State Bank of India Probationary Officer Examination (SBI PO)

The State Bank of India (SBI) conducts SBI PO exam for the recruitment of Probationary Officers at the bank. SBI PO is held in three stages - Prelims, Main, Group Exercises & Interview. Candidates who manage to qualify the Prelims exam, are shortlisted for appearing in the Main exam. Once they qualify for the main exam, candidates are called for Group Exercises & Interview. The Preliminary and Main exams are conducted in computer-based mode, while the Group Exercises and Interview are held offline. The total number of vacancies keep on changing every year as per the requirement. 

SBI PO Eligibility Criteria

Academic Qualification as on August 31 of the recruitment year

Candidates passed or in the final year of graduation or equivalent in any discipline from a recognized University will be eligible to take the test. However, final year candidates have to produce the graduation marksheet on or before August 31 of the recruitment year. 

Candidates with their Integrated Dual Degree Certificates can also apply, but they also have to produce the proof of their passing IDD Certificate on or before August 31 of the recruitment year. 

Apart from these, Chartered Accountants are also eligible to apply. 

SBI PO Age Criteria as on August 31 of the recruitment year

Candidates must be 21 to 30 years as on August 31 of the recruitment year. 

SC/ST/Ex-servicemen/J&K candidates have 5 years of relaxation in age. Candidates belonging to OBC (non-creamy layer) have 3 years of age relaxation, while PwD (SC/ST), PwD (OBC) and PwD (Gen) have 15, 13 and 10 years of age relaxation respectively.

Mode of Application : Online

Mode of Payment : Net Banking | Credit Card | Debit Card

Application Fees

SBI PO Application Form

SBI PO application form will be released in online mode. In order to apply for the exam, candidates have to complete all the stages of the application procedure. It must be noted that there will only be one common application form for SBI PO for all stages of the exam. Candidates have to first register with a valid email ID and phone number. Thereafter various particulars have to be filled and then the applicant’s photograph and signature have to be uploaded and fee be paid through debit card/credit card/Internet Banking. Post the fee payment, the application has to be submitted and printout of the application and e-receipt of the fee payment need to be taken. These prints are to be preserved for future reference. 

SBI PO Preparation Tips

• Be familiar with the syllabus and exam pattern of SBI PO. 
• Divide the syllabus as per the time left for the exam. 
• Get the best books to prepare and decide daily target for study. Meet the daily and monthly targets. 
• Take lot of mock tests and practice ample sample papers and previous years question papers of SBI PO. 
• Make short notes while preparing. Use these short notes during revision. 
• Keep some days for revision. Make use of these short notes to revise the entire syllabus again. 
• Do not take any new topic or chapter during the last lap of the preparation.  

SBI PO Preliminary Exam

SBI PO Prelims exam pattern

SBI PO prelims exam will have a total of 100 questions from English, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning Ability which are to be attempted in 1 hour in online mode. English will have 30 questions while Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning Ability will have 35 questions each. Each section will have a sectional time limit of 20 minutes to attempt the questions. As per the marking scheme for each correct response candidates will get 1 mark, while for each wrong response one fourth marks will be deducted. 

SBI PO Mains Exam

SBI PO Mains exam pattern 

SBI PO mains exam will be an objective test with one descriptive test (English letter writing and essay). The objective test will have four sections namely Reasoning & Computer Aptitude, Data Analysis and Interpretation, General/Economy/Banking Awareness and English Language. The objective paper has to be attempted in online mode wherein 155 questions have to be attempted in 3 hours, while the descriptive test has to be completed in 30 minutes wherein candidates will have 2 questions for 50 marks to answer. Reasoning & Computer Aptitude and Data Analysis and Interpretation of the objective test will carry 60 marks each, while General/Economy/Banking Awareness and English Language will have 40 marks each. Candidates have to complete Reasoning & Computer Aptitude in 60 minutes,  Data Analysis and Interpretation in 45 minutes, General/Economy/Banking Awareness in 35 minutes and English in 40 minutes. The objective test will have negative marking wherein for each incorrect answer 1/4th or 0.25 marks will be deducted. 

