SBI and IBPS combine your mains and interview marks in different ways, and both are set out in their own documents. SBI PO: per the 2026-27 advertisement, main examination marks out of 230 are normalised to 75 and Phase III marks out of 50 (Group Exercise 20 + Interview 30) are normalised to 25, and the two are added to make a final score out of 100. IBPS PO: per the CRP PO/MT-XVI notification, the interview is out of 100 with a qualifying floor of 40% (35% for SC, ST, OBC and PwBD), and the main examination and interview carry a relative weightage of 80:20. This page turns both rules into arithmetic, with worked examples written by TalkDrill on invented scores, so you can see what one interview mark is worth and where a strong interview overtakes a stronger mains. It quotes no cut-off, because neither body publishes one in advance.
- SBI PO final score = (mains out of 230) × 75/230 + (GE + interview out of 50) × 25/50. Source: advertisement, Final Selection clause.
- IBPS PO final score = mains and interview combined at 80:20; interview out of 100; below 40% (35% reserved) you are out. Source: notification, section J.
- Neither uses prelims marks. SBI says so in words; IBPS says mains marks "only" are used for shortlisting and final merit.
The two formulas side by side
| Point | SBI PO 2026-27 | IBPS PO (CRP PO/MT-XVI) |
|---|---|---|
| Mains maximum | 230 (objective 200 + descriptive 30) | 225 (objective 200 + descriptive 25) |
| Spoken stage maximum | 50 (Group Exercise 20 + Interview 30) | 100 (Interview only) |
| Weight of mains | 75 out of 100 | 80 out of 100 |
| Weight of spoken stage | 25 out of 100 | 20 out of 100 |
| Qualifying in spoken stage | "As decided by the Bank" | Not less than 40% (35% SC/ST/OBC/PwBD) |
| Must qualify separately? | Yes, Phase II and Phase III separately | Yes, "both in the Online Main Exam and interview" |
| Prelims counted? | No | No |
| Tie-break | Age, older first (instruction 30) | Age, older first (section K); scores to two decimals |
| Arithmetic published? | Yes, a normalisation table | Ratio only |
The SBI documents give you the full table, so every SBI calculation below is exact. IBPS gives the ratio and the maximum marks but not the conversion, so the IBPS calculations use the standard reading of a ratio, which we label as our working wherever it appears.
SBI PO: how 280 marks become 100
The advertisement's Final Selection clause, in full: candidates must qualify in Phase II and Phase III separately; main examination marks, objective and descriptive, are added to Phase III marks; preliminary marks are not added; and the marks are "normalized to 100 marks as detailed below".
| Test | Main examination (objective and descriptive) | Group Exercise and Interview | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum marks | 230 | 50 | 280 |
| Normalised marks | 75 | 25 | 100 |
Two conversions follow directly. Mains: multiply by 75 and divide by 230, which is the same as multiplying by 0.3261. Phase III: multiply by 25 and divide by 50, which is simply halving. So:
- One main-examination mark = 0.326 final marks.
- One Group Exercise or interview mark = 0.500 final marks.
- One Phase III mark is therefore worth 1.53 mains marks.
People often describe this as "75:25" and then assume the mains is three times as important. It is three times as important per stage, but there are 230 mains marks and only 50 Phase III marks, so each Phase III mark is heavier. That is the fact that should shape the next four weeks.
SBI PO worked examples
Both examples below are written by TalkDrill with invented scores. They are not real candidates and the numbers are not cut-offs; they show the mechanics only.
Example 1: the stronger mains candidate is overtaken
| Mains (of 230) | Mains converted (× 75/230) | GE (of 20) | Interview (of 30) | Phase III (of 50) | Phase III converted (× 0.5) | Final (of 100) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate A | 120 | 39.13 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 16.00 | 55.13 |
| Candidate B | 110 | 35.87 | 14 | 26 | 40 | 20.00 | 55.87 |
A leads B by 10 marks in the mains, worth 3.26 final marks. B scores 8 more in Phase III, worth 4.00 final marks. B finishes ahead. Eight marks across a Group Exercise and a thirty-mark interview is the difference between a prepared candidate and a nervous one.
Example 2: the Group Exercise alone
| Mains converted | GE (of 20) | Interview (of 30) | Phase III converted | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate C | 37.50 | 8 | 22 | 15.00 | 52.50 |
| Candidate D | 37.50 | 15 | 22 | 18.50 | 56.00 |
Same mains, same interview. D speaks three or four times in the Group Exercise with one clear summary; C speaks once. Seven GE marks become 3.5 final marks, which is the equivalent of nearly 11 mains marks. The Group Exercise is the cheapest place in the whole process to gain ground, and our Group Exercise page shows how.
IBPS PO: how 80:20 works
Section J of the notification gives three numbers: the interview is out of 100, the qualifying floor is not less than 40% (35% for SC, ST, OBC and PwBD), and "the relative weightage (ratio) of Online Main Exam and interview will be 80:20 respectively". Section D gives the main examination as 200 objective marks plus a 25-mark descriptive paper, 225 in all. Section G says scores are normalised across sessions by the equi-percentile method and taken to two decimal places.
