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Banking Exams Guide

SBI Clerk

Latest Updates

  • ●July 2: SBI Clerk Prelims 2020 result is likely to be announced anytime this month.
  • ●June 25: SBI Clerk 2020 result for prelims exam will be declared soon. The result will be available at sbi.co.in.
  • ●May 12: SBI Clerk Prelims 2020 result dates have not yet been announced. The result was delayed to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
  • ●April 8: SBI Clerk Prelims 2020 result is expected to be released in May, once the lockdown has been relaxed. Candidates will be able to check the result online in PDF form.
  • ●April 1: State Bank of India (SBI) has postponed the result declaration for SBI Clerk preliminary exam 2020 and the SBI Clerk mains 2020 exam due to the outbreak of coronavirus. The new dates for the mains exam and the announcement of prelims result will be notified later.

About SBI Clerk

SBI Clerk exam is conducted for the recruitment of Junior Associates (Customer Support & Sales) in State Bank of India. The selection process involves a preliminary and mains exam. In addition, a local language test is conducted for candidates who qualify the mains exam, before they join the bank.

Salary and Vacancies

SBI Clerk 2020 Vacancies: The official notification for SBI Clerk 2020 indicated more than 8000 vacancies. Out of these, 3447 vacancies are for General category, 790 for EWS, 1214 for SC, 746 for ST and 1803 for OBC. The state and category wise vacancies and reservation rules can be referred in the official notification.

Candidates can apply for SBI Clerk vacancies in one state only and candidates should be proficient in reading, writing, speaking and understanding the local language of the state they have selected.

SBI Clerk 2020 Pay Scale: The salary for SBI Junior Associates varies from state to state and candidates posted in metropolitan cities usually draw a higher salary compared to those posted in other places. The payscale of SBI Clerk as mentioned in the official notification is Rs 11765-655/ 3-13730-815/ 3-16175-980/ 4-20095-1145/7-28110-2120/ 1-30230-1310/1-31450.

As mentioned in the official notification, the total starting emoluments of clerical cadre post in a metro city like Mumbai will be around Rs 26,000 per month inclusive of DA and other allowances as per the current rate along with two additional increments which are given to newly recruited graduate Junior Associates. Allowances vary depending upon the place of posting. Selected junior associates will be eligible for reimbursement of various perquisites, provident fund, Pension under New Pension scheme (Defined Contribution Benefit), Medical, Leave-Fare and other facilities as per the instructions issued by the bank.

Probation period: Selected candidates will be on probation for a minimum period of 6 months. Newly recruited candidates are required to complete e-lessons as prescribed by the bank to be confirmed and the probation will be extended if they fail to do so. Before the completion of probation, the performance of candidates will be reviewed for getting confirmed in the bank.

Paper Type Prelims and Mains- Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
Exam Duration Prelims- 1 hour; Mains- 2 hour 40 minutes
Scoring Prelims- 1 marks for correct answer
1/4 of marks assigned to question deducted for incorrect answer in Prelims and Mains
0 marks for not attempted

Important Dates

Exam Notification 2 January 2020
Application Process 3 to 26 January 2020
Pre-exam training admit card 3 February 2020
Prelims admit card 11 February 2020
Prelims Exam Date 22 Feb, 29 Feb, 1 Mar, 8 Mar 2020
Prelims results To be announced soon
Mains admit card To be declared
Mains Exam Date To be declared

Exam Pattern

The State Bank of India prescribes the pattern for the SBI Clerk exam. There is no change in the exam pattern this year, it is the same as previous year's. SBI Clerk recruitment is conducted by evaluating candidates in an online examination held in two phases - preliminary and mains. The exams can be taken in can be attempted in either English or Hindi languages. Candidates need to qualify the Prelims exam to be eligible for appearing in the Mains exam. The final selection of candidates is performed based on their performance in the mains exam only hence, the Prelims exam is a qualifying exam.

