Category: Exam Corner

If you are looking to download sample question papers for Probationary Officers (including rural) recruitment exam meant for Main and Associates Banks of State Bank of India, then this post is going to help you a lot.

Successful candidates in the recruitment process are entitled to get a job in following banks:

• SBI Main
• State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (SBBJ)
• State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH)
• State Bank of Mysore (SBM)
• State Bank of Patiala (SBP)
• State Bank of Travancore (SBT)

Note: Keep in mind that the written exam for main and associate banks are conducted separately.

Written Exam Structure

UPDATE: State Bank of India has changed the pattern of their recruitment exam completely from year 2015 (2015-2016). Now there will be 2 phases in the selection procedure viz. Phase I: Preliminary Exam and Phase II: Main Exam. The details for both the phases are as follows:

Phase I: Preliminary Exam

This paper will be conducted online (computer based test) and it will consists of following 3 sections:

• English Language: This section will contain 30 questions and total marks allotted to this section is 30.
• Quantitative Aptitude: This section will contain 35 questions and total marks allotted to this section is 35.
• Reasoning Ability: This section will contain 35 questions and total marks allotted to this section is 35.

The total duration for the preliminary exam will be 1 hour and candidates are required to qualify this exam by securing passing marks (will be decided by the bank). Candidates who qualifies the preliminary exam will be short listed to appear in the Main Exam i.e. Phase II.

Phase II: Main Exam

Main exam of the recruitment process will consist of Objective Test and Descriptive test. The objective test will be of 200 marks and the descriptive test will be of 50 marks. Keep in mind that both the tests will be conducted online (computer based test). You are also required to type the answer of descriptive test on computer only, so make sure you improve your typing speed.

The duration for the Objective Test is 120 minutes (2 Hours) and it will contain following 4 Sections with 50 marks each (total 200 marks):

• English Language (Grammar, Vocabulary, Comprehension etc.)
• General Awareness, Marketing and Computers.
• Data Analysis and Interpretation.
• Reasoning (High Level).

Note: There will be sectional as well as overall Cut Off for above mentioned test, which will be decided by the bank.

Descriptive Test:

This test will be of 60 minutes (1 hour) duration and will contain 50 marks. This section will test your English Writing Skills like on comprehension, précis writing, letter writing, essay etc. on computer. The bank will decide the passing marks for this section at a later stage.

Note: This test will only be evaluated if you pass the objective test of the main examination first.

Syllabus

You can check the tentative syllabus for preliminary as well as main exam of SBI here.

Sample Question Papers

Paper 1

This paper contains following sections:

• General Awareness: 50 Questions.
• English: 50 Questions.
• Reasoning: 75 Questions.
• Mathematics: 50 Questions.

You can download the paper from here (hosted on MediaFire)

Paper 2

This paper contains following sections:

• English: 2 Parts (50 Questions in each part).
• Reasoning: 2 Parts (75 Questions in Part 1 and 100 in Part 2).
• Quantitative Aptitude (includes Data Analysis and Interpretation): 2 Parts (50 Questions in Part 1 and 40 in Part 2).

You can download the paper from here (hosted on MediaFire)

Note: The above files are in PDF Format and will open with any version of Adobe Reader. Also, only use Winrar for extracting the files, as they are highly compressed.

Recommended Books

Following books can help you a lot in your exam preparation:

• Quantitative Aptitude by R S Agarwal
• A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning by R S Agarwal
• How to Crack the SBI PO Exam by Arihant
• Success Master SBI PO Pariksha by Arihant (for Hindi Medium Students)

Important Notes:

• Refer to original notification for exact paper pattern. Total number of questions and complete section pattern may vary.
• Above sample papers are actually old previous year banking question papers. They are for your practise only and don’t rely solely on them. Make sure you refer above mentioned books so that you can build proper concepts for the exam and practise exercises given in the book.

If you are looking to download Sample Question Paper for upcoming Bank Common Written Examination (CWE), conducted by Institute of Banking Personnel Selection for recruitment in clerk position in various Public Sector Banks in India, then this post is going to help you a lot.

