SBI PO Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility, Important Dates

Phase I: Preliminary Examination

100 marks, each section separately timed. English is the biggest section here, unlike the 30/35/35 of the clerical papers. No sectional cut-off: about ten times the vacancies in each category go through to the Main on aggregate marks.

Phase II: Main Examination, objective

Phase II: Main Examination, descriptive

Grand total: 230 marks over 3 hours 30 minutes. The descriptive test follows straight after the objective one, and you type your answers.

Data Analysis & Interpretation pays two marks a question, the most in the paper. English pays half a mark, the least.

The Main has a sectional cut-off in every test, the descriptive paper included. A weak descriptive answer can end an attempt that cleared everything else.

English Language

Reading Comprehension, Cloze Test, Para Jumbles, Sentence Improvement, Error Spotting, Fill in the Blanks, Sentence Connectors, Paragraph Completion, Word Usage and Vocabulary, Idioms and Phrases.

Quantitative Aptitude, and Data Analysis & Interpretation in the Main

Simplification and Approximation, Number Series, Quadratic Equations, Data Interpretation in every form (tabular, bar, line, pie, caselet, missing-value and arithmetic DI), Data Sufficiency, Percentage, Ratio and Proportion, Average, Profit and Loss, Simple and Compound Interest, Time and Work, Time Speed and Distance, Mixture and Alligation, Partnership, Mensuration, Permutation and Combination, Probability. The Main paper is almost entirely multi-set Data Interpretation.

Reasoning, and Reasoning & Computer Aptitude in the Main

Reasoning: Puzzles and Seating Arrangement, Syllogism, Inequality, Blood Relations, Direction Sense, Order and Ranking, Coding-Decoding, Alphanumeric Series, Data Sufficiency, Input-Output, Logical Reasoning, Critical Reasoning. Computer Aptitude: computer fundamentals, hardware and software, operating systems, networking and internet basics, database basics, computer security, MS Office, abbreviations.

General Awareness / Economy / Banking Knowledge (Main only)

The Reserve Bank of India and monetary policy, banking regulation and reforms, money and capital markets, NPAs and priority sector lending, payment systems and digital banking, financial inclusion, the Union Budget and Economic Survey, international financial institutions, and current affairs from roughly the six months before the exam.

Descriptive paper: Communication Skills

Email writing, situation analysis, and report or precis writing. It's business communication, not essay writing: format, tone and brevity are what's marked.

Age

21 to 30 years as on 1 April 2026: born between 2 April 1996 and 1 April 2005, both inclusive. The minimum is a year higher than the clerical exams.

Educational qualification

A degree in any discipline from a recognised university, or an equivalent recognised by the Central Government. Final-year or final-semester students may apply provisionally.

Posting

No state-wise application and no local language test.

1. Phase I, Preliminary. 100 marks, one hour. No sectional cut-off; about ten times the vacancies per category are shortlisted on aggregate.
2. Phase II, Main. Objective (200 marks, 3 hours) plus the descriptive paper (30 marks, 30 minutes). You must clear every test separately, the descriptive one included. About three times the category-wise vacancies go through to Phase III.
3. Phase III, Psychometric Test, Group Exercises and Interview.

Preliminary marks don't count. Final merit is the Main plus Phase III.

Starting basic pay is ₹48,480 plus four advance increments in the JMGS-I scale:

48480 – 2000/7 – 62480 – 2340/2 – 67160 – 2680/7 – 85920

On top: dearness allowance, house rent allowance, city compensatory allowance, provident fund, NPS pension, leave-fare concession, medical facility, lease rental facility and other perquisites under the Bank's rules.

The advertisement puts the approximate CTC at the initial scale at Mumbai at ₹21.97 lakh a year.

Apply online through the link on SBI Careers. Registration for CRPD/PO/2026-27/09 ran from 18 June to 8 July 2026.

You can't change your category after registration. Creamy-layer OBC candidates should register as UR. EWS needs an Income and Asset Certificate in the Government format.

