For a full-time aspirant, 6-8 focused hours a day is a common, sustainable range. Working candidates can manage with 3-4 hours on weekdays and longer weekends. Questions solved matter more than hours.
There is no official number, and hours alone do not predict results. Six focused hours with a timer beat ten hours of reading notes. Use hours as a rough budget and measure progress by questions solved and mock accuracy.
Typical ranges
| Situation | Weekday hours | Weekend hours | Questions a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time aspirant | 6-8 | 6-8 + mock | 120-180 |
| College student | 3-4 | 6 | 60-100 |
| Working full-time | 2.5-3.5 | 6-8 | 50-80 |
How to split the hours
- Quant: 35-40% of your time until Prelims. Speed comes only from daily practice.
- Reasoning: 30-35%, most of it on puzzles and seating.
- English: 15-20%, including one RC passage daily.
- GA and computer: start at 30-60 minutes a day from your second month, then increase after Prelims.
Signs you are studying too much or too little
If your accuracy drops late in the day, or you are reading the same page three times, take a break; extra hours are not helping. If you miss your daily question target three days in a row, you need more time or a simpler plan.
Build up the hours gradually
If you are not used to long study days, do not jump to eight hours in week one. Start at 4-5 focused hours and add about an hour a week. A sample full-time week once you are settled:
- Monday to Friday: 6-7 hours of topic practice and one sectional test
- Saturday: full mock, 90 minutes of analysis, 2-3 hours on the weakest topic from the mock
- Sunday: mistake book, GA revision, and a half day off
Rules can change with each notification. Confirm on sbi.bank.in/web/careers.
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