List of Participating Banks

• Allahabad Bank
• Andhra Bank
• Bank of Baroda
• Bank of India
• Bank of Maharashtra
• Bharatiya Mahila Bank
• Canara Bank
• Central Bank of India
• Corporation Bank
• Dena Bank
• Indian Bank
• Indian Overseas Bank
• Oriental Bank of Commerce
• Punjab National Bank
• Punjab & Sind Bank
• Syndicate Bank
• Union Bank of India
• United Bank of India
• UCO Bank
• Vijaya Bank

Note: Make sure you also check the EXACT list of all participating banks in the original notification,

Written Exam Structure & Syllabus

Name of Objective Test	Maximum Marks
English	40
Reasoning	40
Numerical Ability	40
General Awareness (with special reference to Banking Industry)	40
Computer Knowledge	40
Total	200

• The paper will be conducted ONLINE at candidate’s allotted exam center.
• The duration for the test consisting of Reasoning, English, Quantitative Aptitude (Numerical Ability), General Awareness and Computer Knowledge will be 120 Minutes (2 Hours).
• All the above sections, except English, will be available in both English and Hindi (bilingually).
• There will be Negative Marking for incorrect answers. For each wrong answer 0.25 (one fourth) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted to arrive at the final score. If a question is not attempted i.e. no answer is marked by the candidate, then there will be no penalty.

You can check the Syllabus here

Note: Make sure to check the EXACT written examination structure and other details in the original notification.

Sample Question Paper

The paper which you are going to download consists of the following main sections:

English:

• Part 1 – 40 Questions.
• Part 2, 3, 4 and 5 – 50 Questions.

Numerical Ability:

• Part 1 and 4 – 40 Questions.
• Part 2, 3 and 5 – 50 Questions.

Reasoning:

• Part 1 and 2 – 40 Questions.
• Part 3 – 100 Questions (also includes Clerical Aptitude section).

You can download the paper using following link(s):

MediaFire

OR

Copy.com

The above file is in PDF Format and will open with any version of Adobe Reader.

Recommended Books:

Following books will also help you in your exam preparation:

• Quantitative Aptitude by R S Agarwal
• A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning by R S Agarwal
• 20 Practice Sets with CD
• Success Master by Arihant
• Sampurna Pustak Banking Jagrukta by Arihant (for Hindi Medium Students)

If you are looking for Sample Question Paper for upcoming Common Written Examination (CWE) conducted by Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, then this post is going to help you a lot.

The Paper featured here will be useful for aspirants who are aspiring for the post of Probationary Officer and Management Trainee in various Public Sector Banks in India.

List of Participating Banks

• Allahabad Bank
• Andhra Bank
• Bank of Baroda
• Bank of India
• Bank of Maharashtra
• Bharatiya Mahila Bank
• Canara Bank
• Central Bank of India
• Corporation Bank
• Dena Bank
• Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC)
• IDBI Bank
• Indian Bank
• Indian Overseas Bank
• Oriental Bank of Commerce
• Punjab National Bank
• Punjab & Sind Bank
• Syndicate Bank
• Union Bank of India
• United Bank of India
• UCO Bank
• Vijaya Bank

Note: Make sure you also check the EXACT list of all participating banks in the original notification.

Written Exam Structure & Syllabus

Name of Test	Maximum Marks
Reasoning	50
English Language	40
Quantitative Aptitude	50
General Awareness (with special reference to Banking Industry)	40
Computer Knowledge	20
Total	200

• The paper will be conducted ONLINE at candidate’s allotted exam center.
• The duration for the objective test will be 120 Minutes (2 Hours).
• All the above sections (except English) viz. Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude, General Awareness and Computer Knowledge will be available in both English and Hindi (bilingually).
• There will be Negative Marking for incorrect answers. For each wrong answer 0.25 (one fourth) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted to arrive at the final score. If a question is not attempted i.e. no answer is marked by the candidate, then there will be no negative marking.

You can check the Syllabus here

Note: Also check the EXACT written examination structure and paper pattern in the original notification.

Sample Question Paper

The paper which you are going to download consists of following main sections:

• English – 2 Parts (50 objective type questions in each)
• Reasoning – 2 Parts (75 questions in Part 1 and 100 in Part 2)
• Mathematics – 2 Parts (50 questions in Part 1 and 40 in Part 2)

You can download the paper using This Link (Hosted securely on Copy.com)

Note: The file is in PDF Format and will open with any version of Adobe Reader.

Recommended Books:

Following books can be considered very useful in your preparations:

• Quantitative Aptitude by R S Agarwal
• A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning by R S Agarwal
• Success Master by Arihant

All the Best!

If you are aspiring for Probationary Officer, Management Trainee or Clerk posts in State Bank of India and other banks which comes under IBPS exam, then following is a detailed syllabus for the same.

Make sure you check out IMPORTANT NOTES at the bottom of this post.