First Stage Prelims Exam

Section Name No. of Questions Max. Marks Duration (in mins)
English Language 30 30 20
Numerical Ability 35 35 20
Reasoning Ability 35 35 20
Total 100 100 60

Second Stage Mains Exam

Section Name No. of Questions Max. Marks Duration (in mins)
General/Financial Awareness 50 50 35
General English 40 40 35
Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude 50 60 45
Quantitative Aptitude 50 50 45
Total 190 200 160

Local Language Test

All candidates who get provisionally selected after clearing Preliminary and Main exams need to appear for a local language test. The local language opted by the candidate will be tested with this exam. Any candidate who fails to clear the test will be disqualified from the recruitment. Candidates who get provisionally selected and produce marksheets of classes X and XII or any certificate which shows that they have studied the opted local language will be exempted from giving the test.

Detailed Syllabus

Syllabus for SBI Clerk- Prelims

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

  • a) Reading Comprehension
  • b) Cloze Test
  • c) Para Jumbles
  • d) Fill in the Blanks
  • e) Multiple Meaning/Error Spotting
  • f) Paragraph Completion
  • g) Miscellaneous

NUMERICAL ABILITY

  • a) Simplification
  • b) Profit & Loss
  • c) Mixtures & Allegations
  • d) Simple Interest & Compound Interest
  • e) Surds & Indices
  • f) Work & Time
  • g) Time & Distance
  • h) Mensuration- Cylinder, Cone, Sphere
  • i) Ratio & Proportion
  • j) Percentage
  • j) Number Systems
  • k) Sequence & Series
  • l) Permutation & Combination
  • m) Probability
  • n) Data Interpretation

REASONING ABILITY

  • a) Logical Reasoning
  • b) Alphanumeric Series
  • c) Alphabet Test
  • d) Coded Inequalities
  • e) Data Sufficiency
  • f) Seating Arrangement
  • g) Puzzle
  • h) Tabulation
  • i) Syllogism
  • j) Blood Relations
  • j) Input-Output
  • k) Coding-Decoding
  • l) Direction-based questions
  • m) Ranking-based questions

Syllabus for SBI Clerk- Mains

GENERAL/FINANCIAL AWARENESS

  • 1) Banking and Financial Awareness
  • 2) Static Awareness
  • 3) Banking/Financial terms
  • 4) Static GK - country-capital, country-currency, headquarters of financial organizations (of insurance companies), constituencies of ministers, dance forms, nuclear and thermal power stations, etc.
  • 5) Current Affairs – news on banking industry, awards and honors, books and authors,latest appointments, obituaries, new schemes of central and state governments, sports, etc.

GENERAL ENGLISH

  • 1) Reading comprehension including Synonyms and Antonyms
  • 2) Sentence rearrangement or Para jumbles
  • 3) Sentence Correction/ Error Finding
  • 4) Spell Checks
  • 5) Fillers
  • 6) Cloze Test

REASONING ABILITY AND COMPUTER APTITUDE

  • 1) Machine Input/Output
  • 2) Blood Relation
  • 3) Direction Sense and Ranking
  • 4) Coding and Decoding
  • 5) Puzzles
  • 6) Inequalities
  • 7) Syllogism
  • 8) Statement and Assumptions
  • 9) Important Abbreviations
  • 10) MS Office
  • 11) Basics of Computer Hardware and Software
  • 12) Generation of Computers
  • 13) DBMS
  • 14) Internet
  • 15) Networking
  • 16) Input-Output Devices

QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE

  • 1) Simplifcation
  • 2) Data Sufficiency
  • 3) Data Interpretation
  • 4) Number Series
  • 5) Quadratic Equation
  • 6) Time & Distance, Work
  • 7) Partnership
  • 8) Profit & Loss
  • 9) Simple and Compound Interest
  • 10) Mixture and Allegations
  • 11) Ratio & Proportion, Averages, Percentages

Exam Analysis

SBI Clerk 2019 Mains Analysis

The SBI Clerk 2019 Mains examination was held on 10th August 2019 in two shifts. The overall analysis of the Mains exam is given below:

The exam had an overall easy to moderate difficulty level. At a section level, Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude was said to be the most difficult section while the General English section was the easiest. The section-wise difficulty level has been tabulated below:

Section Name Number of Questions Marks Level (Shift 1) Good Attempt (Shift 1) Level (Shift 2) Good Attempt (Shift 2)
General English 40 40 Easy 32-35 Easy-Moderate 34-37
Quantitative Aptitude 50 50 Moderate 40-43 Moderate-Hard 32-35
General/Financial Awareness 50 50 Easy-Moderate 39-43 Easy-Moderate 38-42
Reasoning & Computer Aptitude 50 60 Hard 32-35 Moderate-Hard 30-34

The section-wise analysis for SBI Clerk 2019 Mains exam is given below to help candidates understand the relative importance of topics for their preparation.

General English: According to candidates, this was the easiest section of the exam. The distribution of questions belonging to various topics has been provided below:

Topic No. of Questions (Shift 1) No. of Questions (Shift 2)
Reading Comprehension 10 12
Error Detection 7 5
Vocabulary based 5 5
Idioms and Phrases 4 3
Word Replacement 5 4
Paragraph Completion 8 7
Single Filler 1 4
Total 40 40

General/Financial Awareness: The distribution of questions belonging to various topics has been provided below:

Topic No. of Questions (Shift 1) No. of Questions (Shift 2)
Budget 4-5 5
History 3 5
Current affairs 15-20 10-15
Awards and Honors 5-7 8
Static GK 10-12 12-15
Economy 2-3 5
Geography 3-4 3
Total 50 50

Quantitaive Aptitude: Topics from where questions were asked are:

Topic No. of Questions (Shift 1) No. of Questions (Shift 2)
data Interpretation 15 20
Caselet DI 5 5
Quantity 1, Quantity 2 7 4-7
Missing Series 3 5
Miscellaneous 10-12 15-17
Total 50 50

Reasoning and Computer Awareness: This was the most difficult section of the exam. The distribution of questions across different topics has been provided below:

Topic No. of Questions (Shift 1) No. of Questions (Shift 2)
Input-Output 5 4
Statement and Conclusion 4 3
Analogy 2 3
Alphanumeric Series 4 5
Classification 2
Coding-Decoding 4 5
Sitting Arrangement 5 4
Ranking 4 5
Mirror Image & Venn Diagram 3
Syllogism 5 3
Direction & Distance 3 2
Mathematical Operations 3 2
Miscellaneous 8 10-12
Total 50 50

SBI Clerk 2020 Prelims Analysis

The SBI Clerk 2020 Prelims examination was held on 22nd Feb, 29th Feb, 1st Mar and 8th Mar 2020 in four shifts on each day- 9 AM to 10 AM, 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM, 2 PM to 3 PM and 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM. The overall analysis of the Prelims exam is given below:

The Prelims exam had an easy to moderate difficulty level and 75 to 80 questions can be considered a good attempt. The difficulty level and good attempt for each section has been tabulated below:

Section Difficulty Level Good Attempt
English Language Easy-Moderate 22-25
Reasoning Ability Moderate-Hard 28-32
Numerical Ability Moderate 26-30
Total Easy-Moderate 75-80

Section-Wise Important Topics

The three sections had varied levels of difficulty and the important topics in each section are provided below.

SBI Clerk Prelims 2020 Exam Analysis for the English Language-The English language section had an easy to moderate difficulty level. The ditribution of questions across different topics, considered for all shifts are given below:

Topic No. of Questions Difficulty Level
Reading Comprehension 10 Easy-Moderate
Error Detection 5 Easy-Moderate
Spelling Mistakes 5 Easy
Sentence Reangement 5 Easy-Moderate
Cloze Test 5 Easy-Moderate
Total 30 Easy-Moderate

There was one set of Reading Comprehension with 8-10 questions, out of which 3-4 questions were on Vocabulary. The passage was based on an article related to Mosquito Gene Modification.

