Section	No of Questions	Duration
English Language	30	20 Minutes
Numerical Ability	35	20 Minutes
Reasoning Ability	35	20 Minutes
Total	100	1 Hour

 

The difficulty level of the prelims exam is usually easy. The English and Reasoning sections are easy, whereas, Maths section is easy to moderate. The Mains exam paper is usually moderate. The difficulty level of the English Language section is easy, Quant section is moderate, Reasoning & Computer Aptitude section is moderate and General/Financial Awareness section is moderate. The prelims exam of SBI Clerk carries questions from Reasoning, English Language and Quantitative Aptitude. The total marks allotted to the test are 100. The mains exam of SBI Clerk carries questions from General/ Financial Awareness, General English, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude. The total marks allotted to the test are 200. Candidates qualifying the mains exam are called for Language Proficiency Test.