Every year State Bank of India (SBI) invites applications to recruit candidates for the position of Probationary Officer (PO). The SBI PO National Level Written Exam takes place in two phases: Prelims and Mains. All the candidates who qualify the preliminary examination get shortlisted and become eligible to appear for the Main examination. Post this round, the candidates who qualify are shortlisted for Group Exercise and Interview. The Preliminary Examination of SBI PO this year is to be held between 8th to 16th June, 2020. The Main Examination will take place on 20th July, 2020.

In order to prepare and score well, the first and foremost task is to have a clear picture and understanding of the exam pattern of SBI PO.

Preliminary Examination, conducted online, consists of 100 Objective Type Questions for 100 marks. The total duration of this test is 60 minutes. Each section has a time limit of 20 minutes. The candidates should clear the sectional cut off to be shortlisted by the Bank for the Main Examination.

The Main Examination is further sub- divided into Objective Test and Descriptive Test carrying 200 and 50 marks respectively. Both are conducted in online mode. The candidates are required to answer the descriptive paper by typing in the answers. It immediately starts after the completion of the objective- test.

• Objective Test: It is a 3 hour duration test consisting of 200 questions divided into 4 different sections. Every section in the objective test has a separate time limit to complete the questions. To qualify the test it is mandatory for the candidates to secure minimum marks in every section, as decided by the banking authorities.

  Sections	Total Questions	Total Marks	Duration (minutes)
  English Language	35	40	40
  Data Analysis & Interpretation	35	60	45
  Reasoning & Computer Aptitude	45	60	60
  General, Economy & Banking Awareness	40	40	35
  Total	155	200	180

• Descriptive Test: The Descriptive Test is a 50 marks test of English Language- Essay and Letter Writing. The total time allotted for this section is 30 minutes. The candidates are required to obtain at least passing marks to qualify the test and become eligible for the next round i.e. group discussion and personal interview.