From the outside, SBI Clerk looks almost identical to IBPS Clerk: the same three Prelims sections, the same 20-minute clocks, the same quarter-mark penalty. The rules underneath are different, and they should change how you prepare.
SBI sets no minimum mark for any individual section, in Prelims or in Mains. Prelims shortlists candidates by total marks, and the final selection uses your Mains total alone, ranked within your state and category. What matters is how many marks you collect, not which section they come from.
This page gives you the official dates and pattern, what those rules mean for your plan, a checklist for the last days before Prelims, and a timetable from Prelims to Mains in November.
SBI Clerk 2026: the dates and numbers
| What | Details |
|---|---|
| Applications | 11–31 August 2026 (closed) |
| Prelims | September 2026 (tentative) |
| Mains | November 2026 (tentative) |
| Call letters | On sbi.bank.in, about 10 days before each exam |
| Vacancies | 7,680 regular and 2,086 backlog |
Source: SBI advertisement CRPD/CR/2026-27/17 for Junior Associates (Customer Support & Sales). SBI can change its dates, so check your call letter for your exact date and shift.
The exam pattern
Prelims: a shortlist by total marks
| Section | Questions and marks | Time |
|---|---|---|
| English Language | 30 questions, 30 marks | 20 minutes |
| Numerical Ability | 35 questions, 35 marks | 20 minutes |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 questions, 35 marks | 20 minutes |
| Total | 100 questions, 100 marks | 1 hour |
About ten times the number of vacancies in each category are called to Mains, in order of total marks. SBI does not keep section-wise marks.
Mains: the only marks that count
| Section | Questions and marks | Time |
|---|---|---|
| General/Financial Awareness | 50 questions, 50 marks | 35 minutes |
| General English | 40 questions, 40 marks | 35 minutes |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 50 questions, 50 marks | 45 minutes |
| Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude | 50 questions, 60 marks | 45 minutes |
| Total | 190 questions, 200 marks | 2 hours 40 minutes |
Every section is timed separately, and a wrong answer costs a quarter of that question's marks. Mains needs a minimum total set by the bank (5% lower for SC, ST, OBC, PwBD and ex-servicemen candidates), but no section has a minimum of its own.
What SBI's rules mean for your plan
- A mark is a mark, wherever it comes from. Without sectional cut-offs, raising your best section from 25 to 30 is worth exactly as much as raising your weakest from 15 to 20. Put your hours where the next five marks come cheapest for you, which is not always your weakest section. Just don't abandon a section: each has its own clock, so the minutes of a section you can't use are simply lost.
- Prelims only has to get you in. Its marks are not added to anything. Don't wait for the result to start preparing for Mains.
- Reasoning & Computer Aptitude is the biggest Mains section. It carries 60 of the 200 marks, and Computer Aptitude is not in Prelims at all. Give it a short daily block from now, because two months is not long to learn a new subject.
- General/Financial Awareness is 50 marks you can't work out in the hall. Build it with a short daily habit: banking terms, financial news and current affairs.
- You compete within your state. The merit list is drawn up state-wise and category-wise, and SBI allows no transfer to another state in your first five years of service. When you look up past cut-offs, use the figures for your own state and category.
The last two weeks before Prelims
- One full mock a day, reviewed the same day. Re-solve every wrong answer before you look at the solution; the review is where the marks come from.
- Practise leaving questions. With no sectional cut-off, the goal in each 20 minutes is the most correct answers, and a puzzle you can't finish is the most expensive question on the screen.
- Know your guessing record. Each wrong answer costs a quarter mark, so track, mock by mock, how often your educated guesses are right before you decide how many to take.
- Nothing new. Revise from your mistakes list and keep a short calculation drill every day.
- Keep your call letter. Download it as soon as it is out. It is stamped at the Prelims centre, and you have to bring it again, with the stamped copy of your ID proof, to Mains.
From Prelims to Mains in about two months
Count the weeks from the day after Prelims.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Weeks 1–2 | Start Mains the next day. General/Financial Awareness every day: banking and financial news from the last four to six months. Computer Aptitude basics: hardware and software, operating systems, the internet and networking, MS Office and security. Reasoning: Mains-length puzzles |
| Weeks 3–5 | Build Mains speed. One full Mains mock a week, 190 questions in 2 hours 40 minutes, rising to two. Quantitative Aptitude: data interpretation and arithmetic at a 45-minute pace. English: longer reading comprehension and cloze tests |
| Weeks 6–7 | Mock-heavy. Two or three full mocks a week, each reviewed. A one-page General Awareness summary every week, and Computer Aptitude revision |
| Final week | Revise and rest. Your summaries and mistakes list only, with no new sources. Keep the day before the exam light |
A daily timetable for the Mains weeks
Pick the version that matches the hours you really have. Keep the order of the blocks and move the clock times to fit your day.
6 hours: full-time
| Time | Session | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00–8:00 | General/Financial Awareness | Banking and financial news, with notes you can revise |
| 8:30–10:00 | Reasoning & Computer Aptitude | Two Mains-level puzzle sets, then 20 minutes of computer topics |
| 10:30–12:00 | Quantitative Aptitude | One data interpretation set and one arithmetic set, timed |
| 2:00–3:00 pm | General English | One long reading comprehension and one cloze or para jumble set |
| 4:00–5:00 pm | Revision | Topics due today and the mistakes from your last mock |
On mock days, replace the morning blocks with the mock and its review.
