The SBI PO exam notification was released in April this year for recruitment to the bank’s various vacancies and it introduced a few changes in the exam pattern. Here are all the important changes in the SBI PO 2018 exam process that you should know. The SBI PO 2018 exam is scheduled to start on July 1st. Below is also a table of all the important dates regarding the SBI PO 2018 exam.

Major changes in SBI PO 2018 exam pattern

  1. For the Preliminary and online part of the Main SBI PO exams, there will be sectional timings. This is to say that there will be separate timings for each section. This means that those taking the SBI PO exam this year will have to finish the sections within the allotted time periods.
  2. There won’t be sectional cut-offs. This means that a category-wise merit list will be drawn based on the aggregate marks scored in the Prelim exam. This means that even if you are weak in one particular section, you can make up for it by scoring well in another section.

Another change in this year’s SBI PO exam is that however many vacancies SBI has for its Probationary Office posts, approximately 10 times that number of candidates will be selected for the Main exam, from the top of the Prelim exam merit list.

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One important detail of the SBI PO 2018 exam to keep in mind is that there will be negative marking for each wrong answer. For each wrong answer selected, candidates will be deducted 0.25 marks (or 1/4th mark). However, no negative marks will be awarded if a question is not attempted.

SBI PO Prelim exam pattern (Phase I)

This test will carry a total of 100 marks.

Section of exam Name of test Number of questions Duration
1 English Language 30 20 minutes
2 Quantitative Aptitude 35 20 minutes
3 Reasoning Ability 35 20 minutes
Total 100 1 hour

SBI PO Main exam pattern (Phase II)

(i) Objective test

This test will carry a total of 200 marks.

Section Name of test Number of questions Duration
I Reasoning & Computer Aptitude 45 60 minutes
II Data Analysis & Interpretation 35 45 minutes
III General/ Economy/ Banking Awareness 40 35 minutes
IV English Language 35 40 minutes
Total 155 3 hours

(ii) Descriptive test

This will be a Test of English Language (Letter Writing & Essay). It will carry 50 marks, comprise of 2 questions and be of 30-minute duration.

SBI PO Interview exam pattern (Phase III)

Test Marks
Group discussion 20
Interview 30
Total 50

SBI PO important exam dates

Activity Dates
Online registration and payment of fees Up to May 13th
Call letter for Prelim exam June 18th onwards
Prelim exam dates July 1st, 7th and 8th
Prelim exam result July 15th
Call letter for Main exam July 20th
Main exam date August 4th
Main exam result August 20th
Call letter for interview September 1st
Group exercises and interview dates September 24th to October 12th
Final result declaration date November 1st

This year, SBI is recruiting more than 2,000 candidates for various job vacancies for Probationary Officer (PO). Online applications are now being accepted.