SBI PO Exam Analysis 2023: All Sections Detailed Analysis

Rajalakshmi BK
Rajalakshmi BK

Updated on - Mar 18, 2024

SBI PO Exam Analysis 2023 for Mains exam was remarked to be moderate to difficult. The questions were from four sections, as mentioned in the syllabus. The English language was moderate. Reasoning and computer knowledge had more questions and were relatively difficult.

Data analysis and interpretation difficulty level was difficult. Banking awareness questions was moderately difficult. For a more comprehensive review of the SBI PO paper analysis 2023 and previous years, including the difficulty level, no. of good attempts, etc., students may review the page further.

Table of Contents

SBI PO Mains Exam Analysis 2023

Securing the role of Probationary Officer is a dream for many aspirants, and we advise all candidates to be very careful while filling in the SBI PO exam form 2023. The SBI PO Mains exams 2023 was conducted online and the overview is mentioned in the table.

SBI PO Mains Exam Objective Test Pre-Analysis 2023
Section Level of Examination Good Attempts
English Language Moderate 20-23
Reasoning Ability & Computer Knowledge
Moderate to Difficult
13-19
Data Analysis & Interpretation Moderate 15-18
General/Economy/Banking Awareness
Moderate 23-25
Descriptive Test Moderate

SBI PO Mains Exam Subject-wise Analysis 2023

The objective test subjects are listed below with a detailed analysis of the SBI PO Mains 2023 exam. It includes the total number of questions and the sections that appeared for each topic.

1) English Language (Total no. of questions - 35)

English Language
Topics No. of Questions No. of Attempts
Reading Comprehension (Information & Technology)
8 24-27
Reading Comprehension
8
Para Jumble (6 Statements)- Ne Pattern
5
Sentence Rearrangement- Old Pattern
2
Sentence Completion
3
Connectors & Word Swap
4
Error (Paragraph)
5

2) Computer Aptitude and Reasoning (Total no. of questions - 40)

Computer Aptitude and Reasoning
Topics No. of Questions No. of Attempts
Box Based Puzzle 5 19-21
Linear Seating Arrangement (Distance Based)
5
Uncertain Floor & Flat Based Puzzle
5
Machine Input-Output 5
Coded Syllogism 1
Step Based Series 1
Coded Blood Relation 4
Data Sufficiency (2 statements) 4
Logical Reasoning 5
Miscellaneous 5

3) Data Analysis and Interpretation (Total no. of questions - 30)

Data Analysis and Interpretation
Topics No. of Questions No. of Attempts
Data Sufficiency 3 16-18
Quadratic Equation (Variable Based) 2
Arithmetic 8
 Number Series 3
Stock-Based Data Interpretation- Investment- 6 Different Stocks 3
Caselet DI 2
Scattered DI 4
Tabular DI 3
 Hexagonal Data Interpretation 2

4) Banking/ General/ Economic Awareness (Total no. of questions - 35)

Banking/ General/ Economic Awareness
Topics No. of Questions Level of Examination
  • Banking Awareness
  • News related to Reserve Bank of India
  • Current Affairs – Questions can be asked from various fields such as: National, ∙ Financial Awareness (Union Budget/ Railway Budget)
  • Economics news
  • International, Awards, Sports, Defense, Summits, Appointment, Books & Authors and Obituary, etc. 
35 Moderate

SBI PO Mains Exam Descriptive Test Analysis 2023

The descriptive section of the SBI PO 2023 Mains Exam consisted of just two questions, which carried 50 marks each. The duration of answering the questions was 30 minutes. The sections under Descriptive writing included:

1) Letter Writing: Writing a letter of 150 words on the subject provided.

2) Essay Writing: Writing an essay on 150 words on the latest news or trending topics, as provided.

For the reference of candidates, the questions that were asked in the SBI PO Mains exam descriptive test are given below for letter writing and essay writing.

  1. Letter to the Branch Manager for the replacement of the lost cheque-book
  2. Letter to Branch Manager requesting more cash counters to reduce the long queues
  3. Letter to a Senior Colleague for guidance and advice regarding a good career.
  4. Essay on precautions to be taken with Internet Banking
  5. Essay on the Impact of e-commerce
  6. Essay on Financial Inclusion.

SBI PO Mains Exam Analysis 2022

The SBI PO Mains Exam 2022 was held on Jan 2, 2022. Aspirants are requested to look through the previous year SBI PO Mains exam analysis for 2022 to review the difficulty level and no. of good attempts required for high marks in the results. 

