It is important to know the pattern and syllabus of the SBI clerk exam, in order to excel in the exam. Find below the details about the different sections in the exam for both prelims and mains online tests.
SBI Clerk Syllabus 2021 for Prelims Exam
| Name of Section | Questions | Marks | Duration |
| English Language | 30 | 30 | 20 min |
| Numerical Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 min |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 min |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 60 min |
For the SBI clerk prelim exam there are 3 sections and a total of 100 questions, the candidate would be required to attempt these questions in a time span of 1 hour.
Find below the section-wise break up of SBI clerk prelims:
- English Language: This has a total of 30 questions for a total of 30 marks (1 mark each). The time limit for this section is 20 minutes.
- Numerical ability: This section has 35 questions in total for 35 marks and the time limit for the section is 20 minutes.
- Reasoning: This section also has 35 questions for a total of 35 marks and a time limit of 20 minutes.
Thus in total there are 100 questions which are to be attempted in a time span of 1 hour.
SBI Clerk Exam Pattern 2021 – Prelims
- SBI clerk prelims have negative marking for wrong answers, for every incorrect answer about 0.25 marks to be deducted from the final score.
- SBI Clerk is a qualifying exam, after qualifying this exam only, the candidate will be allowed to sit for the mains exam.
- The entire prelims exam is bilingual that available in both the English and Hindi languages, except for the English section.
- There will be 3 sections in the SBI clerk prelims exam with 100 objective type questions for 100 marks.
- Each section has 20 minutes fixed duration, thus the total time for the exam is 1 hour.
SBI Clerk Syllabus 2021 for Mains Exam
| Name Of Section | Questions | Marks | Duration |
| General/Financial Awareness | 50 | 50 | 35 min |
| General English | 40 | 40 | 35 min |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 50 | 45 min |
| Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude | 50 | 60 | 45 min |
| Total | 190 | 200 | 2 hr 40 Min |
The main exam is for the candidates who are able to clear the prelim section. This contains 4 sections which has a total of 190 questions with a total of 200 marks and time limit of 2 hrs. and 40 minutes.
- General English: This section has a total of 40 questions for a total of 40 marks and a time limit of 35 minutes.
- Quantitative Aptitude: This has a 50 questions in this section for a total of 50 marks and a time limit of 45 minutes.
- Reasonable ability and computer aptitude: This section has 50 questions for a total of 60 marks and a time limit of 45 minutes.
- General/financial awareness: this section also has 50 questions for 50 marks and to be attempted in 35 minutes.
SBI Clerk Exam Pattern 2021 – Mains
- The candidates will be selected for SBI clerk mains exam in the ratio of 1:10 based on performance in preliminary exam.
- The duration of the SBI clerk exam is 2 hours 45 minutes. It is clear that for each section, a fixed timing allotted.
- Similar to the prelims exam, the SBI clerk mains exam also has negative marking of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer marked by a candidate.
- As usually, mains exam is bilingual that available in both the English and Hindi languages, except the English section.
- Overall in the main exam, there will be 190 objective type questions will be given for 200 marks.
Detailed SBI Clerk Syllabus 2021 – Important Topics
Find below the detailed SBI clerk prelims syllabus 2021 for all the different sections with important topics.
SBI Clerk Syllabus 2021 – English Language Important Topics
| Name of the Topic | Expected Questions |
| Reading Comprehension | 10 Questions |
| Cloze Test | 5-10 Questions |
| Spotting Errors | 5-10 Questions |
| Sentence Improvement | 5-7 Questions |
| Para Jumbles | 4-5 Questions |
| Fill in the Blanks | 5-7 Questions |
| Vocabulary | 5-7 Questions |
English language section in prelims exam has 30 questions in total for 30 marks and the time limit for the section is 20 minutes.
This section include topics related to Reading comprehension and questions on synonyms and antonyms, Sentence rearrangement, para jumble, sentence completion, spell check , para jumble etc.
SBI Clerk Syllabus 2021 – Numerical Ability Important Topics
| Name of the Topic | Expected Questions |
| Number Series | 5 Questions |
| Simplification/ Approximation | 5-10 Questions |
| Quadratic Equations | 4-5 Questions |
| Data Interpretation | 5-10 Questions |
| Miscellaneous Arithmetic Question | 10-15 Questions |
Numerical ability section has 35 questions in total for 35 marks and the time limit for the section is 20 minutes.
This contains various topics like Data Interpretation & Analysis, Simplification, number system, Data sufficiency, data interpretation, quadratic equations, Time and work, mensuration, time speed and distance, Profit and loss, simple and compound interest, ratio and proportion, averages, mean etc.
SBI Clerk Syllabus 2021 – Reasoning Ability Important Topics
| Name of the Topic | Expected Questions |
| Puzzles & Seating Arrangement | 10-15 Questions |
| Inequality | 4-5 Questions |
| Syllogism | 4-5 Questions |
| Alphanumeric & Numeric Series | 5-10 Questions |
| Coding – Decoding | 4-5 Questions |
| Miscellaneous Problems | 5-7 Questions |
Reasoning ability section has 35 questions in total for 35 marks and the time limit for the section is 20 minutes.
Reasoning includes a list of reasoning topics such as input/output, syllogism, blood relation, direction sense, Puzzle, seating arrangement, coding-decoding, ranking, statements and assumptions etc.
SBI Clerk Syllabus & Topics in Mains Exam
In addition to the important topics and syllabus of SBI clerk prelims exam, below are the remaining sections with detailed syllabus for mains exam.
- General Awareness: This includes questions on current affairs on various topics such as banking industry, awards and honors, books and authors, latest appointments, new schemes deployed by the state and center government etc.
- General Knowledge: Questions related to general knowledge such as capital of countries, headquarters of financial organizations, financial and economic policies etc.
- Computer knowledge: This include topics such as basics of computer, hardware/software, DBMS, networking Internet, MS office, input/output devices, different parts of computer hardware, important abbreviations etc.
Is there negative marking in SBI clerk 2021?
Yes, there is negative marking as penalty of one-fourth marks for each wrong answer in the both SBI clerk 2021 prelims and main exams.
Is there sectional cut off in SBI clerk exam?
No, it has removed and only overall cut off marks will be consider to select the candidates.
Are SBI clerk prelims marks consider for the final selection?
No, the marks scored in SBI clerk prelims will not be considered for the final selection.