Skip to content

Citi 2026 Pattern Details

Overview

This page collects Citi placement papers from 2026 with practice questions, worked solutions, and the exam pattern students reported that cycle. Use it when you want drive history: what the first round looked like, which topics repeated, and how to approach solutions. Work the sets below under a timer, then compare with newer material so your prep matches both established Citi patterns and recent shifts.

Citi Aptitude Mock Quiz

Timed placement-style MCQs with score and explanations after you submit. Use it to check speed and accuracy before the real test.

Questions15
Time10 min

Citi exam pattern 2026

Section What shows up Prep focus
Aptitude / logical Quant, reasoning, sometimes verbal Timed sectional accuracy
Coding / programming logic Easy-medium DSA or output-style MCQs Handle tricky inputs
Technical interview OOPs, DBMS, OS, projects Explain aloud
HR Fit, location, intent A few real examples ready

First round: Citi Online Assessment
Skills emphasized: Aptitude, coding, finance domain
Languages: Java, Python, SQL

Sample Citi questions with solutions

These are practice-style questions aligned to patterns students report for Citi drives around 2026. They are not leaked live papers. Work them timed, then read the solutions only after you have an answer.

Quantitative aptitude (2026)

Q1: Marked price discount

Problem: A shopkeeper marks goods 20% above cost and then gives a 10% discount. What is the profit percentage?

Solution: Let CP = ₹100. Marked price = ₹120. Discount = 10% of 120 = ₹12. SP = 120 − 12 = ₹108. Profit % = 8%.

Answer: 8%

Q2: Three workers

Problem: A finishes work in 12 days, B in 15 days, and C in 20 days. Working together, how many days do they need?

Solution: Take total work = LCM(12,15,20) = 60 units. A = 5/day, B = 4/day, C = 3/day. Combined = 12 units/day. Time = 60/12 = 5 days.

Answer: 5 days

Q3: Age ratio

Problem: The ratio of ages of A and B is 3:5. After 8 years the ratio becomes 5:7. Find A’s present age.

Solution: Let ages be 3x and 5x. (3x+8)/(5x+8) = 5/7 7(3x+8) = 5(5x+8) 21x + 56 = 25x + 40 4x = 16 → x = 4 A’s age = 12 years.

Answer: 12 years

Q4: Pipe fill

Problem: Pipe A fills a tank in 6 hours and pipe B in 8 hours. How long do they take together to fill it?

Solution: Combined rate = 1/6 + 1/8 = 4/24 + 3/24 = 7/24. Time = 24/7 hours ≈ 3 hours 26 minutes.

Answer: 24/7 hours

Q5: Simple interest

Problem: Find the simple interest on ₹8000 at 10% per annum for 2 years.

Solution: SI = (P × R × T) / 100 = (8000 × 10 × 2) / 100 = ₹1600.

Answer: ₹1600

Q6: Percentage recover

Problem: If 30% of a number is 150, what is the number?

Solution: 0.3x = 150 → x = 150 / 0.3 = 500.

Answer: 500

Q7: Average after replace

Problem: The average of five numbers is 20. One number 30 is replaced by 10. What is the new average?

Solution: Old sum = 5 × 20 = 100. New sum = 100 − 30 + 10 = 80. New average = 80 / 5 = 16.

Answer: 16

Q8: Series n(n+1)

Problem: Find the next term: 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, ?

Solution: Pattern: 1×2, 2×3, 3×4, 4×5, 5×6, 6×7. Next = 6 × 7 = 42.

Answer: 42

Logical reasoning (2026)

Q1: Coding letter shift

Problem: If CAT is coded as DBU, how is DOG coded in the same way?

Solution: Each letter moves +1 in the alphabet: C→D, A→B, T→U. D→E, O→P, G→H → EPH.

Answer: EPH

Q2: Blood relation

Problem: Pointing to a photograph, Ravi says, ‘She is the daughter of my mother’s only son.’ How is the girl related to Ravi?

Solution: Ravi’s mother’s only son is Ravi himself (assuming one son). The girl is therefore Ravi’s daughter.

