A reasoning plan for SBI PO

Reasoning is the section where SBI PO scores spread out most. Two candidates can sit the same paper, one clearing four puzzle sets and the other clearing one, and the gap in marks is large. That gap is rarely about intelligence. It comes from practice volume, a fixed method for drawing diagrams, and the discipline to leave a set that is not settling.

This guide turns that into a plan: what the section looks like, which topics to prioritise, the order to learn them in, and how to use the time in the exam hall.

What the section looks like

Both stages deduct one quarter of a question's marks for a wrong answer. In the mains a question carries 1.5 marks, so a wrong answer costs 0.375.

What changes between the stages. Prelims puzzles are usually single-layer: five to eight people, one or two variables, and direct clues. Mains puzzles add layers. You may face eight or more people, three variables, people facing different directions, or an unknown number of people in a row. The mains also adds computer aptitude and harder verbal reasoning, such as statement and assumption, cause and effect, and courses of action.

Topic priorities

Puzzles and seating arrangements have usually formed the largest share of the section in recent SBI PO papers, but the exact mix changes every year. Check two or three recent papers before you fix your plan.

Why puzzles come first. A puzzle set usually carries five questions on one diagram. Solve the diagram once and all five marks are yours. Fail to solve it and five marks are gone. No other topic has that much riding on one method.

A six-week order

Puzzles do not stop after week 4. From week 3 onwards, solve at least two puzzle sets every day until the exam.

A daily routine

The error log matters more than it looks. Most puzzle errors come from a handful of repeated misreadings: "above" read as "immediately above", a person facing south treated as facing north, or "between" counted to include the end points. Once you have seen your own pattern written down three times, you stop making it.

The method that works for every puzzle

1. Draw the frame first. Floors bottom to top, seats numbered, days in order. Mark which end is position 1.
2. Place the definite clues. A clue that fixes one person to one place goes in first.
3. Link to what is placed. Next use clues that mention someone already on the diagram.
4. Branch when you must. If a clue allows two positions, draw two cases side by side and carry both forward.
5. Kill cases quickly. After each new clue, check every open case and cross out any that breaks.
6. Fill the leftovers. The last one or two people often fall into place by elimination.
7. Check every clue once. Before answering, read all the clues against the final diagram.

Each of the puzzle guides linked above works through this method on a full SBI PO-level set.

Choosing and timing in the exam

Prelims (20 minutes):

1. Quick questions first: inequality, syllogism, coding and direction, about 6–7 minutes.
2. Then the puzzle sets, easiest first. Judge a set by its frame: a single row with five to seven people and definite clues is usually quicker than a three-variable set.
3. Give any set about five minutes. If it has not settled, move on.

Mains (50 minutes):

1. Computer aptitude: 5–6 minutes.
2. Quick sets: coded inequality, syllogism, blood relations, 8–10 minutes.
3. Puzzles and seating: 25–30 minutes, easiest first.
4. Input–output or critical reasoning: whatever time remains.

Common mistakes

• Practising only prelims-level puzzles, then meeting eight-person, three-variable puzzles for the first time in the mains.
• Using real-world knowledge in syllogism or critical reasoning. Only the statements count.
• Inferring gender from names. If a blood-relation or seating question does not state gender, do not assume it.
• Solving puzzles in your head. Draw every case, however small.
• Skipping the check. A diagram that breaks one clue gives five wrong answers.

A quick self-check

Try these before starting week 1. They take about three minutes.

1. P > Q ≥ R = S < T. Which follow? I: P > S. II: T > R.
2. Statements: All pens are books. Some books are bags. Which follow? I: Some pens are bags. II: Some bags are books.
3. A person walks 5 km north, turns right and walks 3 km, then turns right and walks 9 km. How far are they from the start, and in which direction?
4. In a code, BANK is written as CBOL. How is LOAN written?
5. P is the father of Q. Q is the sister of R. How is R related to P?

Answers:

1. Both follow. P > Q ≥ R = S gives P > S. T > S = R gives T > R.
2. Only II. Some books are bags converts to some bags are books. The pens and bags need not overlap.
3. 5 km, south-east. Net 4 km south and 3 km east; √(16 + 9) = 5.
4. MPBO. Each letter moves one step forward.
5. R is P's child. R's gender is not stated, so "son" or "daughter" cannot be decided.

If you got question 5 wrong by answering "son", note it now. That habit costs marks in blood relations and seating alike.

What to do next

• Get two recent SBI PO papers and mark which topics appeared, to set your own priorities.
• Start week 1 with inequality and syllogism.
• Open an error log today and add to it after every practice session.
• From week 3, two puzzle sets a day, every day, until the exam.