This page explains what State Bank of India says will be tested in the recruitment of Junior Associates (Customer Support & Sales), the post usually called SBI Clerk. It uses the newest notified cycle, Advertisement No. CRPD/CR/2026-27/17 of 11 August 2026, and SBI's "Acquaint Yourself" booklets.
One thing should be clear at the start. SBI does not publish a topic-wise syllabus. The advertisement names the tests. The booklets describe each test briefly and give a few sample questions, and they add this caution in SBI's words: the questions are "only illustrative and not exhaustive". So this page has two layers, kept apart:
- What SBI's documents actually say (official).
- A study checklist we have built around those descriptions (ours, and labelled so).
Syllabus at a glance
| Stage | Test | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prelims | English Language | 30 | 30 |
| Prelims | Numerical Ability | 35 | 35 |
| Prelims | Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 |
| Mains | General/Financial Awareness | 50 | 50 |
| Mains | General English | 40 | 40 |
| Mains | Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 50 |
| Mains | Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude | 50 | 60 |
| After Mains | Local Language Proficiency Test (qualifying, with an exemption) | see exam pattern | 50 |
Timings, negative marking and the qualifying rules are on the exam pattern page.
A note on the Mains booklet. As of 13 November 2026 the careers page carried a Prelims booklet for Advertisement 17 but not yet a Mains booklet for it. The Mains descriptions below are from the Mains booklet SBI issued in October 2026 for its special recruitment drive for Junior Associates (Advertisement No. CRPD/CR/SPLDRIVE/2026-27/16), which has the same four Mains tests with the same questions, marks and timings.
English Language (Prelims) and General English (Mains)
What SBI says. The booklets use the same sentence for both stages: this is a test to see how well you know English, and your ability "would be tested through questions on grammar, vocabulary, sentence completion, synonyms, antonyms, comprehension of a passage, etc."
Sample question types in the booklets:
- Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
- Spot the part of the sentence that has a grammatical error, with "No error" as the fifth option.
- Choose the word nearest in meaning to a given word.
- Choose the word most opposite in meaning to a given word.
- Questions based on a passage, to test comprehension.
Our study checklist (not from SBI):
- Grammar for error spotting: subject-verb agreement, tenses, articles, prepositions, pronouns, modifiers, parallel structure.
- Vocabulary: synonyms, antonyms, words in context, common phrasal verbs and idioms.
- Sentence-level work: fill in the blanks (single and double), sentence improvement, sentence rearrangement.
- Passage-level work: reading comprehension, cloze test, para jumbles.
Mains has 40 English questions in 35 minutes against 30 in 20 minutes in Prelims, so the Mains paper leaves more room for passages. That is our reading of the timings, not an SBI statement.
Numerical Ability (Prelims) and Quantitative Aptitude (Mains)
What SBI says. Both booklets describe the test the same way: it is "designed to measure how fast and accurate you are in dealing with numbers, viz. computation, quantitative reasoning, interpretation of tables and graphs etc."
Sample question types in the booklets:
- A table of data (for example, candidates classified by written marks and interview marks) with several questions on it.
- Short arithmetical reasoning questions: cost of several items at a unit price, divisibility by 4, cost price from a selling price and profit.
- A table of percentages with questions on reading and converting them into numbers.
- The booklet adds that there may be questions based on graphs and tables.
Our study checklist (not from SBI):
- Computation: simplification, approximation, BODMAS, fractions and decimals, squares, cubes and roots.
- Number sense: divisibility, LCM and HCF, number series, quadratic comparisons.
- Arithmetic: percentage, ratio and proportion, average, ages, profit and loss, simple and compound interest, time and work, pipes and cisterns, time, speed and distance, boats and streams, mixtures, partnership.
- Data interpretation: tables, bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts and caselets, including percentage change and ratio questions on them.
- Mensuration basics and simple probability, at a lighter weight.
Speed is part of the syllabus here in a real sense. SBI's own description stresses "how fast and accurate", and Prelims allows about 34 seconds per question (arithmetic from 35 questions in 20 minutes). No calculator is permitted.
Reasoning Ability (Prelims) and Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude (Mains)
What SBI says. The booklet calls it "a test to see how well you can think and also to judge your aptitude/knowledge for working with computer", and says it contains questions of various kinds.
Sample question types in the booklets:
- Odd one out among five words or letter groups.
- Analogies of the form A : B :: C : ?
- Forming a meaningful word from the letters of a given word under a rule.
- Drawing a definite inference from two short statements.
