SBI PO 2026 Phase III has two published dates. Per the SBI notice for advertisement CRPD/PO/2026-27/09, the psychometric test is on 31 October 2026 and the Group Exercise and Interviews run from 18 November 2026 onwards. Both are called tentative, and the same notice says call letters with the exact date and time "will be released shortly". Phase III is worth 50 marks per the advertisement: Group Exercise 20, Interview 30. Your main examination marks (out of 230) and your Phase III marks (out of 50) are then normalised to 75 and 25 and added to make the final merit list. This page gives you the whole process in the order you will meet it, with every figure traced to the SBI PDF it comes from. It is checked every week until the final result.
- Advertisement CRPD/PO/2026-27/09: 1,500 vacancies; registration ran 18 June to 8 July 2026.
- Main examination held 12 September 2026; the result PDF dated 14 October 2026 lists the roll numbers shortlisted for Phase III (we counted 4,367).
- Psychometric test: 31 October 2026. Group Exercise and Interviews: from 18 November 2026.
- Marks: Group Exercise 20, Interview 30, total 50. Qualifying marks "as decided by the Bank".
- Final merit: main exam 230 marks normalised to 75, Phase III 50 marks normalised to 25, prelims not counted.
- Final result: "October / November 2026" in the advertisement's tentative schedule. The earlier stages have since moved back by about two months, and SBI has not published a revised date.
The dates SBI has announced
Two documents matter. The detailed advertisement, published in June 2026, gave a tentative schedule in which the psychometric test was "September 2026" and the interview and Group Exercises "September / October 2026". The one-page notice uploaded in October 2026 replaced those with firm dates. Where the two disagree, the later notice wins. Here is the schedule as it stands, with the source for each line.
| Stage | Date or window | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Online registration | 18 June to 8 July 2026 | Advertisement, schedule of events |
| Main examination (Phase II) | 12 September 2026 | Main examination result PDF, dated 14 October 2026 |
| Main result, shortlist for Phase III | Published by 14 October 2026 | Main examination result PDF |
| Psychometric test | 31 October 2026 (tentative) | SBI notice, October 2026 |
| Group Exercise and Interviews | From 18 November 2026 onwards (tentative) | SBI notice, October 2026 |
| Phase III call letters | "Will be released shortly", with exact date and time | SBI notice, October 2026 |
| Final result | Not announced; the advertisement said October / November 2026 before the schedule moved | Advertisement, schedule of events |
"From 18 November onwards" means the interviews are spread across days and centres. Last cycle gives the pattern: the SBI final result for CRPD/PO/2025-26/04, dated 18 December 2025, says the Group Exercise and Interview were "held during November & December 2025". Expect your own date to fall anywhere in that six-week stretch. You will not know it until your call letter is released, so prepare as if you are first.
One warning about third-party date pages. Several coaching sites still show the advertisement's September and October wording, and some show a "final result date" that SBI has never published. If a date is not in the notice or on the current openings page, it is a guess.
What Phase III is made of: 20 + 30 marks
The advertisement's heading reads "Phase-III: comprise of Psychometric Test, Group Exercise & Personal Interview". Three parts, two of which carry marks.
| Part | Maximum marks | What the advertisement says |
|---|---|---|
| Psychometric test | None listed | "For personality profiling"; findings are "placed before the Interview panel to have a thorough perspective on the candidates"; proctored mode or identified centres; all questions mandatory |
| Group Exercise | 20 | Listed in the test structure table; qualifying marks "as decided by the Bank" |
| Interview | 30 | Listed in the test structure table; qualifying marks "as decided by the Bank" |
| Total | 50 | Normalised to 25 for the final merit list |
The psychometric test
It comes first, on 31 October, and it is the part candidates understand least. SBI does not call it qualifying and does not give it marks, but it says the findings go to the panel. That changes how you should treat it: not as an exam to beat, but as the first thing the interviewers read about you. Our psychometric test page explains what SBI has said, what such tests usually contain, and how to answer consistently.
The Group Exercise
Twenty marks, assessed in a group. SBI publishes no format details beyond the marks, and does not name a language. Our Group Exercise page gives the formats candidates have met, thirty topics, and a worked example written by TalkDrill showing how a candidate enters, builds and closes a discussion.
