- Official cutoffs for CS
- Minimum passing marks: Prelims
- Prelim Cutoffs Comparison Last three years
- Minimum Passing Marks Mains
UPSC has declared the official cutoff marks for Civil service exam 2013 (Prelims, mains and interview stage)
Original source: http://www.upsc.gov.in/exams/cut-off%20marks/2013/cs/Cut%20off%20cs.pdf
You wont find above link on the FrontPage of UPSC website but if you click on “Examination” section & then scroll down to “cutoff marks”, you’ll see it.
Official CSAT cutoffs
| Exam | CS (Prelim)* | CS (Main)# | CS(Final) |
|---|---|---|---|
| General | 241 | 564 | 775 |
| OBC | 222 | 534 | 742 |
| SC | 207 | 518 | 719 |
| ST | 200 | 510 | 707 |
| PH-1 Ortho | 199 | 510 | 725 |
| PH-2 Visual | 184 | 502 | 718 |
| PH-3 Hearing | 163 | 410 | 613 |
| Total | 400 | 1750 | 2025 |
- *Subject to minimum of 30 marks in Paper-I and 70 marks in Paper-II.
- #Subject to 10% marks in each of the seven competitive papers i.e. Essay, GS-I, GS-II, GS‑III, GS-IV, Optional –I and Optional-II.
Minimum passing marks: Prelims
- From the above * and # , now we know UPSC’s official system of “minimum passing marks” (this was never disclosed in RTIs so far).
- it implies that if you failed to reach minimum passing marks in any one paper then they won’t select you for next stage, even if you get best marks in other papers.
- BUT overall merit list prepared by combing scores of both GS + Aptitue paper.
| MAX marks | Minimum passing marks |
Must get atleast __ MCQs correct* |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| CSAT (GS) | 100 Q x 2 = 200 | 30 | 15 |
| CSAT (Aptitude) | 80 Q x 2.5= 200 | 70 | 28 |
| total | 400 |
*assume no MCQs is wrongly attempted.
PS: unlike Bank exams there is no sectional cutoffs within an individual paper. (This is confirmed via RTI many times)
Prelim CSAT Cutoffs: Comparing last 3 years
Cutoffs increased significantly between 2012 vs 2013!
| out of 400 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|
| GEN | 198 | 209 | 241 |
| OBC | 175 | 190 | 222 |
| SC | 165 | 185 | 207 |
| ST | 161 | 181 | 200 |
| PH1- Ortho | 135 | 160 | 199 |
| PH2-Visual | 124 | 164 | 184 |
| PH3-Hearing | 96 | 111 | 163 |
Minimum Passing Marks Mains
| Subject | Max. Marks |
MINIMUM PASSING MARKS |
|---|---|---|
| Compulsory English | 300 | 75* |
| Compulsory Indian Language | 300 | 90* |
| Essay | 250 | 25 |
| GS1 | 250 | 25 |
| GS2 | 250 | 25 |
| GS3 | 250 | 25 |
| GS4 | 250 | 25 |
| OPT.PAPER1 | 250 | 25 |
| OPT.PAPER2 | 250 | 25 |
| TOTAL (ignoring Compulsory papers, they’re not counted in merit) | 1750 |
*UPSC officially mentioned these minimum passing marks of language papers, in the Notification of CSE-2014.
PS: In 2011 and 2012, UPSC did not have two options and two GS papers, so comparative table of 2011 vs 12 vs 13 is meaningless. Because entire mains system is changed.
yaar,cut off was too much high,not expected so much
No good news since 12th
While I agree with the fact that speculating cut offs is of no much use. How ever one must have a clarity on his target marks so that he can accordingly manage time on the exam day.
In my view I am strongly of the opinion that the cut offs may go up be cause of the following reasons.