SBI PO Mains Exam Objective Test Pre-Analysis 2023
Section Level of Examination Good Attempts
English Language Moderate 22-24
Reasoning Ability & Computer Knowledge
Moderate
25-27
Data Analysis & Interpretation Moderate to Difficult 21-23
General/Economy/Banking Awareness
Moderate to Difficult 20-22
Descriptive Test Moderate

SBI PO Mains 2022 Exam Subject-wise Analysis

Mentioned below are the MCQ-based subjects with a detailed analysis of the SBI PO Mains 2022 exam. Total no. of questions, toughness level and optimum no. of good attempts have been tabulated section-wise.

1) English Language (Total no. of questions - 35)

English Language
Topics Level of Questions No. of Attempts
Reading Comprehension
12 22-24
Para Jumble
2-3
Cloze Test
5
Match the Column
5
Phrase Replacement
5-6
Word Arrangement
3
Error (Paragraph)
5

2) Computer Aptitude and Reasoning (Total no. of questions - 40)

Computer Aptitude and Reasoning
Topics No. of Questions No. of Attempts
Seating Arrangement and Puzzle Solving 20 25-27
Data Sufficiency 4
Syllogism 3-4
Machine Input-Output 7-8
Logical Reasoning 4-5

3) Data Analysis and Interpretation (Total no. of questions - 35)

Data Analysis and Interpretation
Topics No. of Questions No. of Attempts
Data Sufficiency 3 21-23
Data Interpretation 20
Missing Series 8
Miscellaneous (Arithmetic Problems) 7-8

SBI PO Mains Exam Pattern

The examination pattern for SBI PO Mains 2023 was divided into two parts, Objective and Descriptive. The entire test was held for 3 hours and carried 200 marks in total. Following the description is a table detailing the maximum marks per topic and the time duration allotted.

  • Objective Test: Consisting of multiple-choice questions in four sections - English language, Computer Aptitude and Reasoning, Data Analysis and Interpretation, Banking, General and Economic awareness.
  • Descriptive Test: In 30 minutes, the candidate has to write the descriptive test with two questions of 50 marks each. These essay type questions are to test the candidates writing ability and can also appear as a letter-writing question.
SBI PO Mains Exam Pattern
Topics No. of Questions Maximum Marks Time Duration
Data Analysis & Interpretation 35 60 45 minutes
Reasoning Ability 45 60 60 minutes
English Language 35 40 40 minutes
General & Banking Awareness 40 40 35 minutes
English (Descriptive Test) 2 50 30 minutes

SBI PO Prelims 2022 Exam Analysis 

 The SBI PO prelims exam 2022 was Dec 17, 18, 19, 20, 2022. Once the exam was conducted, the exam difficulty level and averaged no. of good attempts were analysed experts, coaching professionals and students to provide an insight into the SBI PO Prelims Paper Analysis 2022.

SBI PO Prelims 2022 Paper Analysis - Dec 20, 2022 (Shift 1)

Once the exam was conducted, consultations with teachers and coaching experts resulted in the analysis for the SBI PO prelims exam for Dec 20, 2022 - Shift 1 as the following:

SBI PO Prelims Exam Analysis 2022 - Shift 1
Sections Difficulty  Good Attempts
English Language Moderate 18-20
Quantitative Aptitude Moderate 20-22
Reasoning Aptitude Moderate 24-27

SBI PO Prelims 2022 Paper Analysis - Dec 20, 2022 (Shift 2)

After the shift 2 exam was conducted, teachers and coaching professionals were consultated for the analysis for the SBI PO prelims exam for Dec 20, 2022 as tabulated below:

SBI PO Prelims Exam Analysis 2022 - Shift 2
Sections Difficulty  Good Attempts
English Language Moderate 18-20
Quantitative Aptitude Moderate 20-22
Reasoning Aptitude Easy to Moderate 23-26

SBI PO Prelims 2022 Paper Analysis - Dec 20, 2022 (Shift 3)

The 3rd shift of the SBI PO prelims exam was examined and reviewed by students, teachers and experts. A general analysis of the difficulty level has been presented in the table below:

SBI PO Prelims Exam Analysis 2022 - Shift 3
Sections Difficulty  Good Attempts
English Language Moderate 21-23
Quantitative Aptitude Moderate 20-22
Reasoning Aptitude Easy to Moderate 22-24

SBI PO Prelims 2022 Paper Analysis - Dec 20, 2022 (Shift 4)

A group of teachers, coaching centre professionals and students came together to review the difficulty level of the SBI PO 2022 prelims exam for Shift 4 and overall no. of good attempts that will lead to a probably high scoring in the table below:

SBI PO Prelims Exam Analysis 2022 - Shift 4
Sections Difficulty  Good Attempts
English Language Moderate 21-23
Quantitative Aptitude Moderate 20-22
Reasoning Aptitude Moderate 22-24

