SBI PO Syllabus 2026 — Complete Prelims, Mains & Interview Syllabus with Exam Pattern

The SBI PO syllabus covers three stages: a Preliminary Examination, a Main Examination with both objective and descriptive papers, and Phase III consisting of a Psychometric Test, Group Exercise and Interview. State Bank of India Probationary Officer is among the most competitive banking exams in India, with over 12 lakh candidates competing for roughly 1,500 posts in a typical cycle.

This guide breaks down every section, every topic and the exact marks distribution so you know precisely what to study.

SBI PO Selection Process at a Glance

A critical point many aspirants miss: your Prelims marks do not count towards the final merit list. Prelims only decides whether you reach Mains. Final selection is weighted 75 per cent on Mains and 25 per cent on Phase III.

SBI PO Prelims Exam Pattern

Each section has its own 20-minute window. You cannot return to a section once its timer expires, so pacing matters more here than in most exams. There is a penalty of one-fourth mark for every wrong answer.

SBI PO Prelims Syllabus — Section by Section

English Language

• Reading Comprehension (banking, economy and current-affairs based passages)
• Cloze Test
• Para Jumbles and Sentence Rearrangement
• Fill in the Blanks (single and double)
• Error Detection and Sentence Correction
• Phrase Replacement
• Sentence Improvement
• Vocabulary — synonyms, antonyms, idioms and phrases
• Word Usage and Word Swap
• Para Summary and Paragraph Completion

Quantitative Aptitude

• Simplification and Approximation
• Number Series (missing and wrong number)
• Quadratic Equations
• Data Interpretation — tabular, bar graph, line graph, pie chart, caselet
• Percentage
• Ratio and Proportion
• Average
• Profit and Loss
• Simple Interest and Compound Interest
• Time, Speed and Distance
• Time and Work
• Boats and Streams
• Pipes and Cisterns
• Partnership
• Mixture and Alligation
• Mensuration
• Permutation, Combination and Probability
• Ages Problems
• Data Sufficiency

Reasoning Ability

• Puzzles — floor, box, scheduling, comparison based
• Seating Arrangement — linear, circular, square, rectangular
• Syllogism
• Blood Relations
• Direction Sense
• Order and Ranking
• Coding-Decoding
• Inequality (direct and coded)
• Alphanumeric Series
• Data Sufficiency
• Input-Output
• Statement and Assumption

Puzzles and seating arrangement typically account for 20 to 25 of the 35 reasoning questions. If you master only one area in reasoning, make it this one.

SBI PO Mains Exam Pattern

The Mains has two parts written back to back on the same day.

Objective Paper

Descriptive Paper

The descriptive paper is typed, not handwritten, and is evaluated only for candidates who clear the objective cut-off.

SBI PO Mains Syllabus — Section by Section

Reasoning & Computer Aptitude

All Prelims reasoning topics apply, at a noticeably higher difficulty, plus:

• Critical Reasoning and Analytical Reasoning
• Course of Action
• Cause and Effect
• Statement and Conclusion
• Passage Inference
• Decision Making
• Machine Input-Output (advanced)
• Data Sufficiency (three-statement)
• Computer Fundamentals — hardware, software, generations of computers
• Operating Systems and MS Office
• Computer Networks and Internet
• Database Basics
• Computer Abbreviations and Shortcut Keys
• Cyber Security Basics

Data Analysis & Interpretation

• Advanced Data Interpretation — missing DI, caselet DI, radar and funnel charts
• Data Sufficiency
• Data Comparison
• Probability and Permutation-Combination
• Quantity Comparison
• Arithmetic word problems integrated into DI sets

The Mains DI section is markedly harder than Prelims Quantitative Aptitude. Expect multi-layered caselets requiring three or four calculation steps per question.

General / Economy / Banking Awareness

• Current Affairs of the last six months, with emphasis on banking and economy
• Banking Awareness — RBI functions, monetary policy, repo and reverse repo, CRR, SLR
• Types of banks, NBFCs, payment banks, small finance banks
• Banking terminology — NPA, CASA, priority sector lending, Basel norms
• Financial and banking abbreviations
• Indian financial system and capital markets
• SEBI, IRDAI, NABARD, SIDBI and other regulatory bodies
• Government schemes, especially financial inclusion schemes
• Union Budget and Economic Survey highlights
• International financial institutions — IMF, World Bank, ADB, NDB
• Static Awareness — currencies, capitals, headquarters of banks and organisations

This is the highest-scoring section per minute invested. Sixty questions in 45 minutes means you either know an answer instantly or you move on.

English Language

All Prelims English topics apply, plus:

• Advanced Reading Comprehension with inference and tone-based questions
• Connectors and Sentence Linking
• Column-Based Fill in the Blanks
• Paragraph Restatement
• Critical Reasoning based English questions

Descriptive Paper

• Letter Writing — formal, informal and business letters, typically 150 words
• Essay Writing — banking, economy, technology and social issues, typically 250 words

Practise typing your answers, since the paper is completed on a keyboard under time pressure.

SBI PO Phase III — Psychometric Test, Group Exercise and Interview

A Psychometric Test is also administered, and its output is used as an input during the interview rather than being separately scored.

Interview preparation should cover your academic background, your reason for choosing banking, current banking and economic developments, and basic knowledge of State Bank of India itself — its history, leadership, subsidiaries and recent initiatives.

SBI PO Final Merit Calculation

Marks are normalised out of 100 as follows:

• Main Examination: 75 per cent weightage
• Phase III (Group Exercise and Interview): 25 per cent weightage

Preliminary Examination marks are excluded entirely. This means a candidate who barely clears Prelims but performs strongly in Mains stands on exactly the same footing as a Prelims topper.

Negative Marking

One-fourth of the marks assigned to a question is deducted for each wrong answer in all objective papers. Unattempted questions carry no penalty. With sectional timing in Prelims, blind guessing is a genuinely costly strategy.

Preparation Strategy

Prelims phase. Build speed. The constraint is time, not difficulty. Target 22 to 25 attempts in English, 24 to 27 in Quantitative Aptitude and 26 to 30 in Reasoning, at high accuracy.

Mains phase. Build depth and general awareness. Read a financial newspaper daily from at least six months before the exam. The awareness section alone can separate you from thousands of candidates who prepared only the aptitude sections.

Descriptive. Write two letters and two essays a week from three months out. Most candidates neglect this and lose easy marks in a paper worth 50.

Phase III. Start following banking news actively once your Mains is done. Group exercises reward candidates who contribute structured points rather than the loudest voice in the room.

SBI PO Syllabus FAQs

Is the SBI PO Prelims score added to the final merit list? No. Prelims is purely qualifying. Only Mains and Phase III marks determine your final rank.

How many times can I attempt SBI PO? General category candidates get four attempts, with additional attempts for reserved categories as specified in each year's notification.

Is there sectional cut-off in SBI PO? SBI has discontinued sectional cut-offs in recent cycles, but overall category-wise cut-offs apply at every stage. Always confirm against the current notification.

Which section is hardest in SBI PO Mains? Most candidates find Data Analysis & Interpretation the toughest, both in difficulty and time pressure. Reasoning & Computer Aptitude runs a close second.

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Exam patterns are revised periodically by State Bank of India. Always verify the section-wise marks and timing against the current year's official notification at sbi.bank.in before finalising your preparation plan.