Mains has 190 questions for 200 marks in 2 hours 40 minutes: General/Financial Awareness (50 Qs, 50 marks, 35 min), General English (40, 40, 35 min), Quantitative Aptitude (50, 50, 45 min) and Reasoning Ability and Computer Aptitude (50, 60, 45 min).
The Main exam decides your selection. Only your Mains aggregate is used for the final merit list. This is the pattern in the 2026 notification (CRPD/CR/2026-27/17), the same as in 2025.
| Section | Questions | Marks | Time | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General / Financial Awareness | 50 | 50 | 35 minutes | English, Hindi, regional* |
| General English | 40 | 40 | 35 minutes | English |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 50 | 45 minutes | English, Hindi, regional* |
| Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude | 50 | 60 | 45 minutes | English, Hindi, regional* |
| Total | 190 | 200 | 2 hours 40 minutes |
*The regional language option depends on the State/UT you applied for.
Rules for Mains
- Separate timing for each section, as shown.
- Negative marking of one-fourth of the marks for each wrong answer.
- Minimum aggregate: you must score a minimum percentage on the aggregate, decided by the Bank, with 5% relaxation for SC/ST/OBC/PwBD/XS/DXS candidates.
- No sectional minimum: no qualifying marks are prescribed for individual subjects, and section-wise marks are not maintained.
- Bonus for SBI apprentices: eligible trained SBI apprentices get 5 bonus marks (2.5% of 200) added to their aggregate.
Why 190 questions carry 200 marks
The Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude section has 50 questions but 60 marks, so questions in that section are weighted more than one mark each on average. The notification does not specify the split between reasoning and computer questions, so prepare both.
What to prepare for each section
- Financial Awareness: banking awareness, RBI and monetary policy, financial terms, government schemes and current affairs of the last six months or so.
- English: reading comprehension, cloze, error spotting, connectors, phrasal verbs and para jumbles.
- Quant: data interpretation and arithmetic carry the most weight.
- Reasoning & Computer: puzzles, logical reasoning, and computer basics, MS Office, networking and security.
- SBI Junior Associates 2026 detailed advertisement (CRPD/CR/2026-27/17)
- SBI Junior Associates 2025 detailed advertisement (CRPD/CR/2025-26/06)
- SBI JA 2026 Main Exam 'Acquaint Yourself' booklet (special drive)
Rules can change with each notification. Confirm on sbi.bank.in/web/careers.
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