Five days to go, and the call letter is live. The State Bank of India has released the SBI Clerk Backlog Mains Admit Card 2026 for Junior Associates (Customer Support & Sales) under its special recruitment drive for SC, ST and OBC backlog vacancies — and the mains exam itself is on 29 October 2026. If you qualified the prelims, this is the document that gets you into the hall. Download it now, not on the 28th, when the site will be at its slowest and your nerves at their worst.
Let’s be real about which drive this is, because SBI is running two Clerk recruitments at once and mixing them up is the easiest mistake here. This admit card is only for the backlog drive — Advertisement No. CRPD/CR/SPLDRIVE/2026-27/16, 1,538 posts. The regular drive (9,766 posts, Advertisement No. CRPD/CR/2026-27/17) is a separate recruitment, and its prelims result is still awaited. Your call letter belongs to one drive only.
SBI Clerk Backlog Mains Admit Card 2026 — Key Details
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Organisation | State Bank of India (SBI) |
| Post | Junior Associate (Customer Support & Sales) |
| Recruitment | Special Recruitment Drive for SC/ST/OBC Backlog Vacancies |
| Advertisement No. | CRPD/CR/SPLDRIVE/2026-27/16 |
| Total vacancies | 1,538 |
| Online application | 7 to 27 August 2026 |
| Preliminary exam | 16 September 2026 |
| Prelims result | 17 October 2026 |
| Mains admit card | 19 October 2026 |
| Mains exam | 29 October 2026 |
| Official website | sbi.bank.in |
Vacancy Break-Up — 1,538 Backlog Posts
| Category | Vacancies |
|---|---|
| Scheduled Caste (SC) | 207 |
| Scheduled Tribe (ST) | 1,219 |
| Other Backward Classes (OBC) | 112 |
| Total | 1,538 |
The ST share dominates this drive, which is the whole point of a backlog recruitment — these are posts that stayed vacant in earlier rounds and are now being filled through this special drive.
How to Download the SBI Clerk Backlog Mains Admit Card
- Visit the SBI Careers page at sbi.bank.in and open “Current Openings”.
- Find “Recruitment of Junior Associates (Customer Support & Sales) — Special Recruitment Drive for SC/ST/OBC Backlog Vacancies”.
- Click the “Download Mains Exam Call Letter” link for Advertisement No. CRPD/CR/SPLDRIVE/2026-27/16.
- Enter your Registration Number or Roll Number, plus your Password or Date of Birth, and the captcha if shown.
- Check your name, exam date, shift, centre and reporting time on screen — then download the PDF and print at least two clear copies.
Mains Exam Pattern — What You’re Walking Into
The mains paper carries 190 questions for 200 marks in 2 hours 40 minutes, with separate sectional timing. That last part matters: you can’t borrow time from one section to save another.
| Section | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General / Financial Awareness | 50 | 50 | 35 minutes |
| General English | 40 | 40 | 35 minutes |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 50 | 45 minutes |
| Reasoning Ability & Computer Aptitude | 50 | 60 | 45 minutes |
| Total | 190 | 200 | 160 minutes |
The prelims were only qualifying, so the mains score is what actually decides selection, followed by the local language proficiency test where applicable. A strong mains isn’t optional here — it’s the whole game.
Exam Day — Don’t Learn This the Hard Way
- Carry both call letters: the prelims call letter (with a copy of your ID proof) and the mains call letter. SBI asks for both, and candidates have been turned back for missing one.
- Carry a valid original photo ID, and check that the name on it matches your call letter exactly.
- Reach the centre well before your reporting time. The reporting time, shift and venue on your own call letter override anything you read in a general article — including this one.
- If any detail on the call letter looks wrong, contact SBI through the careers portal at once. Don’t wait until exam morning to discover a mismatch.
Banking aspirants tracking other call letters this week should also see our NICL Assistant Mains Admit Card 2026 post (mains on 30 October), the SBI PO Mains Result 2026 post, and the IBPS SO Prelims Result 2026 post for the CRP SPL-XVI cycle.
Selection Process After the Mains
Clearing the mains doesn’t end the process. The stages, in order, are the preliminary exam (already done, and qualifying only), the mains exam on 29 October, and then the local language proficiency test where applicable. Candidates who don’t qualify in the language test — where it applies to their state — don’t move forward even with a good mains score, so don’t treat it as a formality. Check the language requirement for your circle in the original notification and keep your documents ready for that stage too.
Final selection rests on the mains merit, circle-wise and category-wise, against the 1,538 backlog vacancies. That’s another reason to keep this drive separate in your head from the regular 9,766-post recruitment: the merit lists, cut-offs and joining processes are entirely separate, and a good score in one drive says nothing about the other.
If the Download Link Won’t Cooperate
- First, confirm you’re on the backlog drive link (Advertisement No. CRPD/CR/SPLDRIVE/2026-27/16), not the regular drive page. Wrong link, no call letter — it’s that simple.
- Try your Roll Number if your Registration Number doesn’t work, and vice versa. Both are accepted, but a single mistyped digit locks you out.
- Use your Date of Birth in the format the portal asks for (DD-MM-YYYY). A swapped day and month is the most common login failure, and it looks exactly like a wrong password.
- If the page loads slowly, wait rather than hammering refresh. Five days remain before the exam, and a calm retry beats a panicked one.
Important Links
| Link | Action |
|---|---|
| SBI Clerk Backlog Mains Admit Card 2026 | Download Here |
| SBI Careers — Current Openings | Click Here |
| SBI Official Website | Click Here |
FAQs — SBI Clerk Backlog Mains Admit Card 2026
Q1. Has the SBI Clerk Backlog Mains Admit Card 2026 been released?
Yes, on 19 October 2026, for candidates who qualified the prelims of the special backlog drive.
Q2. When is the SBI Clerk Backlog Mains Exam 2026?
On 29 October 2026. Your exact shift and centre are printed on your own call letter.
Q3. How many vacancies are in the backlog drive?
1,538 — SC 207, ST 1,219 and OBC 112 — under Advertisement No. CRPD/CR/SPLDRIVE/2026-27/16.
Q4. What login details do I need to download the call letter?
Your Registration Number or Roll Number, plus your Password or Date of Birth, on sbi.bank.in.
Q5. Is this admit card for the regular SBI Clerk recruitment too?
No. The regular drive (9,766 posts) is separate, and its prelims result is still awaited. This call letter is backlog-drive only.
Q6. What should I carry on exam day?
Your mains call letter, your prelims call letter with a copy of ID proof, and a valid original photo ID.
