Tips and Tricks for SBI PO Mains Exam for Last 7 Days

The SBI PO Mains Exam 2025, to be held on 13 September 2025, is a crucial stage for candidates aspiring to bag one of the most coveted positions in the Indian banking sector. Becoming a Probationary Officer in State Bank of India is considered a highly prestigious career that offers both growth and recognition. After the prelims exam, the focus is now on fine-tuning your preparation strategy for the mains exam.

Tips and Tricks for SBI PO Mains Exam for Last 7 Days

Since only one week is left in the SBI PO Mains exam 2025, instead of starting anything new, candidates should use this time wisely with smart revision and focused practice. In this article, we bring you the last 7 days preparation tips and tricks that will help you stay confident, manage time and increase your chances of success in the upcoming SBI PO Mains exam.

• Prioritize revision: Go through your notes, formulas and shortcut techniques. The last seven days are when you can “freeze” what you have learned.
• Avoid new topics: Don’t start any new, important topics. Learning something new at this time can backfire, cause anxiety and reduce the necessary revision time. Focus on strengthening your existing knowledge.
• Maintain a schedule: A systematic daily schedule will keep you focused and ensure you cover all sections. However, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Aim for focused study sessions with short, regular breaks to avoid fatigue.
• Stay healthy: Get enough sleep, eat well and stay hydrated. A healthy mind and body are essential for a great performance on exam day. Avoid late-night cramming.

Reasoning & Computer Aptitude

The Reasoning & Computer Aptitude part of SBI PO Mains is often seen as the most challenging and time-consuming. With only a week left, your aim should be to sharpen accuracy and manage time wisely. Here’s how you can handle this section effectively.

Puzzles and Seating Arrangements: This is the most important area in Reasoning. Puzzles and seating arrangement questions usually carry the highest weightage, so they cannot be ignored. Revisit the puzzles you’ve already solved, especially the difficult ones. Practice a mix of floor-based, box-based, and circular arrangements with multiple conditions, as these are almost certain to appear in the exam. Consistent practice will make you faster and more confident.

Most of Mock Tests: Mock tests are your best tool in the final week. Attempt at least one full-length mock test and give equal time to analyzing it. Identify your strong areas and weak points. On exam day, begin with the types of questions you are most comfortable with. This strategy will help you save time, build confidence, and leave enough energy for the more complex parts.

Quick Preparation for Computer Aptitude: Though smaller in weightage, Computer Aptitude can fetch easy marks. Dedicate some time to revising basic computer fundamentals, common terminology, networking concepts, and hardware/software basics. Since these questions are often direct, a quick brush-up can boost your score without much effort.

Data Analysis & Interpretation

The Data Analysis and Data Interpretation section is one of the most scoring but time-consuming areas of the SBI PO Mains exam. Success here depends on a mix of strong calculation speed and smart analytical thinking. In the last week, your focus should be on revising formulas, improving mental maths and practising different types of DI sets.

Sharpen Your Calculation Speed: Quick and accurate calculations are the backbone of DA & DI. Revise and practice mental math tricks for percentages, ratios, averages, and approximations. Small improvements in speed here can save precious minutes during the exam, giving you more time to attempt complex questions with confidence.

Practice Diverse DI Sets: Spend most of your time solving high-level DI sets. Go beyond just one type and cover a mix of tabular, line graphs, bar graphs, pie charts, caselets, and mixed DI. Exposure to multiple formats will train your mind to adapt quickly, no matter how the question is presented. Make sure you practice sets that involve multiple variables, as these are commonly asked in the exam.

Revise Key Arithmetic Topics: Many DI questions are based on arithmetic concepts. Quickly memorize formulas and shortcuts of important topics like profit-loss, time-work, and time-speed-distance. Instead of solving long arithmetic questions, practice how these concepts are incorporated in DI sets. This will save your time and you will be able to solve questions with better accuracy.

English Language

The English Language section in SBI PO Mains checks both your reading ability and command over grammar. In the last week, focus on building comprehension skills, brushing up grammar rules, and practicing descriptive writing. A balanced approach here can help you secure easy marks.

Strengthen Reading Comprehension (RC): Reading Comprehension often carries the highest weightage. To prepare, practice passages from diverse topics like economy, environment, technology, and social issues. Don’t just read train yourself to summarize the central idea, spot supporting details, and identify the author’s tone. This will improve both speed and accuracy during the exam.

Revise Grammar and Vocabulary: Quickly review the basic grammar rules, especially those related to tenses, subject-verb agreement, modifiers, and error spotting. Alongside, revise your notes on idioms, phrases, and commonly confused words. These small revisions can help you score well in error detection, fill-in-the-blanks, and sentence improvement questions.

Practice for the Descriptive Test: The descriptive test is equally important, as it evaluates your ability to express your ideas clearly. Practice writing some essays and formal letters on topics related to banking, finance and current social issues. Focus on clarity, structure and time management, make sure your essay’s introduction, body and conclusion are correct, and your letters are in the correct format.

General, Economy & Banking Awareness

The General, Economy, and Banking Awareness section is scoring if approached smartly. With only a week left, the focus should be on revision, current affairs updates, and key banking concepts. This section can give you easy marks if you are well-prepared.

Current Affairs: 

• Revise last 6 months of current affairs, especially banking, finance, government schemes, and important national/international events.
• Focus on major RBI announcements, monetary policies, and economic developments.
• Make short notes of important dates, awards, and appointments for quick last-minute revision.

Banking Awareness

• Revise basic banking concepts like NPA, CRR, SLR, repo rate, reverse repo rate, liquidity ratio, and banking regulations.
• Go through recent RBI guidelines, government schemes for financial inclusion, and banking apps/services.
• Focus on mergers, acquisitions, and important financial institutions.

Economy & Static GK

• Quickly revise key economic terms and definitions, GDP, inflation, fiscal deficit, etc.
• Revise major economic surveys, budgets, and reports released in the last 1–2 years.
• Focus on important international financial organizations like IMF, World Bank, WTO, and their latest updates.