SBI PO Exam Analysis 2022: Section-wise

SBI PO Exam Section-Wise Analysis 2022
Reasoning Aptitude Quantitative Aptitude English Language
  • Digit based (moderate): 1 question
  • Puzzle including Seating Arrangement (moderate): 23 Questions
  • Alphanumeric Series (moderate): 5 questions
  • Blood Relation (Easy to moderate): 3 to 4 questions
  • Chinese Coding/Decoding (moderate): 5 questions
  • Quadratic Equation (moderate): 5 questions
  • Arithmetic (moderate): 15 questions
  • Data Interpretation (easy to moderate): 10 questions
  • Approximation (easy to moderate): 5 questions
  • Error Detection (easy to moderate): 5 questions
  • Cloze Test (easy to moderate): 7 questions
  • Reading Comprehension (moderate): 10 questions
  • Match the Column (moderate): 5 questions
  • Miscallaneous (easy to moderate): 3 questions

SBI PO Prelims Exam Analysis 2021

After being cancelled for covid-19 at the start of 2021, SBI PO Prelims finally took place on Nov 27, 2021. After getting the feedback from the students, experts analyzed the exam and given below are the no of good attempts for each section. 

SBI PO Prelims Exam Analysis 2021
Sections Difficulty  Good Attempts
English Language Easy to Moderate 21-23
Quantitative Aptitude Moderate 19-21
Reasoning Aptitude Moderate 22-24

SBI PO Exam Analysis 2021: Section-wise

In the reasoning section and qualitative aptitude, as per the feedback was moderate. In contrast, the English section was easy. The detailed SBI PO exam analysis is as follows:

SBI PO Exam Section-Wise Analysis 2021
Reasoning Aptitude Quantitative Aptitude English Language
  • Syllogism (easy): 5 questions
  • Puzzle including Seating Arrangement(moderate): 24 Questions
  • Blood Relation (Easy to moderate): 3 to 4 questions
  • Word and Pair Formation( easy to moderate): 2 questions
  • Numerical Problems (moderate): 10 questions
  • Data Interpretation(moderate): 15 questions
  • Number Series ( moderate): 5 to 6 questions.
  • Error Detection ( easy): 4 questions
  • Para Jumbled( easy to moderate): 4 questions
  • Reading Comprehension( easy to moderate): 8 questions
  • Idioms (easy): 3 questions
  • Word Swap(easy): 5 questions
  • Double Fillers ( easy): 5 questions

SBI PO Prelims Exam Analysis 2020

The SBI PO prelims exam for 2020 was conducted on Dec 31, 2020 - Jan 2, 4, and 5, 2021. Each day has 4 exam slots for students to take part in.

The overall consensus is that the candidates that took part from across the country have mentioned that the paper was of easy to moderate level of difficulty.

There were 3 sections, as usual, Reasoning, Numerical Ability, and English Language. The number of good attempts and the difficulty level for each section is given below.

SBI PO Prelims Exam Analysis 2020
Section Difficulty-Level Good Attempts
English Language Easy 22-25
Numerical Ability Moderate 27-32
Reasoning Easy-Moderate 19-23

SBI PO Exam Analysis 2020: Section-wise

The number of questions asked from each section is as mentioned in the table below: 

SBI PO Exam Section-Wise Analysis 2020
Reasoning Aptitude Quantitative Aptitude English Language
  • Alphanumeric Series: 2 questions
  • Blood relations: 4 questions
  • Coding-Decoding: 3 questions
  • Direct Sense: 3 questions
  • Puzzles and Seating arrangement: 19 questions
  • Syllogism: 4 questions
  • Data Interpretation: 15 questions
  • Quadratic Equation: 5 questions
  • Missing Number Series: 5 questions
  • Miscellaneous: 10 questions
  • Cloze test: 5 questions
  • Error spotting: 6 questions
  • Jumbled sentence: 5 questions
  • Error Detection: 7 questions
  • Reading Comprehension: 5 questions
  • Sentence Formation-Match the Following: 2 questions

SBI PO Prelims Exam Analysis 2019

The SBI PO Prelims Exam was conducted from Jun 8 to Jun 16, 2019, which included 4 shifts for each day the exam was held. The analysis for the 2019 SBI PO Prelims Exam is as follows:

SBI PO Prelims Exam Analysis 2019
Section Level of difficulty
English Language Easy
Numerical Ability Moderate
Reasoning Moderate

SBI PO Exam Analysis 2019: Section-wise

In the English language, reasoning, and quantitative aptitude section for the SBI PO preliminary exam, the following questions were asked:

SBI PO Exam Section-Wise Analysis 2019
Reasoning Aptitude Quantitative Aptitude English Language
  • Alphanumeric Series: 2 questions
  • Blood relations: 3 questions
  • Coding-Decoding: 5 questions
  • Inequality: 5 questions
  • Puzzles and Seating arrangement: 15 questions
  • Syllogism: 5 questions
  • Data Interpretation: 10 questions
  • Quadratic equation 5 questions
  • Number series: 5 questions
  • Simplification: 5 questions
  • Miscellaneous: 10 questions
  • Cloze test: 5-6 questions
  • Error spotting: 5 questions
  • Jumbled sentence: 5 questions
  • Phase replacement: 4 questions
  • Reading Comprehension: 6-7 questions
  • Sentence Rearrangement: 5 questions

SBI PO Prelims Exam Analysis 2018

The SBI PO Prelims Exam was conducted from Jul 1 to Jul 8, 2018, which included 4 shifts for each day the exam was held. The analysis for the 2018 SBI PO Prelims Exam is as follows:

SBI PO Prelims Exam Analysis 2018
Section Level of difficulty
English Language Moderate
Numerical Ability Moderate
Reasoning Moderate

SBI PO Exam Analysis 2018: Section-wise

In the SBI PO preliminary exam, the following questions were asked:

SBI PO Exam Section-Wise Analysis 2018
Reasoning Aptitude Quantitative Aptitude English Language
  • Alphanumeric Series: 2-3 questions
  • Data sufficiency: 5 questions
  • Coding-Decoding: 5 questions
  • Inequality: 2-3 questions
  • Puzzles and Seating arrangement: 15-20 questions
  • Input-Output: 5 questions
  • Miscellaneous: 5-7 questions
  • Approximation: 5-6 questions
  • Arithmetic questions: 10-12 questions
  • Data Interpretation: 10-15 questions
  • Data Sufficiency: 4-5 questions
  • Quadratic equation: 4-5 questions
  • Number series: 4-5 questions
  • Quantity-based questions: 4-5 questions
  • Cloze test: 5-6 questions
  • Error spotting: 4-5 questions
  • Fillers: 5-6 questions
  • Phrase replacement: 5-6 questions
  • Reading Comprehension: 7-10 questions
  • Sentence Rearrangement: 5-6 questions
  • Sentence connector: 3-4 questions
  • Sentence completion: 3-4 questions
  • Sentence formation: 2-3 questions

SBI PO Prelims Exam Analysis 2017

The SBI PO Prelims Exam was conducted from Apr 29 to May 7, 2017, which included 4 shifts for each day the exam was held. The analysis for the 2017 SBI PO Prelims Exam is as follows:

SBI PO Prelims Exam Analysis 2017
Section Level of difficulty
English Language B/w Easy and Moderate
Numerical Ability B/w Easy and Moderate
Reasoning B/w Easy and Moderate

SBI PO Exam Analysis 2017: Section-wise

In the English language, the reasoning, and quantitative aptitude section was marked between easy to moderate. In the section-wise questions, the following was asked:

SBI PO Exam Section-Wise Analysis 2017
Reasoning Aptitude Quantitative Aptitude English Language
  • Direction sense: 1 question
  • Blood relations: 2 questions
  • Coding-Decoding: 1 question
  • Inequality: 5 questions
  • Puzzles and Seating arrangement: 23 questions
  • Order and Ranking: 3 questions
  • Approximation: 5 questions
  • Arithmetic questions: 10
  • Data Interpretation: 10 questions
  • Quadratic equation: 5 questions
  • Number series: 5 questions
  • Cloze test: 10 questions
  • Reading Comprehension: 10 questions
  • Sentence Improvement: 10 questions

SBI PO Prelims Exam Pattern

The SBI PO Prelims Exam is conducted online via a computer-based test. The candidates are required to finish the paper in an hour. The questions asked for the SBI Clerk prelims exam are multiple-choice based questions with a deduction of 0.25 marks for every wrong answer.

The marks would not be deducted if the candidates leave a question unanswered.

SBI PO Prelims Exam Pattern
Section Number of questions/Marks Duration (in minutes)
English Language 30 questions/30 marks 20
Numerical Ability 35 questions/35 marks 20
Reasoning 35 questions/35 marks 20
Total 100 questions/100 marks 60

The SBI PO preliminary exam is the first stage of the selection process for the post of Probationary Officer. By clearing the first stage, the candidates can move on to the preparation of the Mains exam.

With lakhs of candidates participating in the exam, the candidates have to work hard to land their dream job.

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