UPSC CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATION CUT-OFF ANALYSIS YEAR-WISE
UPSC releases the cut-off marks for all the stages, the Preliminary, the Mains, and the final cut-off, only after the declaration of the result every year.
UPSC Preliminary Cut-off Analysis
UPSC prelims cut-off marks are considered for General Studies I only. The General Studies II paper is only qualifying in nature and thus is not counted for merit ranking. The GS II paper requires candidates to score a minimum 33% for qualifying it.
| Category | UPSC Cut off 2022 (out of 200) | UPSC Cut off 2021 (out of 200) | UPSC Cut off 2020 (out of 200) | UPSC Cut off 2019 (out of 200) | UPSC Cut off 2018 (out of 200) |
| General | 88.22 | 87.54 | 92.51 | 98 | 98 |
| EWS | 82.83 | 80.14 | 77.55 | 90 | - |
| OBC | 87.54 | 84.85 | 89.12 | 95.34 | 96.66 |
| SC | 74.08 | 75.41 | 74.84 | 82 | 84 |
| ST | 69.35 | 70.71 | 68.71 | 77.34 | 83.34 |
| PwBD-1 | 49.84 | 68.02 | 70.06 | 53.34 | 73.34 |
| PwBD-2 | 58.59 | 67.33 | 63.94 | 44.66 | 53.34 |
| PwBD-3 | 40.40 | 43.09 | 40.82 | 54.66 | 40 |
| PwBD-5 | 41.76 | 45.80 | 42.86 | 61.34 | 45.34 |
UPSC Mains Cut-off Analysis
| Category | UPSC Cut off 2022 (out of 1750) | UPSC Cut off 2021 (out of 1750) | UPSC Cut off 2020 (out of 1750) | UPSC Cut off 2019 (out of 1750) | UPSC Cut off 2018 (out of 1750) |
| General | 748 | 745 | 736 | 751 | 774 |
| EWS | 715 | 713 | 687 | 696 | - |
| OBC | 714 | 707 | 698 | 718 | 732 |
| SC | 699 | 700 | 680 | 706 | 719 |
| ST | 706 | 700 | 682 | 699 | 719 |
| PwBD-1 | 677 | 668 | 648 | 663 | 711 |
| PwBD-2 | 706 | 712 | 699 | 698 | 696 |
| PwBD-3 | 351 | 388 | 425 | 374 | 520 |
| PwBD-5 | 419 | 560 | 300 | 561 | 460 |
UPSC Final Cut-off Analysis
| Category | UPSC Cut off 2022 (out of 2025) | UPSC Cut off 2021 (out of 2025) | UPSC Cut off 2020 (out of 2025) | UPSC Cut off 2019 (out of 2025) | UPSC Cut off 2018 (out of 2025) |
| General | 960 | 953 | 944 | 961 | 982 |
| EWS | 926 | 916 | 894 | 909 | - |
| OBC | 923 | 910 | 907 | 925 | 938 |
| SC | 893 | 886 | 875 | 898 | 912 |
| ST | 900 | 883 | 876 | 893 | 912 |
| PwBD-1 | 879 | 892 | 867 | 861 | 899 |
| PwBD-2 | 913 | 932 | 910 | 890 | 908 |
| PwBD-3 | 632 | 689 | 675 | 653 | 754 |
| PwBD-5 | 590 | 701 | 465 | 708 | 718 |
UPSC Cut Off: Factors Determining the Minimum Marks
The UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) has a cut-off system that determines the minimum marks a candidate needs to qualify for the next stage. Several factors influence this cut-off, which varies across the Preliminary, Mains, and Final stages.
Key Influences on UPSC Cut-Offs
- Difficulty Level of the Exam: Harder exams tend to have lower cut-offs as fewer candidates score high marks. Conversely, easier exams may have higher cut-offs due to more candidates achieving good scores.
- Number of Vacancies: More vacancies generally lead to a lower cut-off because there are more positions to fill.
- Reservation Policy: The UPSC follows a reservation system for categories like General, OBC, SC, and ST. Cut-offs for each category can vary depending on the number of applicants and reserved seats.
- Candidate Performance: Exceptional overall performance by a large number of candidates can raise the cut-off. Conversely, an average performance may lead to a lower cut-off.
- Normalization Procedure (Prelims Only): The UPSC employs a normalization procedure to ensure fairness when calculating the Prelims cut-off. This adjusts scores across different question paper sets with varying difficulty levels.
- Overall Competition: The level of competition and candidate quality in a given year can also influence the cut-off. Higher competition may result in a higher cut-off.
UPSC Cut Off: Tie-Breaking Rules
In cases where candidates achieve the same aggregate marks, the UPSC uses a "Tie-breaking" principle to determine their relative merit:
- Priority: Candidates with higher marks in the combined Compulsory Papers and Personality Test are ranked higher.
- Age: If the aforementioned criteria yield equal scores, the older candidate is ranked higher.
This "Tie-breaking" principle ensures fairness and transparency in the ranking process, providing a systematic method to differentiate candidates with identical overall marks.
