All exams / SBI Clerk / Local Language Proficiency Test

SBI Clerk Local Language Test mock tests

State Bank of India, Junior Associate (Customer Support & Sales): Local Language Proficiency Test

Sections
3
Time
Not stated in the advertisement
Run by
State Bank of India, Central Recruitment & Promotion Department

No test for this form yet

This page covers the SBI Clerk Local Language Test pattern and marking. The practice tests on this site are for the other forms listed above.

About the exam

SBI recruits Junior Associates (Customer Support & Sales) in the clerical cadre, State-wise. For the 2026-27 cycle, advertisement CRPD/CR/2026-27/17, a candidate applies for one State or Union Territory, must be able to read, write, speak and understand the local language opted for that State, and can appear only once in this recruitment. Age is counted on 01.04.2026: not below 20 and not above 28, that is, born not earlier than 02.04.1998 and not later than 01.04.2006, with the relaxations in the advertisement. Graduation in any discipline, or an equivalent qualification recognised by the Central Government, is required as on 31.12.2026. The advertisement lists 7,680 regular vacancies and says the numbers are provisional.

Phase-I, the Preliminary Examination, is an online objective test of 100 marks in one hour: English Language (30 questions, 30 marks, 20 minutes, in English), Numerical Ability (35 questions, 35 marks, 20 minutes) and Reasoning Ability (35 questions, 35 marks, 20 minutes). Each test has its own timer. A wrong answer costs one fourth of the mark assigned to that question. The Bank prescribes no minimum qualifying mark for a test or for the aggregate, and it does not maintain section-wise marks. About ten times the vacancies, subject to availability, are shortlisted for the Main Examination by aggregate marks. The 2026-27 acquaint-yourself booklet says each question is followed by five options.

Phase-II, the Main Examination, is online and objective, 190 questions and 200 marks in 2 hours 40 minutes, again with a separate timer for each test and the same quarter-mark penalty: General/Financial Awareness (50 questions, 50 marks, 35 minutes), General English (40 questions, 40 marks, 35 minutes, in English), Quantitative Aptitude (50 questions, 50 marks, 45 minutes) and Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude (50 questions, 60 marks, 45 minutes). Candidates must reach a minimum aggregate percentage, with a 5% relaxation for SC, ST, OBC, PwBD, ex-servicemen and disabled ex-servicemen; the Bank decides that percentage and sets no subject minimum. Only Main Examination marks are used for the merit list. Preliminary marks are not added.

Candidates who qualify and cannot show, from a Class 10 or Class 12 mark sheet or certificate, that they studied the opted local language take a Local Language Proficiency Test after provisional selection and before joining. Failing it means no appointment. There is no inter-circle or inter-state transfer for five years. The starting basic pay for a graduate is Rs 26,730 (Rs 24,050 plus two advance increments) on the scale given in the advertisement, and the advertisement puts starting emoluments at a metro such as Mumbai at around Rs 46,000 a month at the then rates. Probation is a minimum of six months.

Exam pattern

Form
Local Language Proficiency Test · since 2026-08-11
How it is taken
After provisional selection and before joining, for candidates who cannot show Class 10 or Class 12 study of the opted local language
Timing
Not stated in the advertisement
Adaptive
None
SectionTimeQuestions or tasksHow you answerMarked
Non-verbal test (objective)
  • Objective questions on passages in the opted local language

Qualifying. The Bank decides the minimum marks (5% relaxation for SC, ST, OBC, PwBD, ex-servicemen and disabled ex-servicemen).

Not stated3 passages, 15 questions, 15 marksChoose one answerRight or wrong, automatically
Non-verbal test (subjective)
  • Written answers on passages in the opted local language

Qualifying. The advertisement does not describe how the written answers are judged.

Not stated3 passages, 15 questions, 15 marksWrite a textBy trained examiners
Verbal test
  • A verbal test in the opted local language

The advertisement gives 20 marks and does not say whether the test is spoken or written, or how many questions it has.

Not stated20 marks; the number of questions is not statedSpeak (recorded or to an examiner)By trained examiners

Failing this test means the candidate is not offered appointment.

No practice form is provided for this test: the verbal part is not fully described, and the language is the one the candidate opted for that State, not always Hindi.

Topics in the exam

  • English: reading comprehension
  • English: cloze test
  • English: error spotting
  • English: fillers
  • English: synonyms and antonyms
  • English: sentence arrangement
  • Numerical Ability: simplification
  • Numerical Ability: number series
  • Numerical Ability: data interpretation
  • Numerical Ability: percentage, profit and discount
  • Numerical Ability: ratio and average
  • Numerical Ability: time and work, time and distance
  • Numerical Ability: simple and compound interest
  • Reasoning: seating and floor puzzles
  • Reasoning: syllogism
  • Reasoning: inequalities
  • Reasoning: coding-decoding
  • Reasoning: analogy and odd one out
  • Reasoning: blood relation, direction and order

How it is scored

The Local Language Proficiency Test is qualifying. The Bank decides the minimum marks in each part and does not publish a fixed pass mark or a merit total. It does not count in the final merit list. Candidates who produce a Class 10 or Class 12 mark sheet or certificate showing that they studied the opted local language are not called for this test.

