SBI PO Reasoning Ability syllabus
See the full SBI PO syllabus for the exam pattern and other sections.
Reasoning carries 30 questions in a locked 20 minute section at SBI PO Prelims, five fewer than IBPS PO gives it. The section is dominated by puzzles and seating arrangements, which arrive in sets of four or five questions and offer no partial credit. At Mains the subject expands into Reasoning and Computer Aptitude, where the sets are longer and the logic is heavier.
Pattern
| Stage | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prelims, Reasoning Ability | 30 | 30 | 20 minutes |
| Mains, Reasoning and Computer Aptitude | As stated in the advertisement | As stated in the advertisement | Separate section clock |
A wrong answer costs one fourth of the marks assigned to the question, which is 0.25 marks at Prelims. SBI publishes no topic wise question split, so the distribution below is reconstructed from past papers.
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Topics
- Puzzles, including floor and flat, box, month and year, day, age and category based
- Seating Arrangement, linear, circular, square and uncertain
- Syllogism, including possibility and reverse syllogism
- Inequality, direct and coded
- Blood Relations, including coded relations
- Direction Sense and Distance
- Order and Ranking
- Coding and Decoding, including new pattern coding
- Alphanumeric Series and Number Series
- Alphabet Test and word based arrangement
- Data Sufficiency
- Input Output
- Logical Reasoning, covering statement and assumption, statement and conclusion, cause and effect and course of action
- Machine Input and sequence based questions
What is not in the syllabus
- No non verbal or figure based reasoning, which SSC and railway papers carry but banking Prelims does not
- No computer aptitude at Prelims. It appears only at Mains
- No published topic wise question count
- No partial credit on a puzzle set. A set half solved earns nothing
How to spend the time
Reasoning is a set selection problem. Puzzles and seating arrangements take up the majority of the 30 questions and arrive as blocks of four or five, which means one good decision is worth five marks and one bad decision costs four minutes. Spending the first sixty to ninety seconds reading every set before starting any of them is the highest return minute in the section.
The standalone questions are the safety net. Syllogism, inequality, blood relations, direction sense, order and ranking and coding and decoding are quick, independent and reliable, and clearing them first guarantees a floor before any puzzle is opened. Candidates who open puzzles first and run out of time routinely leave eight easy marks unread.
Inside a set, the test is whether the first two conditions fix anything. If two conditions pass without placing a single element, the set is likely to be an uncertain variable type and is usually worth leaving for later.
Practice should be timed and mixed rather than topic by topic, because the skill being trained is triage rather than technique.
Common mistakes
- Preparing on the IBPS PO weighting of 35 questions rather than SBI's 30
- Opening puzzles before clearing the standalone questions, then running out of clock
- Staying with a set out of sunk cost after four minutes with nothing placed
- Treating all puzzles as equally difficult, when uncertain variable sets are far slower
- Guessing across five options at minus 0.25 inside a set that was never solved
- Practising topic wise only, which never trains the set selection decision
- Expecting unused time from another section, which the 20 minute lock prevents
Reasoning across the stages of SBI PO
| Feature | Prelims Reasoning Ability | Mains Reasoning and Computer Aptitude |
|---|---|---|
| Questions | 30 | As stated in the advertisement |
| Time | 20 minutes | Separate section clock |
| Weight in merit | None, qualifying only | Counted |
| Question style | Standard puzzles and standalone logic | Longer sets, heavier logic, plus computer aptitude |
| Negative marking | Yes | Yes |
Frequently asked questions
How many reasoning questions are in SBI PO Prelims?
Thirty, carrying 30 marks, in a locked 20 minute section.
Why does SBI give reasoning fewer questions than IBPS PO?
SBI weights its Prelims toward English at 40 questions, and takes five questions each from Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude to pay for it.
How many puzzles are asked?
SBI publishes no split. Past papers typically carry three or more sets, which together account for most of the 30 questions.
Is computer aptitude part of Prelims reasoning?
No. Computer aptitude appears only in the Mains paper, where it sits alongside reasoning.
Is non verbal reasoning asked?
No. Figure based and non verbal reasoning do not appear in banking Prelims papers.
Is there negative marking?
Yes. One fourth of the marks assigned to a question is deducted for a wrong answer.
What should I attempt first?
The standalone questions, covering syllogism, inequality, blood relations, direction sense, order and ranking and coding, before opening any puzzle set.
How long should I give a puzzle before leaving it?
If two conditions have been applied and nothing is fixed, the set is usually worth leaving. In practice that decision should land inside ninety seconds.
Does Prelims reasoning count toward the merit list?
No. Prelims is qualifying only. The merit list is built from Mains and Phase III.
How do I get better at choosing sets?
Timed mixed practice rather than topic wise practice, because the skill is triage. Try a free SBI PO mock.