The interview
Thirty marks, before a panel. The advertisement does not fix the panel size, the duration or the language. It does say two things that matter for the day: the Bank may verify documents "at any / all stages" (important instruction 12), and at the interview you must provide details of any criminal case pending against you (important instruction 16). Everything else about the interview is pattern rather than rule, and our questions and answers page covers the pattern.
The call letter: when, where, what it contains
Per clause 14 of the advertisement, candidates download the call letter for every stage, including "Psychometric Test / GE & Interview", from the Bank's website by entering their registration number and password or date of birth. An "acquaint yourself booklet" is downloaded alongside it. SBI states in capitals that no hard copy of either is sent by post. The October notice adds that the Phase III call letters will carry the exact date and time.
Three practical points follow from the advertisement:
- Keep your email and mobile active. Important instruction 2 in the advertisement says the registered email and number must stay active till the result is declared because call letters and advices are sent by email and SMS. The main result PDF repeats it: further details go to shortlisted candidates "by SMS/ email separately".
- The reporting time is a hard gate. Clause 43: candidates reaching the examination or interview centre after the reporting time on the call letter "will not be allowed to enter ... under any circumstances", and no complaint is considered.
- The photograph rule carries over. For the examinations, SBI required the same photograph pasted on the call letter and two extra copies. Clause 10 of the advertisement advises keeping about eight copies of the photograph uploaded at registration because they "would be needed for further stages of this selection process". Carry the same photographs to Phase III.
SBI hosts every link for this recruitment on current openings, under the PO 2026-27 block, next to the notice and the main result. The Phase III call-letter link was not there when we checked on 20 October 2026; the notice says it will be released shortly. Check that page, not a coaching site, and keep your registration number and password to hand.
Documents you must carry on the day
SBI verifies eligibility against originals only after a candidate is shortlisted for the interview (important instruction 8 in the advertisement). The advertisement names what must be produced and the consequence of not producing it. The full checklist with the dress code is on our documents page; this is the part that comes straight from the advertisement.
| Document | What the advertisement says |
|---|---|
| Phase III call letter and photo ID | Clause 15 lists accepted ID: passport, Aadhaar, PAN card, driving licence, voter ID, bank passbook with attested photograph, school or college ID, or a gazetted officer's letterhead ID; original plus self-attested photocopy |
| Proof of date of birth and eligibility originals | Clause 24: originals "should be produced for verification on the date of interview"; without them you "will not be allowed to attend the interview" |
| Graduation proof | Final-year applicants must show proof of passing on or before 30 September 2026 if called for interview |
| Caste certificate (SC, ST) | Prescribed Government of India format, produced during document verification at the interview |
| OBC non-creamy-layer certificate | Issued between 1 April 2026 and the date of interview; no extension of time is given |
| EWS income and asset certificate | Based on gross annual income for FY 2025-26; obtained on or before the date of document verification at the interview |
| PwBD certificate | Prescribed format, dated on or before the last date of registration |
| Age-relaxation certificates | Copies submitted "at the time of Group exercise/interview, if shortlisted" |
| No Objection Certificate | Clause 28: required from candidates serving in government, quasi-government, PSU, nationalised bank or financial institution employment; without it candidature "may not be considered" and travel is not paid |
Two documents that trip people up every year: the OBC certificate dated before 1 April 2026, and the EWS certificate for the wrong financial year. Both are rejected under the wording above, and the advertisement says the candidate "will not be allowed to attend the interview". Fix them this week, not in November.
What happens on the day
SBI publishes the components and the rules, not a minute-by-minute programme. What follows is the sequence shortlisted candidates have described in previous cycles, labelled as pattern where SBI is silent.
- Reporting and biometrics (rule). You arrive before the reporting time on the call letter. Section 16 of the advertisement (Biometric Verification) says the Bank may capture photo, thumb impression or iris scan "at various stages", and warns against mehandi, ink or chemicals on the hands.
- Document verification (rule). Originals are checked against the online application. Clause 42 says final selection is subject to verification of eligibility and of the information you furnished.
- Group Exercise (pattern). Candidates are formed into groups and given a task to discuss, observed by assessors. Previous candidates describe silent preparation time followed by a timed discussion; SBI does not publish the group size or the minutes.
- Interview (pattern). One candidate at a time before a panel. Questions typically start from your introduction and background, then move to banking awareness, current affairs and situational judgement. The psychometric profile is in front of the panel, per the advertisement, so expect questions that test it.
