Know this. Unlike most bank exams, SBI caps your attempts (four for general category), and each Main exam you sit uses one, so do not sit the Main unprepared.
- Run by
- State Bank of India (Central Recruitment & Promotion Department)
- Admits you to
- Probationary Officer (entry officer) posts in the State Bank of India, which recruits separately from the IBPS process used by other public sector banks.
- Who can sit
- A graduate degree in any discipline; final-year students may apply provisionally and must show proof of passing by the eligibility date in the advertisement. Age 21 to 30 on the eligibility date, with category relaxations.
- Pattern
- Three phases. Preliminary (online, 100 marks, 1 hour, three sections: English, Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning; you must clear each section). Main (online): objective tests for 200 marks plus a 30-minute, 50-mark descriptive English test (letter and essay, typed on the computer). Then Group Discussion and Interview (or the current equivalent stated in the advertisement). One quarter of a question's marks is deducted for each wrong objective answer.
- When
- The 2026 advertisement came out in June with applications till early July; Prelims and Mains follow over the next few months.
- Limits
- Limited number of chances: General 4; General-PwD, OBC and OBC-PwD 7; SC/ST no restriction. Only appearing in the Main exam counts as a chance, not the Prelims.
Courses it leads to
Sources, checked 2026-09-28: sbi.bank.in · ibpsreg.ibps.in