SBI PO Exam Pattern 2025, Get Prelims & Mains Paper Pattern

SBI PO Exam Pattern 2025: The State Bank of India (SBI) has released the SBI PO Exam Pattern 2025 along with the SBI PO 2025 Notification on its official website. The SBI PO selection process consists of three stages including Prelims, Mains, and Interview. Candidates preparing for the SBI PO 2025 exam should carefully review the exam pattern, as it is essential for understanding the important and scoring topics in each section. In this blog, we have provided detailed information about the SBI PO Exam Pattern 2025 to assist in your preparation.

This year, the SBI has made changes in its SBI PO 2025 Exam Pattern for Prelims and Mains. In this blog, we have provided the latest SBI PO Exam Pattern 2025. Candidates are advised to go through this blog carefully to know the latest exam pattern.

SBI PO Exam Pattern 2025

SBI PO Exam Pattern and SBI PO Syllabus 2025 should be reviewed by candidates getting ready for the SBI PO Exam. A more thorough comprehension of the syllabus aids applicants in improving their SBI PO exam preparation. The SBI PO Exam Pattern 2025 is divided into three main sections: reasoning, English language, and quantitative aptitude. Three phases will comprise the SBI PO exam: preliminary, mains, interview, and group discussion. Candidates who want to know the specifics of the SBI PO Syllabus and Exam Pattern for both the Prelims and Mains can read this post.

SBI PO Exam Pattern 2025 Overview

The State Bank of India will conduct SBI PO 2025 Exam. Therefore, all those candidates who want to compete for the exam must carefully go through the latest SBI PO exam pattern 2025 to get an idea about the distribution of marks among different sections of the Prelims and Mains exam. Before delving into all the details of the pattern of the exam, let’s take a look at some of the most important highlights of the SBI PO exam pattern.

SBI PO Exam Pattern 2025 – Overview

The SBI PO 2025 exam consists of three stages: Prelims, Mains, and Interview. The SBI PO Exam is mainly divided into Phase 1, which consists of the Prelims exam (qualifying), Phase 2, which consists of the Mains exam (Objective and Descriptive tests), and Phase 3, which consists of the Psychometric Test, Group Exercise, and Personal Interview.

1. SBI PO 2025 Preliminary Exam:
   • Total Marks: 100
   • Duration: 1 hour
   • Sections:
     • English Language (40 marks)
     • Quantitative Aptitude (30 marks)
     • Reasoning Ability (30 marks)
   • Each section has a time limit of 20 minutes.
2. SBI PO 2025 Mains Exam:
   • Total Marks: 250 (200 for Objective + 50 for Descriptive)
   • Duration: 3 hours for Objective + 30 minutes for Descriptive
   • Sections:
     • Reasoning & Computer Aptitude (40 marks)
     • Data Analysis & Interpretation (30 marks)
     • General/Economy/Banking Awareness (60 marks)
     • English Language (40 marks)
3. SBI PO English Descriptive
   • Descriptive Test:
   • Mode: Online (Typing Test)
   • Duration: 30 minutes
   • Marks: 50
   • Format: Communication Skills: Emails, Reports, Situation Analysis & Precis Writing
   • Important Points:
   • There is a sectional timing for each section.
   • There is a sectional cut-off in the descriptive paper also.
   • Descriptive Test answers are evaluated only if the candidate qualifies in the Objective Test.
4. Psychometric Test, Group Exercise & Interview:
   • The banks will conduct a psychometric test for the personality profiling of the selected candidates and place the report before the interview panel.
   • Group Exercise: 20 marks
   • Interview: 30 marks

Note: A negative marking of 0.25 marks applies for wrong answers in both Prelims and Mains.

SBI PO Prelims Exam Pattern 2025

Before starting the preparation plan for the SBI PO Exam, it is important to carefully go through SBI PO Exam Pattern and the way the marks are being distributed amongst different sections of the exam. The distribution of marks shows the importance or the weightage of each section. Those who don’t pay heed to it early on make mistakes and waste a lot of time in adjusting their study plans. Candidates should know that:

• The preliminary exam will be online with 100 marks and 100 questions to be answered in a total of 1 hour.
• For each question wrongly answered by the candidate deduct 1/4 mark.
• SBI PO exam in preliminary exam consists of three sections – Quant, Reasoning and English.
• State Bank of India has removed the sectional cut-off in the preliminary examination.

Note: There will be no sectional cut-off in the SBI PO Prelims exam.

SBI PO Mains Exam Pattern 2025

• The SBI PO 2025 Mains Exam has two parts: Objective & Descriptive Sections.
• The objective part has 4 sections: Reasoning & Computer Aptitude, Data Analysis & Interpretation, General/ Economy/ Banking Awareness, and English Language. It has to be completed in 3 hours. 
• The descriptive part has 3 questions and has to be completed in 30 minutes.
• The objective and descriptive parts are conducted online together.
• For every wrong answer in the objective part, 0.25 marks will be deducted. No marks will be deducted for leaving a question blank or left unattempted.