1. 1 lakh delhi aspirants. these guys will definitly have access to good material ( at least for prelims)
2. Increased number of aspirants from all over the country.
3. Increased number Bank exam coaching inistitutes. People those who aim for bank jobs are also giving a shot here just for timepass.
4. Increased participation from working class specially from banks and IT. these guys either have knowledge of economy which will help to score in paper 1 or they have grip over current affairs.
Apart from abve reasons more interesting part is increased attepts which will add additional 1 lac people who are already profient in paper 1 . and now with little focus they too score more in paper 2.
So guys in all probabilities cut off must in the range of 260- 270.
If some body really wants to study for mains immediatly after prelims he should score atleast 280 so that he can peacefully focus on mains.
sir its 90 in english, and 75 in compulsory indian language..
@rajat, 30% marks in Indian Language and 25% marks in English
sir thnkx fr u valuable guidance…..ur updates n analysis is really helping us aspirants like nything….thnx u lot….god bless u …may allur dreams cum tru
But even if someone attempts & score full marks in csat 2 there is still no way for him /her to qualify. Kuch tou karna padega ppr1 mein.
getting 30 marks in csat is a cake walk and even if you just prepare from the TMH manual for atleast 1 month; + 30 marks from here and there. and 180 + in paper 2 lo prelims clear. par prelim ke bad doubt me rahoge . sureshot clear karne ke liye study hard
The pre marks shot up from 209 to 241…….nice comparison mrunal.sir
Kindly correct GS-1 marks per question in the prelims chart. One needs to attend atleast 15 correct questions…
wonder…what would be the next prelims cutoff…..270…??!!
at least be ready for +255 to be the next cut off…… anything around this will surely gonna give headache…. to be safe, atleast aim for 275+
This yr minimum 240 will be needed for OBC canditates.. so go for it accordingly
Thank you :)
Must get
atleast __
MCQs
correct*
explain please
what about individual prelims 2013 marks? when will upsc publish??
within 15 days of final result so that is ~27th June
Sir, in 2013 prelims the cutoff was 30 and 70 in Paper 1 and Paper 2 respectively.
But in Note-1 of this years 2014 notification it is mentioned that
“Note I: The Commission will draw a list of candidates to be qualified for Civil Service (Main) Examination based on the total qualifying marks as may be determined by the Commission, of the two papers put together.”
Does this mean that there will be no individual paper cutoff in 2014 but only the total of the two papers put together will be taken for determining the cutoff?
I am asking this because in 2014 notification the UPSC has not used the sentence that “the Commission at its discretion may fix individual paper cutoff.”
So sir am I right?
Sir, Just now checked again.
In another place in note 4 (ii) of the notification it is mentioned that “The Commission have discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all the subjects of the examination”
So i think that solves my query.
I am depressed looking at the cut-off and thinking I couldnt even get 534 (OBC) out of 1750 in the Mains. Feeling low :(
Hi Gurung, did u give ur best shot in the mains or was it an insufficiently prepared one? Just curious
Hi Keerthi, I gave my best but considering what my full time job allows me to but it seems my best wasn’t enough. Maybe my answer-writing style also isn’t upto UPSC standards or it wasn’t what they were expecting. I went for maximum attempt and maybe i couldnt do justice to all the questions. Any suggestions on better answer writing is most welcome Keerthi. I am wondering whether quitting my current day job and preparing full time is worthwhile. Any thoughts?
Hmmmmm we r in the same boat I guess. I’m planning to quit job for preparation. Regarding mains, answer writing practice holds The key.getting our answers evaluated by others helps. Anyways i’m sure U’ll clear the 2014 exam successfully. All the best :-)
Thanks Keerthi for your advice and wishes. I wish you the very best too and hope you do clear this year. 2013 was my first attempt and this year i hope i will do better with experience :)
Me to left my job… lol.. but i couldnt qualify pre(was expecting at least 237+ 5)… so this time.. left job… but its not helping much.. the study hours remain the same… not much improvement.. Lets see what happens
I will get IPS.I think answer writing comes only after you have very good content.No amount of garnishing can help if the raw material for food is bad.
ugghh! flamboyance alert!
get a room you guys.
