SBI PO Eligibility 2026-27: Age Limit, Graduation Date and Attempts

SBI PO eligibility turns on three dates and one count: your date of birth, the date by which you must prove graduation, and how many times you have already appeared in the Main exam. The 2026-27 advertisement also raised the number of chances and dropped the credit-history bar. This guide sets out the exact rules from advertisement CRPD/PO/2026-27/09, how they compare with the previous two cycles, and a checker for your own case.

SBI advertisement CRPD/PO/2026-27/09.

Any graduate may apply: the advertisement asks for “graduation in any discipline from a recognized University or any equivalent qualification recognized as such by the Central Government”, and says candidates with medical, engineering, chartered accountancy or cost accountancy qualifications are also eligible. No minimum percentage is stated. Final-year or final-semester students may apply provisionally, but if they are called for the interview they must show that they passed on or before 30 September 2026 (the date was 30 September 2025 for 2025-26 and 30 April 2025 for 2024-25). The date of passing is the date on the mark sheet or provisional certificate, or the certified date on which the result was posted online.

The window is inclusive at both ends: for 2026-27, a candidate born on 2 April 1996 or on 1 April 2005 is eligible, one born on 1 April 1996 or 2 April 2005 is not. Relaxation extends only the upper end — an OBC candidate may be born as early as 2 April 1993, an SC or ST candidate as early as 2 April 1991 — and relaxations cannot be combined. Because each cycle’s cut-off date moves forward by a year, a candidate who is just inside the window in one cycle can be outside it in the next; if you are close to the upper limit, the current advertisement may be your last chance at your age.

A chance is used by appearing in the Main examination. Appearing only in the prelims does not count, and in a year with a single written exam, that exam counts. The earlier advertisements said chances were counted from the exam held on 18 April 2010; the 2026-27 advertisement leaves that sentence out and gives no start date, so the counting of old attempts is not stated for this cycle.

• Credit history: the clause that barred candidates with unregularised loan or credit-card defaults was removed by corrigendum on 1 July 2026.
• Certificates: OBC-NCL certificate in the Government of India format, issued between 1 April 2026 and the date of the interview and held by the interview — no extension is given; EWS income and asset certificate for FY 2025-26; PwBD certificate dated on or before the last registration date.
• Temporary disability: PwBD candidates whose certificate says the condition is “likely to improve” are not eligible for reservation (a new line in 2026-27).
• Serving employees of government, PSUs or banks must produce a no-objection certificate at the interview.
• Posting: selected officers can be posted to any Circle or office of SBI in India, or deputed to an associate, subsidiary or other organisation, and requests for a specific place “may not be entertained”.

Reserved-category candidates need current certificates: an OBC-NCL certificate issued between 1 April 2026 and the interview date (a candidate without it at document verification is not allowed to attend the interview) and an EWS income and asset certificate for FY 2025-26. PwBD candidates need a disability certificate dated on or before the last registration date, and from 2026-27 a certificate marking the condition as “likely to improve” does not qualify for reservation. Candidates eligible for a scribe get 20 minutes per hour of compensatory time, and SBI publishes separate scribe guidelines each cycle. The 2026-27 advertisement also says the Bank may carry out online Aadhaar verification of candidates and scribes at different stages.

Eligibility is checked in full only at the later stages, so a mistake at the application can surface months later. At the interview, candidates must produce proof of graduation (by 30 September 2026 for this cycle), the category certificate in the prescribed format and dated as the advertisement requires, the PwBD certificate where relevant, and — for serving employees of government, PSUs or banks — a no-objection certificate. The Bank may also verify Aadhaar online at different stages. If any document does not match what was entered in the application, candidature can be cancelled at any stage, so enter the details exactly as they appear on the certificates.

The last two advertisements came out in June (23 June 2025 and 18 June 2026), each with an application window of about three weeks, and the one before in December 2024. Nothing for 2027-28 has been announced. If you are close to an age limit, check your date of birth against the window as soon as the advertisement appears — the cut-off date moves forward by a year each cycle, and both ends are inclusive: for 2026-27, a candidate born on 01.04.2005 is eligible while one born on 02.04.2005 is not, and one born on 02.04.1996 is eligible while one born on 01.04.1996 is not.