- Travel claim (rule). Outstation candidates claim Railway AC-III fare for the shortest route, or actual expenses if lower (clause 21). Keep your tickets.
Written by TalkDrill: a realistic first two minutes
Panel: "Good morning. Please sit. Tell us about yourself." Candidate: "Good morning, sir. Good morning, ma'am. I am Ananya Das from Bardhaman in West Bengal. I completed B.Sc. Mathematics from the University of Burdwan in 2025. Since then I have been tutoring school students in maths and preparing for banking exams. Tutoring taught me to explain one idea three different ways until it lands, which I think is most of what a branch officer does with a customer. I applied to SBI because it is where my family has banked for thirty years, and because the PO role is the only one that lets me work with both numbers and people from the first posting." Panel: "Why not teaching, then?" Candidate: "Because I like the classroom, sir, but I like solving a different problem every hour more." That is ninety seconds, one concrete activity since graduation, and a reason to join that the panel can probe. Rehearse yours aloud with our bank panel mock interview until the follow-up does not surprise you.
How the final merit list is formed
This is the part most candidates get wrong, because coaching sites quote the ratio without the mechanics. The advertisement's Final Selection clause says four things.
- You must qualify in Phase II and Phase III separately.
- Main examination marks, objective and descriptive together, are added to Phase III marks for the final merit list. Preliminary marks are not added.
- Marks are normalised: main examination 230 marks to 75; Group Exercise and Interview 50 marks to 25; total 100.
- The final merit list is the sum of the two converted scores; the provisional selection list is drawn from the top of each category.
| Component | Maximum marks | Normalised to | Worth of one raw mark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main examination (objective 200 + descriptive 30) | 230 | 75 | 0.326 final marks |
| Group Exercise + Interview | 50 | 25 | 0.500 final marks |
| Total | 280 | 100 |
So one Phase III mark is worth about one and a half main-examination marks in the final list. A candidate who outscores you by ten in the mains can be overtaken if you score seven more in Phase III. Clause 30 settles ties: candidates with the same final marks at the cut-off are ranked by age, older first. SBI does not publish final cut-off marks in advance, and we do not reproduce third-party cut-off tables. The full arithmetic, with two worked examples for SBI and two for IBPS, is on our marks and weightage page.
What to do between now and 18 November
You have roughly four weeks. The dates set the order: the psychometric test comes first and needs no revision, only honesty and attention; the Group Exercise and interview need daily spoken practice. Here is the route we recommend, week by week. The detailed daily version is our three-week plan.
| Week | Focus | Daily minutes | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 to 26 October | Documents and the psychometric test | 30 | Get the OBC, EWS, DOB and graduation documents in order. Read the psychometric page once. Record a 90-second introduction and listen back. |
| 27 October to 2 November | Psychometric test on 31 October; start speaking daily | 30 | Sit the test rested, answer as yourself. Then one introduction drill a day and ten banking-awareness concepts from the banking awareness page. |
| 3 to 9 November | Group Exercise | 40 | One group discussion a day on a banking or economy topic; practise the entry line, one build-on, one summary. Watch for your call letter. |
| 10 to 17 November | Full mocks | 45 | A full panel mock on alternate days, scored; read your district's economy and SBI's latest annual results; one GE every second day. |
| Your interview week | Taper | 20 | Re-read your application form (the panel has it), check the documents table above, sleep. Travel the day before if the centre is outstation. |
Hindi-medium candidates: the interview is not an English test, but a candidate who freezes in English loses time the panel would have spent on banking. Fifteen minutes of speaking a day for four weeks is enough to stop freezing. Our page for Hindi speakers lists the grammar and pronunciation habits panels notice, with the fix for each.
How this page is kept current
This page is re-checked every week against the SBI current openings page and the PDFs linked from it. The dates block above the article is rendered from the same dated rows we use across the site, so when SBI releases the call letters or changes a date, both update together. Changes are listed on the hub's change log with the date we made them. If you find a date here that disagrees with an SBI PDF, the PDF is right; tell us and we will fix it the same day.
Sources read on 19 October 2026: SBI PO 2026-27 detailed advertisement, SBI notice on Phase III tentative dates, SBI PO 2026 main examination result, and the PO 2025-26 final result on the recruitment results page. The Bank PO interview hub links every page in this series, including the IBPS PO interview 2026 page for candidates sitting both.