State Bank of India Probationary Officer Examination (SBI PO)

SBI PO 2020 - State Bank of India (SBI) will release the application form in online mode.The application form will be released to fill as many as 2000 vacancies in Probationary Officers cadre at various branches of SBI across the country. Only candidates who meet the eligibility criteria will be able to apply for the SBI PO 2020 exam. As per the eligibility criteria of SBI PO 2020, graduates between 21 to 30 years of age as on April 1, 2020 can only appear for the test.
SBI PO exam is a national level exam which is conducted at various centres across 34 cities across the country. The exam is conducted in three stages - prelims, mains and interview. Candidates qualifying in all the three stages are appointed as the Probationary Officers/Management Trainees at any of the SBI Branches.
SBI PO prelims exam is the first stage in the selection process. The preliminary exam is conducted in online mode comprising a total of 100 questions of 1 mark each. The questions are asked from three sections - English Language, Reasoning Ability, and Quantitative Aptitude. Candidates are given a total of 1 hour (20 minutes to solve each of the three sections). The questions are objective in nature and 1/4th marks are deducted for each wrong response.

Candidates who pass the prelims exam have to appear for the mains exam which is a 3 hours online exam comprising a total of 155 questions of 200 marks. The questions are asked from four sections - Reasoning & Computer Aptitude, Data Analysis & Interpretation, General/ Economy/ Banking Awareness and English Language. Candidates also need to appear for a descriptive paper wherein they have to attempt two questions from essay and letter writing carrying 50 marks. For the descriptive test, candidates are given 30 minutes.

Candidates who pass the mains exam have to appear for the final interview after which the qualified candidates are appointed as POs after medical examination and document verification.

o Practice with SBI PO Mock Test - Check Here

The eligibility criteria of SBI PO must be met on the following grounds:

• Nationality

• Age

• Education qualification

• Number of chances

Nationality

To appear in the SBI PO 2020 exam, candidates must be an Indian. 

Age (As on April 1, 2020)

• Lower age limit - 21
• Upper age limit - 30

However, candidates belonging to the reserved categories have been given certain relaxations in the age limit for SBI PO 2020.

SBI PO 2020 Eligibility Criteria - Age Relaxation

Education Qualification

To become eligible for SBI PO 2020, candidates must hold the following qualifications:

• Must be a graduate or have passed equivalent examination from a recognized University or by the Central Government in order to meet the eligibility criteria of SBI PO.

• Final semester candidates can also apply for SBI PO 2020 provided they produce their proof of passing the graduation at the time of document verification or as on the date mentioned by the examination authority in the official notification.

• Candidates holding an Integrated Dual Degree (IDD) certificate should ensure that the date of passing the IDD is on or before August 31, 2021. CA candidates are also eligible to apply for SBI PO.

Number of Attempts

Candidates have limited attempts to appear for the SBI PO exam. Find the category wise number of attempts one can avail for SBI PO 2020 exam.

Number of Attempts for SBI PO 2020

Mode of Application : Online

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

The application form of SBI PO 2020 will be released in online mode. Candidates meeting the eligibility criteria will be able to fill the application form within the allotted time frame. The filling of application form of SBI PO 2020 will include registration, uploading scanned image and signature, filling details, payment of application fee etc. 

Before filling the application form of SBI PO 2020, candidate must keep the following items ready:

1. Credit Card/Debit Card details, Internet Banking details for payment of fee

2. Scanned signature and photograph

3. Valid photo identity card (Pan Card, Passport, Aadhaar Card, Driving License or College ID)

4. Valid Email ID

5. Marksheets of class 10th, 12th, Graduation and other degree certificates, if any

Specification for uploading image and signature

The application form includes the following steps:

• Registration

• Uploading of scanned photograph and signature

• Filling up the details in the SBI PO Application Form 2020

• Preview

• Payment of SBI PO application fee

• Printout of the application form

Application Fees of SBI PO 2020

The application fee must be paid in online mode using Debit Card/Credit Card or via Internet Banking.

Application Fees

• 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.  

As per the SBI PO exam pattern, the exam is conducted in three phases - prelims, mains and interview. With the help of exam pattern of SBI PO candidates can know the structure and format of the question paper. It is advisable to go through the exam pattern of SBI PO before planning the preparation part to understand it well.

SBI PO Preliminary Exam Pattern

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

SBI PO Mains Exam Pattern

SBI PO Mains exam pattern 

SBI PO mains exam is an objective test with one descriptive test (English letter writing and essay). The objective test has 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 have 2 questions for 50 marks to answer. Reasoning & Computer Aptitude and Data Analysis and Interpretation of the objective test carry 60 marks each, while General/Economy/Banking Awareness and English Language 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 has negative marking wherein for each incorrect answer 1/4th or 0.25 marks are deducted. 

SBI PO prelims admit card will be released in online mode. Candidates have to download it by entering their registration number/roll number and date of birth/password. The admit card of SBI PO is released separately as per the different stages of the exam. 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 includes Voter Card, Bank Passbook, Passport, PAN Card, Driving Licence and Aadhaar Card.

SBI PO Preliminary Exam Centers

SBI PO Mains Exam Centers

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

SBI PO Preliminary Result

SBI PO prelims result is 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 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. 

SBI PO Mains Result

SBI PO Main result is 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 are considered. 

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 is different for the preliminary, mains, Group Exercise and Interview and is 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 decides the SBI PO final cut off based on candidates marks in main exam and Group Exercise and Interview.

SBI PO Preliminary Cutoff

SBI PO cut off for preliminary exam

SBI PO preliminary exam cut off is 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 is found. Qualifying in SBI PO prelims means that candidates are eligible for appearing in mains exam.

SBI PO Mains Cutoff

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 is released alongside the release of the scorecard. SBI PO main cut off is prepared on the basis of marks in the online objective test and the descriptive test. The cut off for main exam is calculated out of 250 marks. Securing the SBI PO mains cut off means that candidates are eligible for Group Exercise and Interview. 

The selection procedure of SBI PO includes qualifying prelims, mains, Group Exercise and Interview. Candidates qualifying all the stages of the recruitment procedure, are considered for the recruitment of the Probationary Officers. Selected candidates are 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).