A cut-off is not a target the Commission sets in advance; it is a fact it discovers afterward — the marks of the last candidate recommended in each category, at each of the exam’s three filters. UPSC discloses the numbers only once a cycle is entirely over, which is why every figure on this page is history, not forecast.
The tables below carry the General-category line across all three stages since 2020, and the full category-wise disclosure for the latest completed cycle.
How the three cut-offs work
The Prelims cut-off is computed on GS Paper I alone, out of 200 — CSAT is qualifying at 33%, and beyond its 66-mark threshold its score is discarded. The Mains cut-off is drawn on the 1,750 written merit marks, provided a candidate clears the two qualifying language papers at 25% and reaches the 10% minimum the Commission fixes in each of the seven merit papers. The final cut-off is the full 2,025-mark aggregate — the written total plus the 275-mark interview — and it is the line that decides selection.
The General-category line, year by year
| Cycle | Prelims | Mains | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSE 2025 | 92.66 | 739 | 963 |
| CSE 2024 | 87.98 | 729 | 947 |
| CSE 2023 | 75.41 | 741 | 953 |
| CSE 2022 | 88.22 | 748 | 960 |
| CSE 2021 | 87.54 | 745 | 953 |
| CSE 2020 | 92.51 | 736 | 944 |
CSE 2025, category by category
| Category | Prelims | Mains | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| General | 92.66 | 739 | 963 |
| EWS | 89.34 | 706 | 926 |
| OBC | 92.00 | 717 | 931 |
| SC | 84.00 | 700 | 905 |
| ST | 82.66 | 694 | 902 |
| PwBD-1 | 76.66 | 703 | 917 |
| PwBD-2 | 54.66 | 708 | 944 |
| PwBD-3 | 40.66 | 536 | 804 |
| PwBD-5 | 40.66 | 451 | 631 |
Reading the numbers
Two forces move a cut-off: how hard the paper played, and how many posts there were to fill. Neither is knowable in advance, which is why chasing last year’s figure is planning for an exam that already happened. The band is the honest signal — and the band says a General candidate should be scoring in the high 90s on timed papers before feeling safe about a line that has reached 92.66.
The final-stage figures tell a quieter story: across six years the selection line has stayed within a narrow range of the 2,025 aggregate, meaning no single stage wins the exam. Prelims admits you, Mains ranks you, and the interview adjusts you — the cut-offs are simply that machinery, printed.
Cut-offs — common questions
When does UPSC publish cut-offs?
Only after the cycle’s final result — the CSE 2025 set arrived on March 11, 2026, alongside the final merit list. Nothing released mid-cycle is official; the “expected cut-offs” that circulate in exam week are estimates, and they miss.
Is CSAT counted in the Prelims cut-off?
No. The Prelims cut-off is computed on GS Paper I alone. CSAT is qualifying at 33% — 66 of its 200 marks — and beyond that threshold its score is discarded.
Are there minimum marks inside Mains?
Two kinds. The two language papers are qualifying at 25% each and count nothing toward merit. Separately, a candidate must reach the minimum the Commission fixes — 10% — in each of the seven merit papers, the Essay, GS I–IV, and both optional papers, for the Mains total to count at all.
Why did 2023 fall to 75.41?
Cut-offs move with paper difficulty and with vacancies, and the 2023 Prelims sat at the hard end of the recent range. The instructive part is less the cause than the spread: a swing of more than seventeen marks across six years is exactly why preparation should target a band, never a single number.
What score should I target in Prelims?
There is no official safe score. The conservative reading of the table is to prepare for comfortably above the highest recent General cut-off — north of the mid-90s on GS Paper I — while treating CSAT’s 66 as a floor to clear early, not a gamble for exam day. Timed past papers and mock tests are how a target becomes a measurement.