- Symbols standing for arithmetic operations, and choosing the expression that represents a given calculation.
- Deciding which further information is needed to answer a question (data sufficiency).
- Two statements followed by two conclusions (syllogism).
Our study checklist (not from SBI):
- Verbal and analytical reasoning: classification, analogy, alphabet and number series, coding and decoding, syllogism, inequalities, blood relations, direction and distance, order and ranking.
- Arrangement and puzzles: linear and circular seating, floor and box puzzles, scheduling, comparison puzzles.
- Data sufficiency and input-output (more likely in Mains).
- Statement-based reasoning: assumptions, conclusions, inferences and courses of action.
Computer Aptitude (Mains). SBI gives no list of computer topics. The booklet's only statement is that the test judges "aptitude/knowledge for working with computer", and its sample questions for this test are reasoning questions. Our checklist, clearly ours: computer fundamentals (hardware, software, memory, input and output devices), operating system basics, common office software, internet, email and browser basics, networking terms, keyboard shortcuts, cyber security and safe banking practices, and common abbreviations. Because the test is combined with reasoning, SBI does not say how many of the 50 questions are on computers, and we do not guess a split.
General/Financial Awareness (Mains only)
What SBI says. "This test is intended to give an index of your awareness of people and events past and present in different walks of life."
Sample question types in the booklet: which institution introduced the Know Your Customer scheme; which sector contributes most to state income growth; a question on poverty figures by state; a question on a person associated with a national programme and a civilian award.
Two things follow from those samples, in our reading. First, banking and the economy are central. Second, the phrase "past and present" means static facts sit alongside current events.
Our study checklist (not from SBI):
- Banking awareness: the Reserve Bank of India and its functions, types of banks, types of accounts and deposits, KYC, negotiable instruments, payment systems (NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, UPI), financial inclusion schemes, priority sector lending, non-performing assets, basic banking terms and abbreviations.
- Financial awareness: monetary policy and its rates, inflation measures, the Union Budget in outline, financial markets and their regulators (SEBI, IRDAI, PFRDA, NABARD, SIDBI), insurance and pension basics.
- Current affairs of roughly the last six months: economy and banking news, government schemes, appointments, awards, sports, summits, reports and indices, important days. The six-month window is a common working rule among candidates, not an SBI rule.
- Static general knowledge: headquarters of banks and international organisations, currencies and capitals, national parks, dams and important books and authors.
- State Bank of India itself: its history in outline, its subsidiaries and its digital products. This is our suggestion, since the post is about customer support and sales in SBI.
Local language
The Local Language Proficiency Test is not a syllabus subject in the usual sense. It checks that you can read, write, speak and understand the language of the state you applied for, through passages with objective and subjective questions and a verbal test. You are exempt if your Class 10 or Class 12 mark sheet shows that you studied the language. If you are applying outside your home state, this is the part to take seriously early. The advertisement says a candidate who fails it is not offered appointment. Details are on the exam pattern page.
Prelims and Mains: what overlaps and what does not
| Area | Prelims | Mains |
|---|---|---|
| English | Yes, 30 questions | Yes, 40 questions |
| Numerical / Quantitative | Yes, 35 questions | Yes, 50 questions |
| Reasoning | Yes, 35 questions | Yes, within a 50-question, 60-mark test |
| Computer aptitude | No | Yes, combined with reasoning |
| General/Financial Awareness | No | Yes, 50 questions |
Three of the four Mains tests build on Prelims subjects. The fourth, General/Financial Awareness, is 50 of the 200 Mains marks, and Prelims does not test it at all. Since only Mains marks count in the merit list, it is the part of the syllabus most often started too late. See preparation strategy.
Practise the syllabus
A free 10-question mini-mock lets you try the format, and the Daily Dangal quiz is free too. Full Prelims-pattern mocks, previous-year papers and topic-wise practice are Pro; the SBI Clerk series is listed under banking exams.
What this page does not have
- An official topic list. SBI does not publish one, so none is reproduced. The checklists above are ours.
- An official split between reasoning and computer questions in the combined Mains test, or between banking, current affairs and static questions in General/Financial Awareness. SBI does not give one.
- Topic-wise weightage from past papers. SBI does not release its question papers as public documents, and we do not present recalled or memory-based counts as official.
- The Mains booklet for Advertisement 17 itself. It was not on the careers page as of 13 November 2026; the Mains descriptions here are from the booklet for the special drive of the same year.
- The syllabus of the local language test beyond the passage-and-question pattern in the advertisement.
Related: Exam pattern · Cut-offs · Preparation strategy