What is the ideal order to attempt questions in SBI Clerk Prelims?

Prelims sections are separately timed, 20 minutes each. The section order is set by the exam, and you cannot carry spare time from one section to the next. What you control is the order of questions inside each section: the handout says you can move between questions within a test using the question palette.

English (30 questions, 20 minutes)

1. Fillers and error detection (rule-based, quick)
2. Word swap, phrase replacement, cloze
3. Reading comprehension
4. Para jumbles or column-based questions last

Numerical Ability (35 questions, 20 minutes)

1. Simplification and approximation
2. Quadratic equations and number series
3. DI sets with clean numbers
4. Arithmetic word problems last; pick the shortest ones

Reasoning (35 questions, 20 minutes)

1. Inequality, syllogism, alphanumeric series, coding
2. Direction, blood relations, ranking
3. Puzzles and seating, starting with the shortest set

Time checkpoints

Using mark for review

If a question takes more than about 60-90 seconds, mark it and move on. According to the SBI handout, an answer that is selected and marked for review is counted in evaluation, so you can mark a question you have answered but want to recheck.

Adjust the order to your strengths

The lists above are a starting point. If RC is your strongest area, you may prefer to do it first while you are fresh. If you are fast at DI, take a clean set before series. What matters is that you test an order in mocks, settle on it, and then stop changing it in the last two weeks.