SBI PO 2026: Exam Pattern Guide

The SBI PO exam pattern has three phases: a 100-mark online Preliminary exam, a 230-mark online Main exam with a typed descriptive test, and Phase III with a psychometric test, group exercise and interview. State Bank of India set out this structure in its 2026-27 notification (CRPD/PO/2026-27/09) and the Prelims and Mains information handouts.

The pattern matters because every section has its own timer, so you cannot borrow time from a strong section to rescue a weak one. This page explains each phase, the marking rules, what changed in 2026, how the final merit is calculated with a worked example and how to use your time on exam day.

SBI PO Exam Pattern at a Glance

Key Changes to Know

• Mains total is 230, not 250: the descriptive test dropped from 50 marks in the 2024-25 handout to 30 marks in 2026, with three tasks of 10 marks each.

• On-screen calculator for DI: the 2026 Mains handout allows an in-built calculator in Data Analysis and Interpretation.

• Merit scaling uses 280 raw marks: 230 from Mains and 50 from Phase III, normalised to 75 and 25.

Older pages may still show a 250-mark Mains or a 50-mark descriptive test, so follow the official notification.

SBI PO Prelims Exam Pattern

Questions other than English are available in English and Hindi. Each question has five options. There is no sectional cut-off in Prelims, and SBI shortlists about 10 times the vacancies in each category for Mains from the aggregate merit list. Prelims marks are not added to the final merit.

SBI PO Mains Exam Pattern

Objective test

Descriptive test

The descriptive test starts immediately after the objective test. You type your answers in English, with no spellcheck, and can submit only when the 30 minutes end. The full Main exam runs for 3 hours 30 minutes.

You must clear a minimum score in each of the five Mains tests, including the descriptive paper. SBI decides these sectional minimums based on vacancies. From candidates who clear them, about 3 times the category vacancies are called to Phase III, subject to a minimum aggregate score set by SBI.

How Shortlisting Works at Each Stage

SBI shortlists by category, using ratios stated in the notification. Applying them to the 2026 vacancies gives a rough idea of the competition at each step. These are approximate numbers worked out from the ratios, not official counts.

The Phase III number can be lower, because candidates must also clear every sectional minimum and the minimum aggregate in Mains.

Marking Scheme and Negative Marking

Each wrong answer in an objective test costs one-fourth of the marks assigned to that question. A blank costs nothing. The Mains handout adds that if a test's total penalty works out to a fraction, it is rounded to the nearest whole number.

Only answers you save, or mark for review after answering, are evaluated. An option clicked without pressing Save and Next is not counted.

What the SBI PO Pattern Means for You

• DI questions are the most valuable: each carries 2 marks, so one correct DI answer equals four Mains English answers.

• Blind guessing gains nothing: with five options and a one-fourth penalty, a random guess breaks even on average. Once you can rule out one or two options, a guess starts to pay, so eliminate first and then decide.

• Prelims timing is tight: 20 minutes for 40 English questions is 30 seconds a question, so skip a lengthy passage if the others move faster.

• Awareness rewards preparation, not speed: 60 questions in 45 minutes is generous if you know the answers, and hopeless if you do not.

• Sectional minimums punish imbalance: a very high reasoning score cannot carry a failed English or descriptive section.

Phase III: Psychometric Test, Group Exercise and Interview

SBI conducts the psychometric test for personality profiling of everyone shortlisted for Phase III. It may be held in proctored mode or at identified centres, and all questions are mandatory. The notification does not assign it marks; the findings are placed before the interview panel.

SBI sets the minimum qualifying marks for the group exercise and interview. You must qualify in Phase II and Phase III separately.

SBI PO Final Merit Calculation

The final merit list uses Mains and Phase III only. Mains marks (objective plus descriptive, out of 230) are normalised to 75, and group exercise plus interview marks (out of 50) are normalised to 25. The total is out of 100, and the provisional selection list is drawn category-wise from the top.

Worked example: suppose you score 115 out of 230 in Mains and 32 out of 50 in Phase III. Your Mains share is 115 divided by 230, times 75, which is 37.5. Your Phase III share is 32 divided by 50, times 25, which is 16. Your final score is 53.5 out of 100. Every 10 extra Mains marks adds about 3.26 to the final score, while every 5 extra Phase III marks adds 2.5. This simple proportional calculation shows the weightage; SBI's exact normalisation method may differ.

If candidates tie at the cut-off point of the final list, SBI ranks them by age, with the older candidate placed higher.

How the Online Exam Interface Works

Both Prelims and Mains run on the same kind of screen, and knowing it saves time on the day.

• One question at a time: a question palette on the right shows which questions are answered, unanswered, marked for review or not yet visited.

• Save and Next: your choice counts only after you click it. Clear Response removes an answer if you change your mind.

• Language toggle: in bilingual sections, a "view in" menu switches a question between English and Hindi.

• Section lock: you can move freely within a section during its time, but when its timer ends the next section opens and you cannot go back.

• No early submission: the test ends when the clock reaches zero, and saved answers are submitted automatically.

Candidates eligible under the disability rules get 20 minutes of compensatory time for every hour of the exam.

Time Management and Exam-Day Strategy

• Prelims order is fixed by the timer: since each section has its own 20 minutes, plan an attempt order within each section, not across sections.

• First pass, then second pass: in reasoning, solve the puzzles you can set up quickly, mark the rest and return only if time remains.

• Use the DI calculator wisely: it saves effort on large multiplications, but approximation is still faster for comparison questions.

• Start awareness with confident answers: clear the questions you know in the first 20 minutes, then work on elimination.

• Plan the descriptive paper: about 10 minutes per task, with a minute at the end to scan for typing errors.

• Do not press keyboard keys during the objective test: the handout warns that this can lock the exam.

A simple per-question budget helps you spot when a question is eating too much time:

For the official structure, refer to the SBI PO 2026 Main exam information handout on the SBI website.