SBI Clerk Prelims 2020 Exam Analysis for Reasoning Ability- The Reasoning section was easy. The ditribution of questions across different topics is given below:

Topic No. of Questions Difficulty Level
Puzzles and Seating Arrangement 15 Moderate
Syllogism 3 Easy-Moderate
Inequalities 3 Moderate
Alphanumeric Series 5 Easy-Moderate
Coding Decoding 3 Easy
Direction Sense 3 Easy
Miscellaneous 2 Easy-Moderate
Total 35 Easy

The types of puzzles asked were:

  • ●Order and Ranking Based
  • ●Circle Based Seating Arrangement
  • ●Post Based Puzzle

SBI Clerk Prelims 2020 Exam Analysis for Numerical Ability- This section was easy and candidates who had practiced well could easily solve most of the questions. The number of questions asked from each topic is given below:

Topic No. of Questions Difficulty Level
Data Interpretation 5 Easy
Missing Number Series 5 Easy
Simplification 10 Easy
Quadratic Equation 5 Easy
Miscellaneous 10 Easy-Moderate
Total 35 Easy

Exam Tips

  • ●Know the exam pattern and syllabus: Candidates must know the exam pattern and detailed syllabus for SBI Clerk Prelims and Mains before kick-starting the preparation. By going through the SBI Clerk syllabus, they will understand which subjects and topics are used in questions.
  • ●Create a timetable: Creating a realistic time table which you can stick to helps manage time effectively. Candidates should allot time to different topics based on their strengths and weaknesses. Going through the analysis of previous years' SBI Clerk exams will help candidates idenitfy important topics that carry most weightage in the Prelims and Mains exam and should be covered first.
  • ●Practice diligently: Candidates should aim to practice each topic once they finish preparing it. Starting with easier questions and then progressing to difficult ones will improve speed and accuracy and also build confidence. Regular practice is a must and the more you practice, the better.
  • ●Read regularly: While creating the timetable, candidates should allocate dedicated time for reading newspapers and magazines. Spending two hours a day on reading will help candidates prepare well for the English Language, General Awareness section and Computer Aptitude sections. It is a good practice to note down important points and new words while reading, since this will come handy during revision.
  • ●Understand concepts thoroughly: Rather than learning shortcuts, candidates should focus on understanding the concepts well in each topic. Knowing the derivation of a formula will help you in case you forget the formula during the exam. Therefore, strengthen the basics first before moving on to learning formulas and shortcuts.
  • ●Practice SBI Clerk sample papers and previous year question papers: Since practice is essential duting SBI Clerk preparation, sample papers and previous year papers are an important resource. Solve practice questions once you finish preparing a chapter, and then move on to solving sample papers. While practicing questions, mark the questions you find difficult and revise them later. Solve previous year question papers, in a time bound format, to understand the balance between accuracy and speed.
  • ●Revise regularly: Candidates should allocate 2 hours daily for revision so that they do not forget the concepts as they move on to new topics.
  • ●Take SBI Clerk mock tests: Once candidates have prepared the entire syllabus, they should attempt as many mock tests as they can. Appearing for full length mock tests will help you get used to the actual experience and can be used to assess your performance across the different topics. Mock tests are an effective way for revision and build confidence so that there is no anxiety on D-day.
  • ●Choose the right books: Candidates should choose the right selection of books to ensure that they cover all the topics well. The following section provides a list books recomended for preparation for SBI Clerk examination.

Best Books for Quantitative Aptitude

Book Author
Fast Track Objective Arithmetic Rajesh Verma
Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations RS Agarwal
Magical Book on Quicker Mathematics M Tyra

Best Books for English Language

Book Author
Word Power Made Easy Norman Lewis
High School English Grammar and Composition Wren & Martin

Best Books for Reasoning and Computer Aptitude

Book Author
A Modern Approach to Verbal Reasoning RS Agarwal
Analytical Reasoning MK Pandey
A New Approach to Reasoning Verbal and Non-Verbal BS Sijwali, Indu Sijwali

Best Books for General Awareness

Book Author
Manorama Year Book Malayala Manorama group
Lucent General Knowledge Lucent Publication

Eligibility Criteria

01

Candidates should have graduated as on January 1, 2020. Candidates who are in the final year of graduation can apply provisionally. Candidates having integrated dual degree (IDD) certificates should ensure that they have passed the examination on or before January 1, 2020.