SBI PO Admit Card

The admit card of SBI PO will be released separately as per the different stages of the exam. SBI PO pre-exam training admit card will be released in May. SBI PO prelims admit card will be released in June, while the call letter for the mains exam will be released in July. The admit card for the interview is released in September. The admit card is released online and candidates have to download it by entering their registration number/roll number and date of birth/password. The admit card of SBI PO is to be taken to the allotted exam centre on the exam day, as without it entry to the centre would not be possible. One of the prescribed photo ID proofs has also to be taken to the exam centre along with the admit card. The list of photo ID proofs include Voter Card, Bank Passbook, Passport, PAN Card, Driving Licence and Aadhaar Card. 

SBI PO Preliminary Exam

SBI PO Mains Exam

SBI PO Answer Key

The answer key of SBI PO is not released by the State Bank of India, however, some coaching institutes may release the answer key for the exam based on the exam feedback from the candidates. SBI PO answer key would carry the correct answer options for the questions asked in the exam. 

SBI PO Result

SBI PO Result is declared as per the different stages of the exam – Prelims, Main, Group Exercises and Interview, and final result.

SBI PO Preliminary Exam

SBI PO prelims result will be released in online mode and can be checked by entering the roll number and date of birth or registration number and date of birth in the result portal. Alongside the result of SBI PO prelims, candidates will get their score card which reflects marks secured by them out of 100, the category-wise cut off, and their qualifying status for Mains exam. The result will be released in the form of PDF also wherein the registration number of the candidates who qualify for the main exam will be given.  

SBI PO Mains Exam

SBI PO Main result will be declared in online mode. Candidates have to secure the sectional and the overall cut off score in SBI PO main exam in order to be eligible for Group Exercise and Interview. For preparing the final result of SBI PO, the marks of candidates in mains exam will be considered. 

SBI PO Cut off

SBI PO cut off is the minimum marks which must be obtained by the candidates in order to qualify for the next stage of the selection procedure. SBI PO cut off will be different for the preliminary, mains, Group Exercise and Interview and will be released separately for all these stages. It's mandatory for candidates that they secure the overall cut off category-wise cut off and the individual cut off for each subject of prelims and mains for the recruitment. SBI will decide the SBI PO final cut off based on candidates marks in main exam and Group Exercise and Interview.

SBI PO Preliminary Exam

SBI PO cut off for preliminary exam

SBI PO preliminary exam cut off will be released category-wise. Candidates must secure the category-wise and overall cut off of SBI PO. 

In the cut off of SBI PO prelims, name of the subjects, total marks of each section, minimum qualifying marks (category-wise) and marks secured by candidates, total marks secured and the qualifying status of the candidate will be found. Qualifying in SBI PO prelims means, candidates are eligible for appearing in mains exam.

SBI PO Mains Exam

SBI PO cut off of mains exam 

In order to be considered qualified in the mains exam, candidates need to obtain sectional and overall cut off of SBI PO. The cutoff of SBI PO mains exam will be released alongside the release of the scorecard. SBI PO main cut off will be prepared on the basis of marks in the online objective test and the descriptive test. The cut off for main exam will be calculated out of 250 marks. Securing the SBI PO mains cut off means that candidates are eligible for Group Exercise and Interview. 

SBI PO Selection Procedure

The selection procedure of SBI PO includes qualifying prelims, mains, Group Exercise and Interview. Candidates qualifying all the stages of the recruitment procedure, will be considered for the recruitment of the Probationary Officers. Selected candidates will be trained in basic banking knowledge through an online course. This course has to be mandatorily completed by all selected candidates before joining.  Candidates also have to execute a Bond worth Rs 2.00 lakh at the time of joining. Executing the bond means that you agree to serve the Bank for minimum three years. Candidates are designated as Probationary Officers for 2 years at the time of joining. Continuous assessment of the candidates is done during the probation period. Candidates qualifying the assessment are confirmed in Junior Management Grade Scale-I (JMGS-I). Candidates who perform exceptionally well as per the assessment, are considered for direct placement at the next higher grade - Middle Management Grade Scale-II (MMGS-II).