Our working, since IBPS does not print it: the standard reading of an 80:20 ratio is to scale each component to 100 and then weight it. Mains out of 225 becomes a percentage, multiplied by 0.8; interview out of 100 is multiplied by 0.2; the sum is a score out of 100.
- One main-examination mark = 100/225 × 0.8 = 0.356 final marks.
- One interview mark = 0.200 final marks.
- One interview mark is therefore worth 0.56 mains marks, and one mains mark is worth 1.78 interview marks.
The ratio is honest about where the weight lies: the mains dominates. But the interview has 100 marks of range and a hard floor, and most shortlisted candidates sit within a narrow mains band, which is where the next two examples live.
IBPS PO worked examples
Written by TalkDrill on invented scores, using the working above. Not real candidates, not cut-offs.
Example 3: a close mains band
| Mains (of 225) | Mains % × 0.8 | Interview (of 100) | Interview × 0.2 | Final (of 100) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate E | 98 | 34.84 | 55 | 11.00 | 45.84 |
| Candidate F | 90 | 32.00 | 70 | 14.00 | 46.00 |
E leads by 8 mains marks, worth 2.84 final marks. F scores 15 more in the interview, worth 3.00. F finishes ahead by a fraction. At two decimal places, which is how IBPS says it calculates, fractions decide allotment order.
Example 4: the floor
| Mains (of 225) | Interview (of 100) | Floor (General 40) | Outcome | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate G | 115 | 38 | Not met | Eliminated; interview score not disclosed |
| Candidate H | 88 | 62 | Met | In the merit list with 43.69 |
G has the best mains score in the group and is out. The notification is explicit: a candidate "should qualify both in the Online Main Exam and interview", and the interview score of a candidate failing the floor "shall not be disclosed". The floor is the first thing to prepare for; the weightage is the second.
What one interview mark is worth
| Exam | One mains mark is worth | One spoken-stage mark is worth | Spoken mark in mains marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| SBI PO (exact, from the advertisement's table) | 0.326 final marks | 0.500 final marks | 1.53 |
| IBPS PO (our working of the 80:20 ratio) | 0.356 final marks | 0.200 final marks | 0.56 |
Read across the row for the exam you are sitting. For SBI, every mark you add in the Group Exercise or interview is heavier than a mains mark, and there are 50 of them to be had. For IBPS, a mains mark is heavier, but the interview offers 100 marks of range and the mains is already behind you; the only marks you can still move are the interview's. In both cases the marginal value of the next four weeks is entirely in the spoken stage.
Qualifying marks, ties and cut-offs
Qualifying marks
SBI: "The minimum qualifying marks for Group exercise & Interviews will be as decided by the Bank." No number is published in advance, and we did not find one on the SBI results page this week. IBPS: not less than 40 out of 100 in the interview, 35 for SC, ST, OBC and PwBD. "Not less than" permits IBPS to set the floor higher.
Ties
SBI's instruction 30: candidates with the same marks at the cut-off of the final merit list are ranked by age, older first. IBPS, in section K of the notification: when two or more candidates obtain the same score, merit order is decided by date of birth, the candidate senior in age placed above the junior, "as per the prevailing practice". IBPS also states that scores are calculated to two decimal places, which makes exact ties rare.
Cut-offs
Neither body publishes the final cut-off in advance, because it depends on vacancies and on how the shortlist performs. SBI publishes results as lists of roll numbers: the main examination result dated 14 October 2026 lists the roll numbers shortlisted for Phase III (we counted 4,367 against 1,500 vacancies), and the PO 2025-26 final result dated 18 December 2025 lists the roll numbers provisionally selected (we counted 541). We looked for a category-wise final cut-off table for PO 2025-26 on the SBI results page on 20 October 2026 and did not find one: next to the final result, SBI offers only a "Marks secured by the candidates" lookup, where an individual candidate enters a roll number and date of birth to see their own main examination and interview marks. So this page does not quote a cut-off. Cut-off tables on coaching sites are compiled from candidates' scorecards and should be read as estimates. When SBI publishes the 2026 marks pages, we will link them here.
What this means for how you prepare
Three conclusions follow from the arithmetic, and they are the same for Hindi-medium candidates from Gorakhpur and English-medium candidates from Chennai.
- Treat the floor as the first target (IBPS). Forty out of 100 is not high, but it is absolute, and silence or a frozen first minute is how prepared candidates fall below it. The cure is rehearsal, not reading: one panel mock every second day until the first ninety seconds are automatic.
- Treat the Group Exercise as the cheapest marks (SBI). Twenty marks at 0.5 each. Three clear contributions and a summary are worth more than any amount of last-minute general awareness. One group discussion a day from 3 November.
- Spend the remaining time where the panel spends it. Introduction and background, why banking, banking awareness, one situational question. Our questions and answers page and banking awareness page cover those four in that order.
Sources read on 19 October 2026: SBI PO 2026-27 detailed advertisement (Final Selection clause and instruction 30), SBI PO 2026 main examination result, the PO 2025-26 final result on the SBI results page, and the IBPS CRP PO/MT-XVI notification (sections D, F, G and J). The Bank PO interview hub links the SBI and IBPS schedule pages and every other page in this series.