3 hours: working or in college
| Time | Session | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 6:00–7:00 | Reasoning & Computer Aptitude | Puzzles one day, computer topics the next |
| Commute or lunch | General/Financial Awareness | 30 minutes of banking and financial news |
| 8:30–9:30 pm | Quantitative Aptitude | Data interpretation or arithmetic |
| 9:30–10:00 pm | General English | One reading comprehension or cloze test |
On weekends, sit one full Mains mock and review it the same day.
Writing SBI Clerk and IBPS Clerk in the same season
| When | Exam |
|---|---|
| September 2026 | SBI Clerk Prelims (tentative) |
| 10–11 October 2026 | IBPS Clerk Prelims |
| November 2026 | SBI Clerk Mains (tentative) |
| 27 December 2026 | IBPS Clerk Mains |
Keep one Prelims routine until IBPS Prelims is over, because the two papers have the same sections and timing, but hold on to a short daily General Awareness and Computer Aptitude block through those weeks. After IBPS Prelims, switch to Mains: General Awareness, English, Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude serve both exams, and Computer Aptitude is for SBI. Once SBI Mains is done, move to IBPS-style mocks, where every section has a cut-off — the IBPS Clerk study plan covers that stretch.
The language test, bonus marks and the wait list
- Local language test. If you studied your state's language in class 10 or 12, your mark sheet exempts you. Otherwise you take a qualifying Local Language Proficiency Test after provisional selection and before joining, and failing it means no appointment.
- Bonus marks for SBI apprentices. Trained SBI apprentices who meet the conditions in the advertisement get 5 bonus marks out of 200, added to their Mains total.
- The wait list. SBI keeps a wait list of up to 50% of the vacancies in each state and category for one year, and releases candidates from it every quarter to replace people who don't join or who resign.
How the free planner turns this into today's sessions
- A plan built from the exam. Type "SBI Clerk", your exam date, how many hours you can study and when you usually study. The AI builds a daily routine weighted towards the topics that appear most in previous papers.
- A timer that keeps you honest. Every session runs on a timer that keeps going when you lock your phone and stops at the scheduled length. On Android, Focus Shield silences your phone while it runs.
- Catch-up instead of quitting. When you keep falling short for several days, the planner offers to resize your routine to what your best days show you can sustain. Sessions that no longer fit are paused, never deleted.
- Mock tests on the Prelims pattern. SBI Clerk Prelims mocks with three separately timed 20-minute sections and negative marking. Your first test is free.
- Spaced revision that escalates. Each topic comes back after 1, 3, 7, 14, 30 and 60 days, with harder questions as you master it — well suited to Computer Aptitude terms and banking facts.
- Current affairs and an honest record. Filter the daily current affairs for Banking (the full digest comes with Lighthouse Pro), and see in the wastage report how much of your planned time you actually studied.
Start with today
Open the planner, add SBI Clerk with your next exam date, and run today's first session. Your plan will be ready in about a minute.
Frequently asked questions
Does SBI Clerk have a sectional cut-off?
No. SBI's 2026 advertisement prescribes no minimum marks for any individual section, in Prelims or Mains. Prelims has no minimum total either: about ten times the vacancies in each category are shortlisted by total marks. Mains needs a minimum total set by the bank, with a 5% relaxation for SC, ST, OBC, PwBD and ex-servicemen candidates.
When are SBI Clerk Prelims and Mains 2026?
SBI's advertisement schedules Prelims tentatively for September 2026 and Mains for November 2026. Call letters are released on sbi.bank.in about ten days before each exam, and they carry your exact date and shift.
What is the SBI Clerk Mains exam pattern?
190 questions for 200 marks in 2 hours 40 minutes, in four separately timed sections. General/Financial Awareness has 50 questions for 50 marks in 35 minutes, General English 40 for 40 marks in 35 minutes, Quantitative Aptitude 50 for 50 marks in 45 minutes, and Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude 50 for 60 marks in 45 minutes. A wrong answer costs a quarter of that question's marks.
Is the SBI Clerk cut-off state-wise?
Yes. SBI draws up the merit list state-wise and category-wise, so you compete only with candidates in your category who applied for the same state. That is why cut-offs differ from one state to another.
How many months of current affairs should I cover for SBI Clerk?
The advertisement doesn't specify a period. A practical window is the last four to six months before your Mains date, plus banking and financial awareness, since General/Financial Awareness is 50 of the 200 Mains marks.
How many vacancies are there in SBI Clerk 2026?
7,680 regular vacancies and 2,086 backlog vacancies across the states, according to advertisement CRPD/CR/2026-27/17. SBI also keeps a wait list of up to 50% of the vacancies in each state and category for one year.
Do SBI Clerk Prelims marks count in the final selection?
No. Prelims marks are not added. Selection is made on your Mains total alone, followed by the local language test for candidates who need it.
Can I prepare for SBI Clerk and IBPS Clerk together?
Yes. The two Prelims have the same three 20-minute sections, and the Mains papers share most of their syllabus. The differences to plan for are Computer Aptitude, which is in SBI Clerk Mains but not IBPS Clerk Mains, and IBPS's cut-off in every section. IBPS Clerk Prelims is on 10 and 11 October and its Mains on 27 December 2026.
Is the planner free?
Yes. You can build a plan, run the session timer, revise on a spaced schedule and see where your study time went without paying. AI features such as generating study material use credits, and every account starts with 50,000 free.