SBI Clerk | 2025
SBI Clerk Prelims 2025: topic weightage and difficulty analysis
100 questions across 3 sections. Overall difficulty: easy.
SBI runs the Junior Associate Preliminary examination across several shifts on different days, with a different paper in each and normalisation applied across them. The section structure below (30 English, 35 Numerical Ability and 35 Reasoning for 100 marks in 60 minutes, with a separate 20-minute clock per section) is from the official advertisement and is the same in every shift. The topic-level counts are our own compilation from candidate reports across shifts, not official data, so treat them as the typical shape of the paper rather than a record of one sitting. No question text is reproduced anywhere on this page.
Where the questions came from
Sorted by weightage, so the topics worth the most preparation time are at the top of each section.
English Language
English Language
A realistic target for a strong candidate: 23 to 27 attempts. This is our own guidance, not an official figure.
| Topic | Questions | Share of the section |
|---|---|---|
| Reading comprehension A single short passage, usually easier and more literal than the officer-cadre version. | 20%6 Moderate | |
| Cloze test | 17%5 Easy | |
| Error detection and sentence correction | 17%5 Easy | |
| Para jumbles | 17%5 Easy | |
| Sentence and phrase fillers | 17%5 Easy | |
| Word usage and vocabulary | 13%4 Easy |
Numerical Ability
Quantitative Aptitude
A realistic target for a strong candidate: 24 to 28 attempts. This is our own guidance, not an official figure.
| Topic | Questions | Share of the section |
|---|---|---|
| Simplification and approximation The largest block in a clerical paper and the fastest marks in it. Raw calculation speed matters more than technique here. | 29%10 Easy | |
| Data interpretation Usually two straightforward sets, a table and a bar or pie chart, lighter than the officer papers. | 29%10 Moderate | |
| Number series Missing number series is the common format. | 14%5 Easy | |
| Quadratic equations | 14%5 Easy | |
| Arithmetic word problems Percentage, average, ages, profit and loss and interest, one or two questions each. | 14%5 Moderate |
Reasoning Ability
Reasoning Ability
A realistic target for a strong candidate: 26 to 30 attempts. This is our own guidance, not an official figure.
| Topic | Questions | Share of the section |
|---|---|---|
| Puzzles and seating arrangement Three or four sets, simpler than the officer papers, often a linear arrangement, a day or month based puzzle and a small box puzzle. | 43%15 Moderate | |
| Inequality | 14%5 Easy | |
| Syllogism | 14%5 Easy | |
| Coding and alphanumeric series | 14%5 Easy | |
| Blood relations and direction sense | 9%3 Easy | |
| Order and ranking | 6%2 Easy |
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What this means for your preparation
The clerical Preliminary paper is easier than the officer one and rewards attempting more questions accurately rather than solving hard sets. The candidate who finishes the easy blocks fully beats the one who chases the toughest puzzle.
Numerical Ability is led by simplification, not data interpretation. Ten or more marks come from pure calculation, so drilling tables, squares and fraction-to-percentage conversions pays off directly.
No calculator is provided and none is allowed, so speed on mental arithmetic is the single biggest lever in this section.
The sectional clock is twenty minutes with no return, so decide your time budget per section before you begin.
There is a quarter-mark penalty. With the paper this attemptable, accuracy rather than coverage is what separates candidates, so guess only after eliminating two options.
Prelims only screens for the Main examination, and the Main decides everything since there is no interview. Qualify here with margin and move your real effort to the Main paper.
See the real paper, officially
- SBI careers portal
Call letters, results and the candidate login are published here. The Preliminary result is shown as qualified or not, and cut-offs are state-wise; SBI releases marks later in the process.
Common questions
- Can I download the SBI Clerk Preliminary Examination 2025 question paper?
- Not from this site. In India an exam question paper is a copyright work owned by the conducting body, and reproducing it commercially is infringement. What you can do is view your own paper and responses through the official portal during the objection window after the exam, and the links to do that are on this page.
- Are these topic counts exact?
- No, and we would rather say so. The exam runs across multiple shifts with a different paper in each, and the conducting body does not publish a topic-wise breakdown. The section structure, marks and timing are official. The topic counts are our compilation from candidate reports and describe the typical shape of the paper.
- How should I use a weightage analysis?
- To decide what to study next and what to skip. If one block is a third of a section, practising it has several times the payoff of a topic that carries two questions. It also tells you which questions to leave in the exam itself, which matters more than most candidates think.