SBI apprentice exam pattern and syllabus for the online test

Selection stages at a glance

SBI engages apprentices for a one year training spell across its branches, and the hiring runs state by state. You may apply for only one state or union territory, and the vacancies, the language test and the final merit list are all worked out for that state.

1. Online written test: the 100 question paper broken down in the table below. This is where the ranking is made.
2. Test of local language: reading, writing, speaking and understanding whichever state language applies to the region picked in your form. If your class 10 or class 12 mark sheet or certificate shows you studied that language, you are exempted.
3. Document verification and medical examination: eligibility papers, category certificates and a fitness check before you join.

A strong written score is lost if the language round goes badly, so candidates picking a state other than their own should prepare for it seriously.

SBI apprentice exam pattern: section table

• Every question is multiple choice and only one right choice.
• Each incorrect response has cost one quarter of that item's mark in recent rounds; an unanswered question costs nothing.
• The medium of the paper and any regional language options are stated in each advertisement.

General and financial awareness topics

This is the section that separates the apprentice paper from most clerk prelims, which skip general awareness at the first stage. Expect banking terms mixed with ordinary current affairs.

• Banking basics: types of accounts, cheques, KYC, NEFT, RTGS, IMPS and UPI, priority sector lending, NPAs
• RBI and monetary policy: repo and reverse repo, CRR, SLR, inflation targeting, who regulates what
• Financial institutions and markets: SEBI, NABARD, SIDBI, insurance and pension regulators, stock exchanges
• Union Budget and economy terms: fiscal deficit, GDP, GST basics
• Government schemes on financial inclusion, credit and social security
• News from about the previous six months: appointments, awards, sports, summits, banking mergers and new rules

General English topics

• Reading comprehension, usually one or two passages testing inference, tone and word meaning
• Cloze passages and single blank vocabulary items
• Picking out the grammatically faulty chunk, and swapping in a better phrase
• Putting jumbled sentences of a paragraph in order
• Word meanings, opposites and misspelt words

English questions in this paper sit at about the same level as a bank clerk prelim, so the grammar you need is the everyday kind: subject verb agreement, tenses, articles, prepositions and the correct form of common words.

Quantitative aptitude and reasoning with computer topics

Quantitative aptitude

• Approximate values and BODMAS simplification
• Number series (missing and wrong number)
• Number system, percentage, ratio and averages
• Shopkeeper sums on cost price, marked price and discount; SI and CI on deposits and loans
• Pipes, work, trains, boats and average speed
• Mensuration basics
• Data interpretation with tables, bar and pie charts

Reasoning ability and computer aptitude

• Seating arrangement and puzzles
• Syllogism and inequalities
• Coded words, family trees and direction puzzles
• Alphanumeric series, ordering and ranking
• Input output and analogy
• Computer aptitude: input and output devices, software types, memory units, operating systems, MS Office, internet and networking terms, shortcuts and security basics

The reasoning and computer topics share one block of 25 questions, so computer awareness typically gets only a handful of them. Learn the fixed facts once and spend the rest of your time on puzzles.

Where the marks come from and what to cover first

With every section worth exactly 25 marks, there is no single heavy subject. The difference lies in how fast each section can be scored. Financial awareness and the computer questions are pure recall and take seconds each, so revision there converts straight into marks. Simplification, series and inequalities are quick wins in the aptitude sections. Long puzzles, data interpretation sets and reading passages take the most time per mark.

A sensible order is: banking awareness notes and current affairs from day one (they need repetition, not intensity), then speed work in arithmetic, then reasoning puzzles, with English practised daily in small doses.

A ten week study plan for this paper

For books, school level NCERT mathematics is enough for the arithmetic concepts, and RBI publications and the official notification are the safest base for banking terms. Any standard bank clerk guide covers the rest.

Eligibility and the local language test in brief

Any bachelor's degree recognised in India works, as long as you hold it on the cut off day that SBI announces. Unreserved applicants must fall within ages is 20 through 28. SC or ST applicants may be 5 years older, OBC (non creamy layer) applicants 3 years older, and PwBD applicants 10 years older (13 or 15 when combined with OBC or SC/ST). The notification also lists who cannot apply, such as people who have already done an apprenticeship, so read that part before paying the fee.

In the language round, examiners look at whether you can handle the state's language in all four skills. If your schooling covered that language, keep the class 10 or 12 document ready to claim the exemption.

Planning more than one SBI exam? Set this paper beside our clerk guide and the PO guide to see how much of your preparation carries over, or browse all bank exams.