02

Candidates between 20-28 years ( as on January 1, 2020) can apply for SBI Clerk. Relaxation in the upper age limit provided to candidates belonging to reserved categories as detailed is as follows: SC/ST- 5 years, Backward Classes- 3 years; PwD (Gen/EWS)- 10 years; PwD (SC/ST)- 15 years; PwD (OBC)- 13 years; Ex-Servicemen/Disabled ExServicemen- Actual period of service rendered in defense services + 3 years, (8 years for Disabled Ex- Servicemen belonging to SC/ST) subjected to max age of 50 years;Widows, Divorced women and women judicially separated from their husbands & who are not remarried- 7 years (subjected to maximum age limit of 35 years for General/ EWS, 38 years for OBC & 40 years for SC/ST candidates)

Result

The SBI Clerk Prelims result will soon be announced online on the official website. The scorecard is released a few days after the declaration of result.

Stages of SBI Clerk Result

The result of SBI Clerk is declared in two stages:

  • ●SBI Clerk prelims result: Candidates who secure a score equal to or higher than the overall qualifying marks in the preliminary exam are selected for the mains exam. There are no minimum qualifying marks for the individual sections. On the basis of the prelims exam, candidates approximately 10 times the number of vacancies are shortlisted to appear for the mains exam. SBI Clerk prelims exam is qualifying in nature which means that the marks scored in Prelims are not counted while creating the final merit list.
  • ●SBI Clerk mains result: Candidates who score equal to or higher than the minimum qualifying marks are present in the merit list. A 5% relaxation in minimum qualifying marks is provided to candidates belonging to SC/ST/OBC/PWD/XS categories. Within the qualified candidates, ranking is performed according to their aggregate marks in descending order as per their respective categories and states. Post this, the provisional selection is performed based on the marks obtained in the mains exam, provided the candidate has qualified the local language test. SBI maintains a waitlist of up to 50% of the vacancies both state-wise and category-wise. Candidates in this waitlist will be offered an appointment on a quarterly basis if a selected candidate does not join or resigns. Only candidates who have secured the minimum qualifying marks are present in the waitlist. The waitlist is valid for a period of one year from the date of declaration of the SBI Clerk final result.

Tie-Breaking Policy

If two or more candidates obtain the same score in the SBI Clerk exam, the below tie-breaking policy is put in action:

  • ● Candidates who belong to the reserved category such as SC/ST/OBC/PH will be considered.
  • ● If the tie persists, the candidate who has fewer number of incorrect answers across all the subjects will be considered.
  • ● If the tie still continues, candidates older in age will be placed higher.

Cut Off

The cutoff for SBI Clerk exam specifies the minimum qualifying marks that candidates need to score in order to qualify the exam and become eligible for the next round of the selection process. The cut off is determined based on the several factors like number of vacancies, difficulty level of exam and number of candidates.

To check the official cutoff which is available category-wise and state-wise, candidates need to login with their registration number/roll number and date of birth. There is no sectional cut off in the SBI Clerk exam. However, candidates need to qualify each section by securing the minimum cut off marks.

The cutoff for SBI Clerk Prelims 2020 has not been announced yet due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The prelims cut off is expected to be high this year since the exam was easy to moderate. In 2019, the highest cut off for unreserved category was recorded for J & K with 81.75 marks, while the second highest cut off was recorded for Kerala at 78 marks, followed by Chandigarh with 77.25 marks.

SBI Clerk Prelims Cutoff Trends

The expected cutoff for SBI Clerk Prelims 2020 and the cutoff for 2019 and 2018 are provided below.

