SBI PO Prelims result 2026 out for 1,500 posts: What next, Mains exam pattern, selection process

The State Bank of India (SBI) has released the Probationary Officer (PO) Preliminary Examination 2026 result for recruitment to 1,500 posts. Candidates who have qualified in the preliminary examination have been shortlisted for the next stage of the selection process, the SBI PO Mains examination.

The prelims result is available on the official SBI website in roll number-wise format. The SBI PO Preliminary Examination was conducted on August 1 and 2. The recruitment process will now move to the Main Examination, which is tentatively scheduled for September 12, 2026.

Candidates shortlisted for Mains are now awaiting the release of admit cards. The Main Examination will be conducted online. It will have an objective test of 200 marks and a descriptive test of 50 marks. The objective paper will be conducted for three hours, with separate timings for each section.

The descriptive test will follow immediately after the objective examination and candidates will have to type their answers on the computer. The descriptive test will carry 50 marks and will have a duration of 30 minutes.

It will test communication skills through tasks such as email writing, report writing, situation analysis and précis writing. Candidates should note that the marks obtained in the preliminary examination will not be added to the final merit list.

The Main Examination and the subsequent Phase III scores will determine the final selection. Candidates who meet the required Main Examination criteria will be shortlisted for the final phase, which includes a psychometric test, group exercise and personal interview.

For final selection, SBI will consider the Main Examination and Phase III performance after normalisation. The Main Examination carries 75 marks after conversion, while the Group Exercise and Interview together carry 25 marks, making the final merit score 100.

With the Mains examination approaching, candidates who have cleared Prelims should shift their preparation towards banking and economic awareness, data interpretation, reasoning, computer aptitude and descriptive writing.

The Mains stage carries significantly greater weight in the final selection and should therefore be treated as the main focus from now on.