Exam Pattern

State Bank of India has announced 2000 Probationary Officer (PO) vacancies through SBI PO Notification 2023 for which a three-phase selection process (Prelims, Mains, Interview) will be conducted. 

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The written examinations are conducted online, followed by an interview round. The structure of exams is as follows:

Phase-1: SBI PO Prelims (Pre) Exam Pattern

The first stage for SBI PO 2023 Recruitment is the Preliminary Exam, in which the aspirant has to qualify in order to get shortlisted for SBI PO Mains Exam.

1. There will be 3 sections in SBI PO Prelims Exam like any other PO Exam: English, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning Ability.
2. A total of 100 Objective type questions will be asked in SBI PO Prelims Exam 2023.
3. The duration of the exam is 01 hour (20 minutes for each section).
4. SBI PO Prelims is qualifying nature and marks will not be counted while preparing the merit list.

Penalty for wrong answer: 0.25 marks will be deducted for every question attempted wrong by a candidate. No deduction will be there in marks if a question is left unattempted or blank by a candidate.

S.No.Name of Tests (Objective)No. of QuestionsMaximum MarksDuration
1English Language303020 minutes
2Quantitative Aptitude353520 minutes
3Reasoning Ability353520 minutes
Total1001001 hour

Selection criteria for Main Examination: Category wise merit list will be drawn on the basis of the aggregate marks scored in the Preliminary Exam. There will be no sectional cut-off. Candidates numbering 10 times the number of vacancies (approx.) in each category will be shortlisted for the Main Examination from the top of the above merit list.

SBI PO 2023 Mains Exam Pattern

The SBI PO Mains Exam will comprise of Objective & Descriptive Section, which is described below in detail:

1. Objective paper to be completed in 3 hours and descriptive paper in 30 minutes.
2. In the objective part, there will be 4 sections namely Reasoning & Computer Aptitude, Data Analysis & Interpretation & General/ Economy/ Banking Awareness, and English Language.
3. A descriptive paper will be conducted along with the above-mentioned online test and there will be 2 questions in this paper.
4. Penalty for wrong answer: 0.25 marks will be deducted for every question attempted wrong by a candidate in SBI PO Mains Exam. No deduction will be made in marks if a question is left unattempted or blank by a candidate in the exam.

SBI PO Mains Exam Pattern
S.No.Name of Tests(Objective)No. of QuestionsMaximum MarksDuration
1Reasoning & Computer Aptitude405050 minutes
2Data Analysis & Interpretation305045 minutes
3General/ Economy/ Banking Awareness506045 minutes
4English Language354040 minutes
Total1552003 hours
Descriptive Test025030 minutes

(i) Objective Test: The objective test of 3 hours duration consists of 4 Sections for total 200 marks. The objective test will have separate timing for every section.
(ii) Descriptive Test: The Descriptive Test of 30 minutes duration with two questions for 50 marks will be a Test of English Language (Letter Writing & Essay).

Interview Process

A candidate who clears both the Prelims & Mains Exam of SBI PO 2023 will be further called for a GD-PI session wherein they will face a panel of selectors discussing their past experience and questions related to General Knowledge and of the Banking Sector. It is essential for a candidate to clear the Interview Process in order to ensure their final selection in the SBI PO 2023 Exam. The qualifying marks for this round will be decided by the Bank and the marks allotted to these rounds are: Group Discussion - 20 marks, Interview - 30 marks

Final Selection

After a candidate has gone through Personal Interviews, a merit list will be prepared by the State Bank of India wherein the candidate's score of the Mains Exam and Interview Round will be taken into account. Based on the score obtained by candidates and the available vacancies, final cut-off marks will be declared. All candidates who clear the cut-off range will be granted the Appointment Letter by State Bank of India for the post of Probationary Officer.

SBI PO Final Selection
TestMain ExamGroup Exercise & InterviewTotal 
Maximum Marks25050 300
Normalization Marks7575100

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