Keep the photo and documents you upload; they're asked for again at Phase III and at joining.

One employer: the State Bank of India, recruiting through its Central Recruitment and Promotion Department in Mumbai. It's not an IBPS common recruitment, so there's no pool of banks to be allotted between.

The 2026 vacancies are not split by state. The bank keeps the right to post and transfer Probationary Officers to any of its circles or offices, so expect to serve anywhere in India.

Preliminary and Main centres are chosen at application from the lists in the advertisement. The Main runs at fewer centres than the Preliminary.

Centre changes aren't accepted, and the bank can allot a different centre or add and cancel centres.

The psychometric test may be proctored remotely or held at a centre, as the bank decides. The group exercise and interview are at the bank's own centres, called separately.

SBI publishes a tentative, month-level schedule. For CRPD/PO/2026-27/09:

Pre-Examination Training details come by email and SMS only.

Call letters for each phase are downloaded from SBI Careers with your registration number and password. Nothing comes by post.

• The printed call letter.
• A photo ID in original plus a photocopy, of the type the call letter names.
• The photograph used in the application.

Biometrics are captured at the venue and checked at later phases; a mismatch ends your candidature. Problems with the form, fee or call letter go to cgrs.ibps.in, even though this is SBI's own recruitment.

The Preliminary only decides who sits the Main. Final merit is built from converted marks:

So Phase III is a quarter of the result, though it looks small in raw marks.

Ties at the cut-off go to the older candidate.

The psychometric test isn't scored into merit; it builds a profile for the interview panel. Every question is mandatory, and if you don't complete it you aren't carried forward.

You need a minimum in each Main test separately, Tests I to IV and the descriptive paper. SBI sets those sectional cut-offs after the exam, depending on vacancies, and doesn't announce them in advance.

Then about three times the category-wise vacancies go through to Phase III on aggregate Main marks.

SBI posts cut-off marks with each phase's result on SBI Careers. They differ by category and move every cycle, so compare like with like.

1. Practise the descriptive paper typed, to a 30-minute clock. It has its own cut-off, and email, situation analysis and precis all have format rules.
2. Put your hours into Data Analysis & Interpretation. Two marks a question, 45 minutes for 30. Multi-set DI practice pays back more than anything else.
3. In the Main, treat English as qualifying. 40 questions for 20 marks: clear the cut-off and move on.
4. Read for General Awareness daily. Sixty questions in 45 minutes is the biggest Main section.
5. Weight Preliminary practice towards English, the largest Prelims section.
6. Prepare for Phase III separately. About three candidates compete for each vacancy there.
7. Do the official mock once before each phase, for the interface: section timers close a section when they run out. SBI publishes no past papers, and "previous year" PDFs online are memory-based reconstructions, so don't trust their answer keys.

No previous year papers are available. SBI has never published them.

An official online mock goes up on the recruitment portal before each phase, and the advertisement carries the full structure and syllabus outline. Both are on SBI Careers for the current cycle.

SBI Careers, Current Openings: sbi.bank.in careers

Detailed advertisement CRPD/PO/2026-27/09 (PDF): Probationary Officer 2026

Grievance redressal: cgrs.ibps.in

Is there a sectional cut-off in SBI PO?

Not in the Preliminary. In the Main, yes, in every test including the descriptive paper.

How many marks is the SBI PO Main?

230: 200 objective plus 30 descriptive.

Is the Preliminary pattern the same as SBI Clerk?

No. SBI PO is 40 English, 30 Quantitative Aptitude and 30 Reasoning. SBI Clerk is 30 English, 35 Numerical Ability and 35 Reasoning.

Is SBI PO recruitment state-wise?

No. One national field, no local language test.

How much does the interview count?

A quarter of the final merit after conversion, though it's only 50 raw marks.

What is the starting salary?

Basic pay of ₹48,480 plus four advance increments. Approximate CTC at Mumbai is ₹21.97 lakh a year.