SBI Clerk (Junior Associate) — Syllabus & Exam Pattern

Free preparation for SBI Clerk (Junior Associate) — the official exam pattern and topic-wise syllabus are below. Start preparing from home, without books.

See current SBI Clerk (Junior Associate) vacancies & notifications

Exam Pattern

Conducting body: State Bank of India (SBI). Post: Junior Associate (Customer Support & Sales), commonly called SBI Clerk. Eligibility: graduation in any discipline; knowledge of the local language of the state applied for is required. Selection has two online stages — Preliminary and Main — and there is NO interview for the clerical cadre. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION (online, 100 marks, 1 hour): English Language (30 questions, 30 marks, 20 minutes); Numerical Ability (35 questions, 35 marks, 20 minutes); Reasoning Ability (35 questions, 35 marks, 20 minutes). The Prelims is only a screening test — these marks are NOT counted in the final merit. MAIN EXAMINATION (online, 200 marks, 2 hours 40 minutes, 190 questions): 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). Negative marking is one-fourth (1/4) mark for each wrong answer. The final merit is prepared from the Main examination marks. Candidates who did not study the local language of the applied state in Class 10 may have to pass a Local Language Test at the time of joining. Confirm the current section split, marks and eligibility against the SBI Junior Associate advertisement of the year on sbi.co.in.

Syllabus (topic-wise)

NOTE: SBI does not publish a rigid line-by-line syllabus — the notice fixes only sections, question counts, marks and timing. The areas below are the standard, consistently-tested topics; treat them as indicative, not an official verbatim list.
English Language / General English: Reading Comprehension; Cloze Test; Para Jumbles; Error Spotting; Sentence Improvement / Correction; Fillers; Word Usage / Word Swap; Phrase Replacement; Vocabulary; Paragraph Completion.
Numerical Ability / Quantitative Aptitude: Simplification & Approximation; Number Series; Quadratic Equations; Data Interpretation (tables, bar / line / pie, caselet); Data Sufficiency; Percentage; Ratio & Proportion; Average; Profit & Loss; Simple & Compound Interest; Time & Work; Time-Speed-Distance; Mixtures & Alligation; Partnership; Ages; Mensuration; Probability; Permutation & Combination.
Reasoning Ability: Puzzles & Seating Arrangement (linear / circular / floor-based); Syllogism; Blood Relations; Direction & Distance; Order & Ranking; Coding-Decoding; Inequality; Alphanumeric Series; Machine Input-Output; Data Sufficiency; Logical Reasoning; Analogy & Classification.
Computer Aptitude (Mains — within the Reasoning & Computer Aptitude section): computer fundamentals, hardware & software, operating systems, MS Office, internet & networking, database basics, memory & storage, input / output devices, computer abbreviations and basic security terms.
General / Financial Awareness (Mains): current affairs of roughly the last 6 months (national & international); Banking & Financial Awareness (RBI, monetary policy, SEBI / IRDAI, types of accounts, banking terms & abbreviations); the Indian Economy & Budget; important government / financial-inclusion schemes; and static GK (countries-capitals-currencies, important days, awards, sports, books & authors).

Official source: https://sbi.co.in/web/careers/current-openings

⚠️ Always confirm against that year's official notification — the exam pattern and syllabus can change. This page is free guidance only.