Tips to clear SBI Clerk

  1. English: reading comprehension

    Answer from the lines of the passage. Reject an option that adds a fact the passage never states, even if it sounds likely.

  2. English: cloze test

    Read the whole passage once before filling any blank. The words on both sides of the blank decide the grammar and the collocation.

  3. English: error spotting

    Find the subject before you judge the verb. 'Each', 'neither' and 'the furniture' stay singular even when a plural noun follows 'of'.

  4. English: fillers

    Test the fixed pair, not the single word: 'no sooner ... than', 'since' with a point of time, 'prevent from', 'call off'.

  5. English: synonyms and antonyms

    Read whether the question asks for the same meaning or the opposite. A synonym planted among antonyms is the usual trap.

  6. English: sentence arrangement

    Lock the pair that a pronoun or 'so that' forces, then test only the options that contain that pair.

  7. Numerical Ability: simplification

    Apply BODMAS and cancel before you multiply. For a² − b² use (a − b)(a + b) instead of squaring both numbers.

  8. Numerical Ability: number series

    Write the gap between terms. If the gaps themselves rise by a constant, or each term is doubled and then adjusted by 1, the next term is fixed.

  9. Numerical Ability: data interpretation

    Read the unit in the table title before you add a column. Compute only the cells the question names.

  10. Numerical Ability: percentage, profit and discount

    Profit is on cost price and discount is on marked price. A 20% rise is × 6/5; to undo it, divide by 6/5.

  11. Numerical Ability: ratio and average

    Add the parts of the ratio before you share the total. When two ratios share a term, make that term equal before you combine them.

  12. Numerical Ability: time and work, time and distance

    Add one-day work as fractions, then invert the sum. For speed, keep kilometres per hour or convert with × 5/18 before dividing distance by speed.

  13. Numerical Ability: simple and compound interest

    Simple interest is PRT/100. For two years the gap between compound and simple interest is P × (R/100)².

  14. Reasoning: seating and floor puzzles

    Write the positions in a line and place the fixed ends first. If two arrangements still fit, you have missed a condition.

  15. Reasoning: syllogism

    A conclusion follows only when it is true in every diagram the statements allow. 'Some' may be true without being forced.

  16. Reasoning: inequalities

    Chain only in one direction. A ≥ B > C gives A > C. Do not turn that into C > A.

  17. Reasoning: coding-decoding

    Test the rule on the given example before you touch the new word: a shift, a reversal, or a reversal after the shift.

  18. Reasoning: analogy and odd one out

    State the link in one sentence (a tool and what it does, a number and its cube) and drop the option that breaks it.

  19. Reasoning: blood relation, direction and order

    Draw a family with + and −, or a compass, or a row numbered from the left. From-the-right position is total − left position + 1.

After the exam

For information only. Selection, allotment and admission follow the rules in the official notice of your year, which can change.

Junior Associate (Customer Support & Sales)

Clerical cadre posts in State Bank of India, filled State-wise from the Main Examination merit list. The advertisement gives the pay scale Rs 24,050-1,340/3-28,070-1,650/3-33,020-2,000/4-41,020-2,340/7-57,400-4,400/1-61,800-2,680/1-64,480, with a starting basic pay of Rs 26,730 for graduates, and a probation of at least six months. Posting is in the State applied for. Official page

Local language and circle posting

The candidate opts for one local language of the State at application. There is no inter-circle or inter-state transfer for five years, except that the Bank may later consider an exceptional compassionate or spouse-ground request under its transfer instructions. A candidate who has not studied that language at Class 10 or 12 must pass the language test before joining. Official page

Official links and sources

Where this information comes from

Checked against these sources on 2026-10-16. Exams change their format and rules; the exam’s own site is always the final word.

Still to be confirmed

  • How the 60 marks of Main Examination Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude are divided among the 50 questions. The scale here assumes 1.2 marks each and a penalty of 0.30. If the Bank assigns different marks to different questions, a single question's penalty is still one fourth of its own mark, but the step of 0.3 would be wrong.
  • How the compensatory 20 minutes per hour is applied to the three separate 20-minute Preliminary timers (one block of 20 extra minutes, or a share of each timer).
  • Whether each 20-minute test must run to the end. The booklet says candidates are not permitted to submit before the preliminary exam's duration is over, and that they can move among questions within the current test. It does not say in a separate sentence that a finished section can be left early.
  • The Local Language Proficiency Test: time allowed, whether the 20-mark verbal test is spoken or written, and how many questions that verbal test has. The advertisement's table leaves those cells blank.
  • The first year this three-test Preliminary pattern was used. The date on this guide is the 2026-27 advertisement (registration from 11.08.2026), not a claim that the pattern began then.
  • The on-screen order of the three Preliminary tests. This guide follows the order in the advertisement's table: English Language, Numerical Ability, Reasoning Ability.