Answer: Daughter

Q3: Syllogism

Problem: Statements: All engineers are graduates. Some graduates are managers. Conclusion: Some engineers are managers. Does it follow?

Solution: The ‘some graduates’ who are managers need not overlap with the engineers. The conclusion does not follow necessarily.

Answer: Does not follow

Q4: Direction turn

Problem: A person walks 5 km north, then 3 km east, then 5 km south. How far is he from the start, and in which direction?

Solution: North 5 and south 5 cancel. He is 3 km east of the start.

Answer: 3 km east

Coding practice (2026)

Coding Q1: Binary search

Problem: Given a sorted array of distinct integers and a target, return the index of target or -1 if missing.

Approach: Maintain lo/hi. Compare mid with target and shrink the half that cannot contain it. Careful with overflow-free mid and empty arrays.

Complexity: O(log n) time

Citi tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Coding Q2: Move zeros

Problem: Move all zeros in an array to the end while keeping the relative order of non-zero elements.

Approach: Two pointers: write non-zeros toward the front, then fill the remainder with zeros. Or swap zeros as you scan.

Complexity: O(n) time, O(1) space

Citi tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Coding Q3: Rotate array

Problem: Rotate an array to the right by k steps. Example: [1,2,3,4,5,6,7], k = 3 → [5,6,7,1,2,3,4].

Approach: Normalize k %= n. Reverse the whole array, reverse the first k elements, then reverse the rest. That yields the rotation in place.

Complexity: O(n) time, O(1) space

Citi tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Coding Q4: First unique character

Problem: Find the first non-repeating character in a string and return its index, or -1 if none exists.

Approach: Count frequencies in one pass (hash map or array of 26 for lowercase). Second pass returns the first index with count 1.

Complexity: O(n) time

Citi tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Coding Q5: Stack with min

Problem: Design a stack that supports push, pop, top, and getMin in average O(1) time.

Approach: Keep a parallel min-stack (or store pairs). When pushing, also push the new minimum. When popping, pop both stacks.

Complexity: O(1) per operation amortized

Citi tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Coding Q6: Maximum subarray sum (Kadane)

Problem: Given an integer array, find the contiguous subarray with the largest sum and return that sum. Example: [-2,1,-3,4,-1,2,1,-5,4] → 6 (from [4,-1,2,1]).

Approach: Keep a running sum. If the running sum drops below 0, reset it to 0 before taking the next element (or track the best ending-here value). Track the global maximum as you scan once from left to right.

Complexity: O(n) time, O(1) extra space

Citi tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Coding Q7: Reverse a string in place

Problem: Given a mutable character array representing a string, reverse it in place without allocating another array of the same size.

Approach: Use two pointers at the start and end. Swap characters, then move inward until the pointers meet. Watch empty and single-character inputs.

Complexity: O(n) time, O(1) extra space

Citi tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Coding Q8: Check prime

Problem: Write a function that returns true if n is prime and false otherwise. Handle n < 2 correctly.

Approach: Return false for n < 2. Trial-divide from 2 to floor(sqrt(n)). If any divisor divides n evenly, it is composite; otherwise prime.

Complexity: O(√n) time

Citi tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Deep prep notes for Citi

How the Citi Online Assessment usually feels

Students usually say the first round is time-tight - easy marks vanish if you sit too long on one hard question. For Citi, skim the paper in a couple of minutes, mark what you can finish cleanly, and protect accuracy. Languages people commonly use: Java, Python, SQL.

Topic weight hints

Area Why it matters at Citi
Aptitude What usually helps you clear the first round
Core CS (OOPs / DBMS / OS) Technical interview depth
Global Banking awareness Helps in managerial / HR conversations
Communication Explain your approach clearly; keep a few real examples ready for HR

14-Day sprint

  1. Days 1-3: Learn the 2026 pattern and take two sectional mocks
  2. Days 4-7: Closed practice on weak topics from your error log
  3. Days 8-10: Full mocks every other day; review the same day
  4. Days 11-14: Practice explaining projects out loud, light revision, sleep and IDs ready

Comments & Suggestions

Similar companies

Barclays · Bank of America · HSBC · JP Morgan · Deutsche Bank