SBI PO Prelims Study Notes 2026: What to Note and How to Revise
Section-wise notes, an error log and a revision schedule built for the current 40-30-30 Prelims pattern.
SBI PO Prelims is the first stage of State Bank of India's Probationary Officer recruitment: a one-hour online test of 100 questions across English Language, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning Ability. The 2026 Prelims was held on 1 and 2 August 2026, and its marks are used only to shortlist candidates for Mains. That is why good SBI PO Prelims study notes are not a textbook summary. They are a short, fast record of methods, traps and vocabulary that you can revise in the final weeks before the exam.
This page explains what to put in your notes for each section, how to organise them, a revision schedule that suits sectional timing, and which official sources to keep handy. Everything follows the current 40-30-30 pattern. If your notes or books were built for the older 30-35-35 split, audit them before you revise.
The SBI PO Prelims Pattern Your Notes Should Follow
Section | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
English Language | 40 | 40 | 20 minutes |
Quantitative Aptitude | 30 | 30 | 20 minutes |
Reasoning Ability | 30 | 30 | 20 minutes |
Total | 100 | 100 | 1 hour |
A quarter of a mark is deducted for each wrong answer, and there is no sectional cut-off. Shortlisting for Mains is based on the aggregate score, category-wise. For the full rules.
What this means for your notes:
English deserves the most pages: It now carries 40 of the 100 marks, so keep a dedicated grammar rule sheet and a running vocabulary list.
Speed matters more than theory: You get about 30 seconds per English question and 40 seconds per Quant or Reasoning question. Note shortcuts and solved setups, not long derivations.
Traps cost marks twice: A wrong answer loses 0.25 marks on top of the mark you missed. Record every recurring trap so you stop repeating it.
What to Include in SBI PO Prelims Study Notes
Section | What to note | Suggested format |
|---|---|---|
English Language | Error-spotting rules (subject-verb agreement, tenses, articles, prepositions), para jumble clues (openers, connectors, pronoun links), reading comprehension question types, cloze test and word-usage vocabulary | One rule sheet with an example per rule, plus a vocabulary list with a sentence for each word |
Quantitative Aptitude | Squares up to 30, cubes up to 20, fraction-to-percentage table, approximation shortcuts, data interpretation calculation tricks, arithmetic formulas (profit and loss, interest, ratio, mixtures, ages, time and work), quadratic comparison rules | A formula sheet per topic with one solved example and the time it took |
Reasoning Ability | Puzzle and seating arrangement types with a solved starting grid, syllogism possibility cases, inequality rules, coding-decoding patterns, blood relation symbols, direction sense | Solved-setup sheets showing the first three steps of each puzzle type |
Puzzles, data interpretation and reading comprehension have carried the heaviest share in recent papers. Candidate reports from the 2026 Prelims, however, say some shifts had no syllogism or inequality questions at all, while other topics appeared instead. Keep at least a half-page note on every topic in the SBI PO Prelims syllabus, so a surprise shift does not catch you without a method.
How to Organise Your Notes
One page per topic: Write the topic name, key rules or formulas, two solved examples and a "traps" line. Use the same layout every time so revision feels automatic.
A number and formula sheet: Keep squares, cubes, percentage equivalents and arithmetic formulas on two pages you can read in ten minutes.
A puzzle bank: Save one fully solved example of each puzzle type you meet: floor-based, box-based, linear and circular seating, month or day based. Re-solve them without looking at the answer.
An error log: After every mock, record the question type, why you got it wrong (concept gap, careless slip or guess) and the correct method. This becomes your most valuable revision file.
A light Mains file: In 2026, Mains followed Prelims by about six weeks. Prelims has no general awareness section, but a thin banking and economy file started early saves time later. Do not let it eat into Prelims hours.
Revision Schedule for SBI PO Prelims Notes
Phase | What to revise | How often |
|---|---|---|
While studying a topic | The new topic page | Next day, then again after a week |
8 to 4 weeks before the exam | One full pass of all notes; mark weak pages | Weekly, alongside sectional tests |
Final 4 weeks | Formula sheet and vocabulary list; error log after every mock; puzzle bank | Formulas and vocabulary daily for 20 to 30 minutes; puzzle bank on alternate days |
Final 3 days | Error log, traps lines and the formula sheet only | Daily, with no new topics |
In the 2026 cycle, the notification came out on 18 June 2026 and Prelims was held about six weeks later. SBI has not announced the next cycle, so any schedule for it is tentative. Build your notes before the notification arrives, and track the official SBI careers page for dates.
Official and Reliable Sources
SBI careers page: The notification, corrigenda and the information handout for Prelims are published on the official SBI careers page. SBI's recruitment pages now sit on sbi.bank.in, and older sbi.co.in links redirect there.
Previous year papers: SBI does not usually release its PO question papers, so most papers in circulation are memory-based. Use them to understand question style, not as exact copies of the exam.
Basics: Class 6 to 10 NCERT Mathematics covers the arithmetic foundations, and a standard grammar reference covers most English rules.
Daily reading: One editorial a day builds reading comprehension speed and gives you words for your vocabulary list.
Where Notes Fit With Mock Tests
Notes and mock tests work as a loop. You take a timed mock, log every error, update the relevant note page, and then test that topic again within a few days. Notes that never change after a mock are only a summary of the books, not a revision tool.
If you prefer a ready-made base, the SBI PO Prelims study notes listed on Testkart are created by educators and can save time on the formula and rule sheets. Add your own traps and error log on top of them, because notes built from your own mistakes work best in the final weeks. As you revise, the SBI PO Prelims guides on Testkart for the syllabus, pattern and cut-off help you check each note page against the current rules.
Treat these SBI PO Prelims study notes as a working system rather than a one-time project. Keep them short, follow the current 40-30-30 pattern, and revise them on a fixed schedule.