SBI Clerk Prelims Expected Cutoff 2020

Category Expected cutoff
General 70-80
EWS 60-70
OBC 65-75
SC 40-50
ST 30-45

SBI Clerk Prelims Cutoff 2019: State-Wise

State GEN OBC SC ST
J&K 81.75
Kerala 78.00 78.00
Chandigarh 77.25
Punjab 76.25 66.00 59.50 76.25
Bihar 76.25
Haryana 75.25
Uttarakhand 75.25 60.50 51.25 53.25
Jharkhand 75.00
Andhra Pradesh 74.75 74.75 73.75 61.25
Madhya Pradesh 73.50 73.50 63.25 50.50
Odisha 73.50 73.50 58.50 45.75
West Bengal 73.25
Uttar Pradesh 72.25 70.25 58.75 42.00
Himachal Pradesh 71.25 62.00 58.75 58.75
Delhi 71.25 62.50 44.25
Rajasthan 71.00 71.00 54.00 48.00
Telangana 68.50
Gujarat 65.50
Maharashtra 62.25 62.25 62.25 45.00
Tamil Nadu 61.25
Chhattisgarh 57.50 57.50 53.25 46.00
Assam 57.00 55.00 56.50
Karnataka 48.50 48.50 48.50 48.50
Meghalaya 66.75 66.75 66.75 46.00

SBI Clerk Prelims Cutoff 2018: State-Wise

State GEN OBC SC ST
Madhya Pradesh 66.25 66.25 51.00 46.00
Rajasthan 69.00
Uttar Pradesh 69.25 65.50 54.50 46.75
West Bengal 66.50 55.25 51.75 45.00
Himachal Pradesh 68.75
Delhi 71.75
Maharshtra 57.00 657.00 57.00 42.25
Haryana 70.50 67.00 55.75
Bihar 66.50 66.50 52.25 53.25
Punjab 71.50 65.00 58.00
Chhattisgarh 67.25 67.25 52.25 45.50
Jharkhand 69.50
Gujarat 57.50 57.50 57.50 39.75
Uttarakhand 71.00 66.25 61.00 59.50
Tamil Nadu 60.00 60.00 59.00 53.00
Andhra Pradesh 71.00 71.00 64.75 57.00
Telangana 68.00 68.00 59.25 59.50
Odisha 62.75
Assam 51.25 50.25 46.25 46.75
Karnataka 63.00 58.00 52.25 51.75
Kerala 69.00 69.00 56.75 44.50
Chandigarh 71.25 64.50 64.50
Meghalaya 50.75 50.75 50.75 46.00

SBI Clerk Mains Cutoff Trends

The state-wise cutoff for SBI PO Mains 2019 and 2018 is provided below.

SBI Clerk Mains Cutoff 2019 and 2019: State-wise

State 2019 Cutoff 2018 Cutoff
Punjab 102.75 100.65
Andhra Pradesh 99.75
Bihar 98.00 96.00
Karnataka 85.75 83.90
Jharkhand 97.50 86.00
Haryana 103.25 99.00
Uttar Pradesh 97.50 96.00
Delhi 99.75 104.80
Madhya Pradesh 94.75 92.60
Rajasthan 97.00 96.75
Uttarakhand 96.50
West Bengal 97.25 95.30
Himachal Pradesh 101.25 98.25
Odisha 94.75 88.80
Chattisgarh 87.75 91.50
Maharashtra 89.75 85.65
Gujarat 91.25 85.00
Kerala 96.25
Tamil Nadu 98.00 93.75
Assam 85.00

FAQs

Ques: Are SBI Clerk and SBI Associates the same?
Ans: Yes, the terms are used interchangeably.

Ques: What is the job profile of an SBI clerk?
Ans: SBI Clerk job profile includes documentation and back-office work such as balance tallying, data entry and more. The job also entails marketing financial products such as loans, schemes, deposits, funds to potential customers.

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