SBI PO Cut-Off: Year-Wise Prelims and Mains Marks

SBI PO is considered the gold standard of banking recruitment exams in India. State Bank of India, being the largest public sector bank, attracts the best banking aspirants. The competition is noticeably stiffer than IBPS PO — not just in the number of candidates but in the quality of competition. SBI PO cut-offs reflect this premium consistently.

If you are targeting SBI PO 2026, this cut-off analysis will help you set realistic score goals across all three stages of the selection process.

SBI PO Selection Stages

1. Prelims: 100 questions, 100 marks, 60 minutes (20 min per section)
2. Mains: 155 questions, 200 marks, 180 minutes
3. Interview: Conducted by SBI panel
4. Final Merit: Mains marks + Interview marks (weighted 75:25)

A key difference from IBPS PO — SBI enforces a strict 20-minute sectional time limit in Prelims. You cannot switch between sections. This changes the strategy significantly.

SBI PO Prelims Cut-Off (Overall, All Categories)

Year	General	OBC	SC	ST	EWS
2020	55.50	49.75	39.50	30.25	47.50
2021	58.25	52.50	42.25	33.00	50.25
2022	61.75	55.25	45.00	35.75	53.50
2023	64.50	57.75	47.50	37.75	56.00
2024	67.25	60.25	49.75	39.50	58.50
2025	69.75	62.50	51.75	41.25	60.75

SBI PO Prelims cut-off has consistently been 10-12 marks higher than IBPS PO Prelims. The gap has widened slightly in recent years as SBI PO attracts more serious candidates who are already well-prepared.

SBI PO Prelims Sectional Cut-Off (General, 2025)

Section	Questions	Max Marks	Time Limit	Sectional Cut-Off
English Language	30	30	20 min	10.50
Quantitative Aptitude	35	35	20 min	11.25
Reasoning Ability	35	35	20 min	12.75

The 20-minute sectional time limit is the defining challenge of SBI PO Prelims. Unlike IBPS where you can allocate more time to your strong section, SBI forces you to perform under tight time constraints in each section.

SBI PO Mains Cut-Off (General Category)

Year	General Overall	OBC	SC	ST	EWS
2021	84.57	76.83	62.14	52.73	74.28
2022	89.42	81.17	66.53	56.84	78.93
2023	93.28	84.72	70.18	60.43	82.57
2024	97.14	88.43	73.82	63.97	86.24
2025	101.73	92.18	77.46	67.52	90.13

The General category Mains cut-off crossed 100 for the first time in 2025. This is a psychological milestone — you now need more than half the total marks (200) just to qualify for the interview.

Mains Sectional Cut-Offs (General, 2025)

Section	Max Marks	Sectional Cut-Off
Reasoning & Computer Aptitude	60	11.25
Data Analysis & Interpretation	60	10.50
General/Economy/Banking Awareness	40	8.75
English Language	40	7.50

Sectional cut-offs in Mains are low, but the overall cut-off of 101+ means you need strong performance across all sections. You cannot rely on just one or two sections to carry you.

SBI PO vs. IBPS PO Cut-Off Comparison

Parameter	SBI PO (2025)	IBPS PO (2025)	Gap
Prelims Overall (Gen)	69.75	58.75	11.00
Mains Overall (Gen)	101.73	93.28	8.45
Vacancies	~2,000	~4,500	SBI fewer
Applicants	~25 lakh	~30 lakh	SBI slightly less

Despite having fewer applicants, SBI PO has higher cut-offs because of the lower vacancy count and the self-selection of stronger candidates.

Interview Score Impact on Final Selection

SBI PO uses a 75:25 ratio for Mains and Interview. The interview is scored out of 100, then scaled.

Here is how it works in practice:

Candidate	Mains Score (out of 200)	Interview (out of 100)	Weighted Score
Candidate A	108	72	108 x 0.75 + 72 x 0.25 = 99.00
Candidate B	115	55	115 x 0.75 + 55 x 0.25 = 100.00
Candidate C	102	85	102 x 0.75 + 85 x 0.25 = 97.75

Notice how Candidate B with a high Mains score but average interview still comes out on top. Mains is worth three times as much as the interview in the final scoring. That said, a really strong interview performance (80+) can push you past candidates who scored 10-15 marks more in Mains.

Section-Wise Targets for SBI PO 2026

Prelims targets (General category, safe score):

Section	Target	Strategy
English	20-23/30	RC (3 passages x 5Q) + Cloze + Error Spotting
Quant	22-25/35	Simplification (all), DI (2 sets), Word Problems (selective)
Reasoning	24-27/35	Puzzles (2-3), Syllogism, Blood Relation, Coding-Decoding
Overall	72-75	Buffer above expected 70-72 cut-off

Mains targets (General category, safe score):

Section	Target	Priority Areas
Reasoning & CA	32-38/60	High-level puzzles, machine input-output, computer aptitude
Data Analysis	30-36/60	Caselet DI, missing DI, probability, permutation
GA/Banking	26-32/40	Banking awareness, RBI updates, budget highlights
English	24-28/40	RC, para jumble, error detection, vocabulary
Overall	112-120	Buffer above expected 103-107 cut-off

What Makes SBI PO Different to Prepare For

Sectional time pressure in Prelims. You get exactly 20 minutes per section with no section switching. This means if you finish English in 15 minutes, those 5 extra minutes are wasted — you cannot use them for Quant. Practice strictly with 20-minute section timers. Higher difficulty Mains. SBI Mains questions, especially in Reasoning and DI, are noticeably harder than IBPS PO. The puzzles are more complex (6-7 variable puzzles), DI involves caselets with multiple calculations, and English passages are longer. Interview carries real weight. SBI interview panels are thorough. They ask about your academic background, current affairs, banking awareness, and situational questions. Prepare for at least 3-4 weeks before the interview.

Predictions for SBI PO 2026

Assuming approximately 2,000 vacancies and current competition levels:

• Prelims (General): 71-74
• Mains (General): 104-108
• Final cut-off (Mains + Interview, General): 52-56 (out of scaled 100)

Stay updated on SBI PO cut-off releases, answer key discussions, and exam analysis at sarkarinaukri.in. We provide section-wise difficulty analysis on the day of the exam itself, helping you estimate your score before results are out.

Closing Thought

SBI PO is not the exam you crack with casual preparation. The cut-off data makes it clear — you are competing against candidates who score 70+ in Prelims and 100+ in Mains. That requires disciplined, structured preparation over 4-6 months minimum. Respect the competition, prepare accordingly, and the SBI PO badge will be yours.