SBI PO 2025 Descriptive Test

1. The 30-minute descriptive paper, consisting of two questions for 50 marks, will be an English Language Test (Communication Skills: Emails, Reports, Situation Analysis & Precis Writing).
2. Candidates who pass the first two stages of the SBI PO test are then invited to an interview procedure in addition to the main exam and preliminary exam.
3. The final merit list is created using each candidate’s marks in both the main exam and the interview procedure.

SBI PO Sectional Cut-off in Mains Exam

As per the official notification, the sectional cut-off is applied in the SBI PO Mains exam for Tests 1, 2, 3, 4, and Descriptive Paper individually. The candidates numbering 10 times (approx.) the number of
Vacancies in each category will be shortlisted for the Main Examination from the top of the above merit list.

SBI PO Minimum Qualifying Score in Mains Exam

• Category-wise merit list will be drawn based on the aggregate marks scored in the Main Examination.
• Candidates numbering up to 3 times (approx.) of the category-wise vacancies will be shortlisted for Phase-III from the top of the category-wise merit list, subject to a candidate scoring the minimum aggregate qualifying score, as decided by the Bank.

SBI PO 2025 Interview Process

The final stage of the SBI PO 2025 selection process involves a Group Exercise and Interview. This stage assesses the candidate’s communication skills, leadership qualities, and problem-solving abilities.

Key Points:

• Candidates who qualify for the Main Exam are shortlisted for this stage based on merit.
• The final selection is based on the combined score of the Main Exam and Group Exercise/Interview.

SBI PO 2025 Final Selection 

The candidates will have to qualify both in the Mains and Interview separately. The marks obtained in the Main Examination (Phase II), both in the Objective Test and the Descriptive Test, will be added to the marks obtained in Phase III for preparing the final merit list. The marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination (Phase-I) will not be added to preparing the final merit list for selection.

SBI PO 2025 Preparation Tips

Here we are sharing some tips for the SBI PO 2025 Exam. Candidates check and follow these tips:

• Prepare for Each Section: Candidates should prepare for each section. Start preparing first for the subjects that are big and difficult, so that at the end of the day, you have to do revisions only.
• Make a habit of reading daily: Read daily newspapers  and we provide articles in the vocabulary section candidates read this article and clear your basic knowledge
• Practice through Mock Tests: Candidates give SBI PO Mock Tests daily and enhance their preparation, find out their weaknesses and work on them.
• Solve Previous Year Questions: Candidates should solve the previous year’s question paper and know the important topics of SBI PO.
• Make a realistic Study Plan: Candidates should make a study plan for SBI PO preparation and follow it day by day.

Best Books for SBI PO Prelims and Mains Exam

Preparing for the SBI PO (Probationary Officer) exam requires a good strategy and the right set of books. The exam is divided into Prelims, Mains, and an Interview, so your book list should cover Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning, English, General Awareness, and Descriptive Writing. Here’s a breakdown of the best books to cover the SBI PO syllabus:

SBI PO Prelims Syllabus Preparation Books

1. Quantitative Aptitude

• “Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations” by R.S. Aggarwal
• “Fast Track Objective Arithmetic” by Rajesh Verma
• “Magical Book on Quicker Maths” by M. Tyra (for shortcut tricks)

2. Reasoning Ability

• “A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning” by R.S. Aggarwal
• “Analytical Reasoning” by M.K. Pandey

3. English Language

• “Objective General English” by S.P. Bakshi (Arihant)
• “Word Power Made Easy” by Norman Lewis (vocabulary building)
• Editorials from The Hindu or Indian Express (reading practice)
• The Hindu Editorial Vocabulary and weekly free PDF by PracticeMock.

SBI PO Mains Syllabus Preparation Books

Mains include tougher versions of Prelims sections + General Awareness and Descriptive English.

4. Data Interpretation & Analysis

• “Data Interpretation Decoded” by PracticeMock Blogs.
• “How to Prepare for Data Interpretation” by Arun Sharma

5. General/Economy/Banking Awareness

• “Banking Awareness” by Arihant Publications
• “Lucent’s General Knowledge” (for static GK)
• Monthly Current Affairs PDFs (PracticeMock)

6. Descriptive Writing

• “Descriptive English” by S.P. Bakshi & Richa Sharma (Arihant)
• Practice essays and letters on trending topics from Practicemock Blogs.

Conclusion

This blog covers all information related to the SBI PO exam pattern for Prelims, Mains, and the Interview stage. Remember that there is a negative marking in both Prelims and Mains exams in the SBI PO exam. The best books for preparing for the SBI PO exam are provided above. The candidates can also buy our banking preparation packages for a complete guide to the exam.

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