Hi gurung,
http://thesupermanreturns.wordpress.com/
This is gaurav aggarwal air1 blog.He has written GS mains answer dere and suggest strategy. might help you.
Thanks a lot PK for this. Much appreciated.
thanks pk for sharing, sadhuvad ke patra ho
thanx PK for sharing it….really i appreciate you dear….
Mrunal, Please file RTI about IFoS prelims cut off. Also no.of candidates failed to clear paperwise sectional cut off in prelima and mains
Also optional wise distribution of ranks of selected
as per my analysis; in prelim paper of 2013 upsc tried to make the life easier for the non csat guys by making a comparatively easier, paper 1 vis – a- vis the previous years. perhaps, the underlying assumption was that the non-csat would score more in GS and would not be disadvantaged (earlier they had difficult GS paper + less marks in csat = wiped out). However, this may also have helped the csat guys. whatever, abki bar band bajani hai both in csat and gs
Can anyone guide regarding the withheld category result??
Plz summarize the reasons for such a rise in cut-off for prelims. Almost a rise of 40 marks.
Bcz of very easy paper-2..
Sir you can create android app….so that smart phone aspirants can avail easily
What are the timings of mains paper generally ? I mean it is held in two shifts in a day na?
Yes A Dutta, two papers each day, except on Indian language paper. To see last years time table click me
Cut offs incrsing by ~20 marks per year
which suggests for 2014 cut off would be ~260
Abt 100 qstions fr paper 1
Abt 80 qstions fr paper 2
Together we shud score 260
Dividing each paper equally, (just to make calcultn easier),mark for each paper should be 260/2=130
Each mcq is worth 2.5 marks
So For scoring 130 fr paper 1,out of 100 qstions,we shud make 130/2.5=52 qstions right(assuming no negative markings!)
For paper 2, we shud make 52 qstions rright out of 80 qstions…..
Am I ryt…??
Paper 1 each right answer gives you 2 marks, not 2.5
Paper 1 has 100 question each 2 marks = 200
Paper 2 has 80 questions each 2.5 marks = 200
Your analysis is severely flawed.
1) Do not speculate cut offs even before the exam. (Don’t do it after either, start preparing for the mains). Depending on difficulty it could be 200 or it could be 300, all candidates will be impacted in an equal manner.
2) No negative markings? Prelims is 2 months away, give some practice test and you’ll know better
3) To achieve 260 (or any such high score) you’ll need to score much more on P2.
4) And dude even after all this your calculation is wrong. Cutoff went up by 32 marks in 2013 and P1 you’ll need 65 right “assuming no negative markings” to score 130.
Study hard, practice harder. Do a lot of practice tests for P2.
right analysis
in paper 1, 1 questions is 2 marks not 2.5
this time cut-off would be at least 270 as no of candidates who will appear for the exam would increase by at at least 100%.
Cut off increase or decrease according to difficulty level of xam nd it may look like showing a trend of increse every year bt thats jus coincidence…. 2014 can show show both high or low …..mrunal always mentions that one shouldn’t go with an imaginary cut off mindset to exam hall …my advice would b to juss do kick ass study and leave all the number game to sm one else….good luck questions were of 2 marks
My friend was telling, even after getting 230 in prelims he could not make it to mains…. Now I got the reason..
Yup.. now I too got the reason.. super inflation in cutoffs.. 3 of my friends, and me, we were all getting between 230 to 240.. none of us cleared.. and we cud not believe.. i was thinking may b we marked some wrong bubbles in answer sheet.. or like that.. but now i see.. its 241 for Gen Category.. ufff… Boy, one thing is sure now, u cant afford to be weak in GS1 anymore (even for prelims thats is).. all 4 of us are 99 percentilers in CAT.. we all got 185+ in GS2.. but gone are the days wen u cud clear prelims solely because u r a stud in GS2.. it’s no more the case.. In a way it is good, only serious players should clear CSAT, and not those who manage to sail through only with their aptitude and english..
Cut offs incrsing by ~20 marks per year
which suggests for 2014 cut off would be ~260
Abt 100 qstions fr paper 1
Abt 80 qstions fr paper 2
Together we shud score 260
Dividing each paper equally, (just to make calcultn easier),mark for each paper should be 260/2=130
Each mcq is worth 2.5 marks
So For scoring 130 fr paper 1,out of 100 qstions,we shud make 130/2.5=52 qstions right(assuming no negative markings!)
For paper 2, we shud make 52 qstions rright out of 80 qstions…..
Am I ryt…??
i hav alrdy postd it da….
For paper – 1, marking is 2 for correct answer, -2/3 for wrong answer.
For paper – 2, marking is 2.5 for correct answer, again -2/3 for wrong one. However, there is no negative marking for 7-8 questions i.e. Decision making.
but each question is marked for 2 marks in paper one, so to score 230, one shud make 65 qs correct…
yupp.. lost it by just 10 marks… :(.. still this time m optimistic
best of luck, u crack
TOTE UDD GAYE!!!!!!!!!!!1
Sahi kaha parul
sir, can u enlighten us about the scaling procedure in the optionals. ive read somewhere that the method used is normalised linear regression. from some experience in scaling, i think that papers which have fewer candidates tend to have relatively lower average scores. please elaborate about the scaling procedure in optionals.
MRUNALJI,
Hands offfff to you what a work…. Dnt know how to thank you for all these works….
UPCS says 12 to 13 times the vacancy . so if vacancy is 1000 the estimated 13000 will seat for the mains . If paper is easy then these 13000 will score high setting the cut-off high . If the paper is hard then these 13000 will score less setting the cut-off low .
Dont worry , giving your highest is the best option .
cut-off is generally lowest scored of the 13000 in the prelims .
The cutt off is just a imaginary barrier as it is inherent in the cutt off score… A guy scoring 241 has to get at least 41 in paper 1 (even if he gets 200 in paper 2) … so 30 marks is an imaginary barrier… it does not exist . As far as 70 in second paper is concerned to get less than 70 one will have to get at least 171 in paper 1… though it is theoretically possible.. But with the current level of high difficulty, it seems almost impossible to really get 171 in paper 1… If some one has.. he would be out of this world.. So still 171 in Paper 1 is also almost imaginary…
So, UPSC did not put it on the UPSC front page… Cause then coaching classes etc may find a new way to earn through fear mongering in the aspirant community … So just focus on ur preperations…
Good luck to All…
absolutely rite, bro
I think this year’s cut off will be well above 275.. u guys are not counting the aspirants who got 2 new attempts.. so 260 would be normal guess.. but in new scenario 275.. Read in newspaper that this time UPSC preparing for 10 lakh student in Pre examination.
upsconline. nic.in gone down….. :(
form bharne ka hai bhai….
anyone having soft copy of notification ?? even that’s not opening up….. grrrr….
yes you’ll find CSE-2013 notification pdf here:https://files.secureserver.net/0fdXB5xAAiPgaY
Mrunal bhai…. Maaza maa ?? Aaj kal kidhar ho ??
Anyways baad mein website khulne lagi thi… :-)
You mean CSE-2014 sir.
That is a lot. 241…
Now I can’t tell whether to concentrate on the Mains or the Prelims. Hopefully it will be lesser when I give the paper.
Never expected this much high cutoff. Anyway guys Push up your seat belts for 24 Aug..
I think 250+ marks is necessary now fr getting selected fr mains exam……atleast 100 marks in paper 1 and atleast 150 marks in paper 2…….
250+ will be enough for OBC and Others, but it will not be enough for General…..