Reasoning

Verbal

• Alphabet Test: Alphabetical order of words, Letter-word Problem, Alphabetical Quibble and Word Formation using Letters of a Given Word.
• Series Test: Number insertion, Wrong Number Series and Having Two Series.
• Mathematical Operations: Problem Solving by substitution and Deriving Appropriate Conclusions.
• Analogy: Completing the analogous pair and Direct or Simple Analogy
• Syllogism or Venn Diagram
• Classification: Choosing the odd word; odd pair of words; odd numerals; odd numeral pair or group and odd letter group.
• Coding and Decoding: Based on Order and Substitution, Number-Symbol Coding, Substitution of Words and Deciphering Number and Symbol Codes for Message.
• Blood Relation: Statement based and Symbol Statement Relationship
• Number, Ranking and Time Sequence Test
• Cause & Effect
• Analytical Reasoning
• Direction Sense Test: Based on Final Direction, Displacement and Miscellaneous.
• Sitting Arrangement: In a circle, table and row
• Input-Output: Arranging given numbers in forward or reverse alphabetical order, arranging the given words or alphabets as per dictionary and changing places of words or numbers according to a set pattern.
• Decision Making: To find eligibility of a candidate and to find a category.
• Statement and Assumptions: Two and Three assumption based questions
• Statement and Arguments: Two and more than two Arguments based questions
• Statement and Course of Action: Two and Three Courses of Action based
• Passage and Conclusion Test
• Assertion and Reason

Non-verbal

• Series Test: Five figure series (based on Rotation, Addition & Deletion and Replacement & Rearrangement), Choosing the missing figure in a series, Detecting the incorrect order in a series and Detecting the odd figure in a series.
• Odd Figures: Choosing the odd figure and Pair of odd figures.
• Analogy: Choosing one element of a similarly Related Pair, Set of similarly Related Figures and Detecting one element of each of the two Related Pairs.

English Language

• Questions based on Comprehension or Passage
• Spelling Check: There can be certain questions on American and British Spellings. In India people primarily speak British English.
• Antonyms and Synonyms
• Choosing the appropriate filler: Fill in the blank with correct sentence.
• Double Blanks in A Sentence: Fill in the blanks with correct words (vocabulary based)
• Choosing the appropriate word
• Cloze Test: A passage is given and there are 10 or 12 blanks in it. Fill in the blanks by using proper grammatical word or vocabulary.
• Ordering of Sentences OR Jumbled Up Sentences
• Phrase Substitution
• Spotting Errors (based on Grammar): Use of A and An, Zero Article Position, Tense and its sequence, Noun, Pronouns, Infinite / Participle / Gerund, Prepositions, Correlative Conjunctions, Determiners and Adjectives, Adverbs, Reported Speech and Interrogative Sentences, Subject Verb Agreement, Voices, UnEnglish & Superfluous Expressions and Unnecessary Wordiness.

Quantitative Aptitude

• Basic Arithmetic: Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division
• Number System
• Decimal Fractions
• Simplification: Complete BODMAS or BEDMAS or VBODMAS
• Square and Cube Roots
• Average
• Problem on Numbers, Ages and Train
• Surds and Indices
• Percentage
• Profit and Loss
• Ratio and Proportion
• Partnership
• Chain Rule
• Time and Work; Time, Speed and Distance
• Pipes and Cistern
• Boats and Streams
• Alligation and Mixtures
• Simple and Compound Interests
• Logarithm
• Area, Volume and Surface Area
• Races and Games of Skills
• Calendar and Clocks
• Stocks and Shares
• Height and Distances
• Odd Man out and Series

Data Interpretation and Sufficiency:

• Problems based on: Number System, Decimal Fraction, Simplification, Ratio and Proportion, Percentage, Profit and Loss, Simple and Compound Interests, Average, Time and Work, Time, Distance and Speed and Mensuration.
• Permutations, Combinations and Probability
• Data Table: Information is given directly in the table or Information is meant to be extracted from given Table.
• Pie Charts: Problems involving Single and Multiple Pie Charts.
• Bar Graphs: Problems involving Single and Multiple graphs
• Line or Cartesian Graph
• Mixed Graphs: Collected data is represented by two or more than two data graphs. Mixed Graphs are very useful, when only one form of data representation is not sufficient to give true representation of facts.

