Dear PaGaLGuY readers,

The SBI PO preliminary exam 2015 is just around the corner and all of you must be in your last stage of preparation. As we all know, starting this year, the State Bank of India has changed the pattern of the Probationary Officer (PO) written exam and introduced a preliminary exam. As a result, candidates are quite curious (and concerned) about the likely qualifying marks required to clear this exam. 

Before we look at the likely qualifying marks, let us quickly summarise the pattern of the SBI PO 2015 Preliminary exam. This 1-hour exam will consist of 100 objective questions (worth 100 marks) spread across 3 sections. The 3 sections are as follows:

1. English Language – 30 Qs           30 marks

2. Quantitative Aptitude – 35 Qs       35 marks

3. Reasoning – 35 Qs                       35 marks

Now, let us look at the qualifying marks for previous years’ SBI – PO phase-I exams. 

Year                            Qualifying marks (out of 200)

2014                               General : 80

                                       OBC : 70

                                       SC/ST : 60

2013                               General : 80

                                       OBC : 70

                                       SC/ST : 70

2011                               General : 86

                                       OBC : 74

                                       SC/ST : 70

As you can see, the qualifying marks has hovered between 80- 86 marks out of 200 marks. In fact, there has been some reduction in the qualifying marks year-by-year. Keeping this in mind, as the new exam comprises 100 questions for 100 marks, we can conclude that the qualifying marks for this year’s exam will not be more than around 40 marks (for general category candidates), i.e. around half of the 2014 qualifying marks.

It must also be noted that a higher number of candidates are likely to clear the prelims this year than the number of candidates who cleared the Phase I exam last year. Candidates who cleared the Phase I exam last year were called for the interview whereas candidates who clear the prelims this year would have to appear for another round of written test (the Main exam). 

Another point to note is that, with the reduction in the duration of the exam, the time factor has become more important. In any exam, candidates end up spending at least the first 5 to 10 mins merely getting a sense of the test. These 5 to 10 mins would hardly yield many marks. Thus, candidates would effectively end up with just 50-55 mins for actually solving the test. 

Similarly, the reduction in the number of questions means that candidates would have far fewer questions to choose from. 

Hence, if the level of difficulty of this year’s prelims is comparable to the level of difficulty of last year’s Phase I exam, then the expected qualifying marks/cutoff marks for the prelims is likely to be around 40 (for general category candidates). There is some chance that this cutoff may decrease but it is relatively unlikely to go up.

All the Best!

To download our Model Papers for SBI PO Prelims 2015, click on the following links:

https://testing.pagalguy.com/articles/sbi-po-2015-prelims-tier-i-model-paper-33258691

https://testing.pagalguy.com/articles/sbi-po-2015-prelims-tier-i-model-paper-2-33794259

To view the article regarding the Test taking strategy for SBI PO 2015 Prelims, click on the following link :

https://testing.pagalguy.com/articles/sbi-po-2015-prelims-the-rush-hour-34411684