This post covers SBI PO paper pattern (and exam pattern), you may also like to see our post on SBI PO exam books.

The recent SBI PO notification 2016 with a vacancy of up to 2200 has all job aspirants like you gearing up for the exam.

So here we are with the description of the SBI PO exam pattern and a little gist about its expected questions.

SBI PO Paper Pattern – Preliminary Exam

The SBI preliminary exam will consist of Objective Tests and will be of 1 hour duration for 100 marks. Three sections will be covered under this Test which includes:

Note: You need to qualify in each section to qualify for the next round

English Language – Expected questions in SBI PO preliminary

If one goes through the SBI PO notification 2016, we can see that the Test of English Language has got maximum emphasis in the whole selection process as it has been included in the Preliminary as well as the Main exam which again includes an Objective Test as well as a Descriptive Test.

So if efforts are made in the right direction, English will help you score well and get ahead others.

In the Preliminary Exam the difficulty level cannot be so high if one has some experiences of appearing in competitive exams.

To give you a gist about the type of questions that may be expected in the Preliminary exam we have put together a few types of most-probable questions :

1. Cloze Test
2. Para jumble
3. Error spotting
4. Fill in the blanks
5. Antonyms/Synonyms
6. Phrase meanings
7. Spellings

Quantitative Aptitude  – Expected questions in SBI PO preliminary

The Quantitative Aptitude Test of the Preliminary exam is not expected to be of very difficult level, so we have put together the typical questions for you that will help you in your preparations :

1. Data interpretation
2. Simplification
3. Average & Percentage
4. Simple & Compound interest
5. Work & Time
6. Mixture & Allegations
7. Profit & Loss
8. Boats & Streams
9. Ratio & Proportion
10. Problems on ages
11. Time & Distance
12. Probability
13. Pipes and cisterns
14. Volume and surface area

Reasoning Ability- Expected questions in SBI PO preliminary

The following types of questions may be expected in the Reasoning Ability section of the SBI PO Preliminary exam :

1. Seating arrangement
2. Data sufficiency
3. Logical reasoning
4. Verbal/Non-verbal reasoning
5. Statement and assumption
6. Letter & Symbol series

SBI PO Paper Pattern – Main Exam

The main exam will consist of two tests, an Objective Test for 200 marks and a Descriptive Test for 50 marks. Both the Objective and Descriptive Tests will be online.

(I) Objective Test: The Objective Test will consist of 4 sections for total 200 marks. You will be given three hours to complete these 4 sections, The Objective Test will have separate timing for every section. There will be sectional cut off in this phase too.

(II) Descriptive Test – The Descriptive Test of 30 minutes duration with 50 marks will be a Test of English Language (Letter Writing & Essay). Descriptive Test paper of only those candidates will be evaluated who have scored qualifying marks in the Objective Tests .

Note: One-fourth of the marks assigned to a question will be deducted as penalty for each wrong answer. ( Applicable for both Phase I and II )

It is necessary to qualify in both the tests with passing marks, so here we are with some preparation tips for you, which will surely help you. Keep reading.

SBI PO Main Exam – Objective Paper

The following Sections are covered in the Objective Test which will be of 3 hour duration:

1. English Language
2. General/Economy/ Banking Awareness
3. Data Analysis & Interpretation
4. Reasoning & Computers 

English Language – Expected questions in SBI PO mains (objective)

English language tests are very scoring, if the following given topics are prepared and attempted in our given sequence which will help you to save precious time and get further ahead of others. In addition to the topics covered in the preliminary exam, the mains will also cover reading comprehension.

1. Spotting errors
2. Fill in the blanks
3. Sentence correction
4. Idioms/Phrases
5. One word substitutes
6. Ordering of sentences
7. Cloze test
8. Reading Comprehension

General/Economy/ Banking Awareness – Expected questions in SBI PO mains (objective)

From the name of the test itself, we can make out that this test will require some reading and general knowledge of the happenings from around us.

Here you will get some basic tips to help you glide smoothly through the preparation time so that you only learn what is necessary for you in this exam.

For general awareness, you can read and keep yourself updated with news and current affairs around you. We have brought a list of topics which you may keep in mind while preparing for the exam:

1. RBI monetary policy and recent banking news
2. Budget
3. Banking terms and definitions
4. Current affairs ( India and the world)
5. World organisations & world geography
6. Books and authors

For Economy, keep yourself abreast with the current economy related news. Terms like  repo, reverse repo, NBFC, etc. and the banking and finance concepts should be known to you. 

I would recommend you to download Economic Survey of 2015-16 issued by Govt. of India.

For Banking Awareness – A little knowledge on Banking History, RBI, Types of Banks, Important Banking terms will be sufficient to excel in this section.

Data analysis & Interpretation – Expected questions in SBI PO mains (objective)

This section of the Main exam seems difficult for all aspirants. So there is just one advice from us in this regard is — PRACTICE. Practice alone will improve your accuracy level. Focus on the topics below:

1. Pie-chart
2. Bar-graph
3. Tables
4. Line graph

Reasoning (High level) – Expected questions in SBI PO mains (objective)

We did not add the ‘high level’ in the brackets above. That is exactly what the SBI wrote in the SBI PO notification.

Since this section is scoring and also needs a high level of accuracy so you should prepare and be ready to give as much as time possible. Our topics listed for you will surely help you in your preparations:

1. Seating arrangement
2. Statement and assumption
3. Letter and number coding
4. Making judgements
5. Number series
6. Data sufficiency
7. Logical reasoning
8. Statement and conclusion
9. Input-output
10. Blood relation
11. Cause and effect

Computer test may be scoring if you follow and prepare the following topics as listed by us. As you can see, these are basic topics, which anyone even with a little experience in using computers would be aware of.

1. Abbreviations and short forms related to computer and its workings
2. Hardware and software – definitions and functions
3. Internet
4. MS word and MS Excel
5. Operating systems and service providers

SBI PO Main Exam – Descriptive Paper

The descriptive Test will be of 30 mins duration and it will be basically a test of written knowledge of English language.

Also please bear in mind, that this test will not be a pen-and-paper test. You have to type on the computer.

So, get sufficient typing practice on a full size keyboard so that your fingers don’t make any mistake to stop you from getting ahead of others.

It is clearly mentioned in the advertisement notice that this Descriptive test will consists of

1. Letter writing
2. Essay

Descriptive Test paper of only those candidates will be evaluated who have scored qualifying marks in the Objective Tests and are placed adequately high as per total marks in objective test.

Both letter writing and essay writing requires practice and knowledge about general issues.

So don’t procrastinate and practice writing both formal and informal letters.

For essay, keep abreast of the latest developments in the Indian and world scenario and practice first by writing paragraphs of any happening topic and gradually increase your word numbers and paragraph length.

In this article we have tried to cover all the required aspects for SBI PO paper pattern that will help you focus your preparations in the right direction. Our best regards to all the aspirants and if you have any doubt or difficulty, let us know in the comments below.