Computer Knowledge

• Basics: What is a computer? What is data? What is data processing? What is information? What are computer instructions? What type of basic operations does a computer perform?
• Components of a Computer: Input unit, central processing unit (CPU), arithmetic and logic unit, control unit, memory (random access memory and read only memory), output unit.
• Software: System software, application software and utility software.
• Historical overview of computer
• Computer Generations: Year, switching device used, storage device used, speed, language, operating system and applications.
• Types of computers: Analog computer, digital computer, hybrid computer, microcomputer, personal computer, minicomputer, mainframe computer, supercomputer.
• Hardware: Motherboard, Electrical Supply Unit, Video Display Controller, Removable Media Devices, Secondary Storage, Sound Card and other peripherals.
• Input devices: Concept keyboard, track ball, joystick, digital camera, microphone, touch screen, video digital, scanner, graphic tablet, keyboard and mouse.
• Output devices: Monitor, printer, projector, sound card, speaker and video card.
• Programming Languages: High-level languages (BASIC, C, C++, COBOL, FORTRAN, ADA and Pascal), Machine language, assembly language and fourth generation language (4 GL).
• Program compilation and interpretation.
• Operating system: GUI, multi-user, multi-processing, multi-tasking, multi-threading, MS-DOS, characteristics of MS-DOS, file naming in DOS (primary and secondary name).
• Characteristics of word processor: Editing, permanent storage facility, formatting, graphics, find and replace, thesaurus, header and footer, page orientation, spell check, mail merge, bullets and numbering and tables.
• Word window: Title and Menu bar, standard and formatting tool bar, ruler, workspace, vertical scroll bar, horizontal scroll bar, drawing tool bar, status bar and short cut keys for MS Word.

• MS Excel: Worksheet, row number, column letter, cell, cell pointer, current cell, range of cell, work book, data in worksheet, formula, cell referencing, relative referencing, absolute referencing, mixed referencing, functions, structure, charts, area chart, column chart, bar charts, line chart and short cut keys of Microsoft Excel.

• MS Power Point.
• MS Access.
• DBMS and RDBMS.
• Database objects: Table, queries, forms, reports, data access page, macros, modules, short cut keys for opening database files, printing and saving, using combo and list boxes and finding/replacing text or data.
• Data communication and network
• Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN).
• What is topology? What are computer notes or link stations? What is star apology? What is bus topology? What is Ring topology?
• Internet: Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet protocol (IP), Hypertext markup language (HTML), Standard generalised markup language (SGML), World Wide Web (www), Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), uniform resource locator (URL), browser, file transfer protocol (FTP), modem, wide area information service (WAIS) etc.
• Information technology and its applications.
• Miscellaneous: Virus, ARPANET, Antivirus, Firewall etc.

Marketing Aptitude

• Basics: Definition of marketing, traditional meaning of marketing and its implications, modern meaning of marketing and its implications and features of modern marketing.
• Marketing concepts: Exchange, production, product, sales, phenomenon of marketing myopia, marketing concept, holistic marketing concept (relationship, integrated marketing, internal and social responsibility marketing).
• Difference between marketing and selling.
• Role of marketing in business and in society.
• Functions of marketing: Research, product planning and development, buying and assembling, packaging, standardisation and grading, branding, pricing and promotion of product, distribution, selling, storage and warehousing, transportation.
• Marketing mix elements: Controllable and non-controllable factors.
• Types of product: consumer And industrial.
• Product Mix
• Price: Product cost (Fixed, Variable and Semi-variable), the demand and utility of the product, pricing goals, method of marketing, degree of market competition and legal regulations.
• Place and Promotion.
• For new Ps of marketing mix: Participation, Peer to peer, Personalisation and Predictive modelling.
• Types of marketing environment: micro and macro (demographic, political, socio-culture, economic, natural, technological and legal).
• SWOT and PEST Analysis
• Advertising: Its characteristics, main objectives, types of media available, advantages and disadvantages.
• Difference between Advertising and Publicity.
• Differences between Advertising and Personal Selling.
• Manufacturer’s Brands: National, Regional, Advertising, Multiple and Blanket Brands.
• Distributor’s Brands: Private, store, dealer and house brands.
• Packaging and its classification.
• Labelling.
• Marketing in Banking: Saving account, fixed deposit account and current account.
• Difference between various types of bank accounts.
• Overdraft, financial market, difference between capital and money market.

IMPORTANT NOTES AND DISCLAIMER

1. Above is a GENERALIZED/TENTATIVE syllabus for PO, MT and Clerk Exam. It’s NOT an official syllabus from SBI or IBPS, but is created by referring to previous year papers, study material and books. DON’T take everything written above for granted, do your own research based on previous year papers and good books.

2. The level of difficulty of questions in PO and Clerk Exam varies.

3. Refer to Original Notification for Exact Paper Pattern.

4. Clerk recruitment exam may consist of Clerical Aptitude Questions (Not mentioned above).

5. The syllabus for General Awareness can’t be complied, as it is practically infinite!

6. We have tried our best to give you accurate syllabus, but we may have missed some topics during compilation. Feel free to Contact Us, in case there’s an error OR any topic is missing from above syllabus. All other requests and queries will be ignored.

Disclaimer: THE AUTHOR OR ADMINISTRATOR OF THIS SITE WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY PROBLEMS OR ERRORS WHICH MAY ARISE BECAUSE OF ABOVE SYLLABUS AND INSTRUCTIONS. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH.