The UPSC cut-off for the 2024 exam cycle, as well as the UPSC final result, will be made available on the commission’s official website. UPSC cut-off marks are used to determine the minimum score required to proceed to the next level of the UPSC Civil Services test. It will inform you about the minimum marks required to pass the exam at each stage of the selection process. As a result, analysing prior trends is critical for predicting the likely UPSC cut-off. Read on to properly organise your preparation strategy based on the projected UPSC cut-off for 2025.
UPSC Cutoff 2025: Key Highlights
- Topper’s perspective: AIR 1, Shakti Dubey, a Banaras Hindu University biochemistry graduate, received the highest scores after several attempts. Gender Diversity: Female candidates now hold three of the top five slots, following a recent trend.
- Cut-off markings reflect competitive levels across categories, emphasising the importance of strategic preparation.
UPSC Cut Off: 2025 (Expected)
The UPSC Cut Off 2025 for UPSC Prelims, Mains, and Final Round 2025 will be announced alongside the UPSC Result 2025. For your reference, below are the UPSC Previous Year cutoffs for UPSC Prelims, Mains, and Final Rounds by year. The cut-off marks are released for various categories such as General, SC, ST, OBC, and EWS, based on the number of vacancies, total number of candidates who took the exam, the difficulty level of the exam, and so on.
| Category | Expected Prelims Cut-Off Marks 2025 |
| General | 90–95 |
| EWS | 85–90 |
| OBC | 85–90 |
| SC | 75–80 |
| ST | 70–75 |
| PwBD-1 | 65–70 |
| PwBD-2 | 60–65 |
| PwBD-3 | 50–55 |
| PwBD-5 | 50–55 |
What Factors Impact the UPSC Cutoff?
The UPSC cutoff is influenced by several key factors each year:
- Firstly, the number of vacancies significantly impacts the cutoff—fewer seats usually lead to higher competition and a higher cutoff.
- Secondly, the difficulty level of the exam plays a crucial role; tougher papers often result in lower cutoffs.
- Thirdly, the number of candidates appearing also matters—a larger candidate pool increases competition. The performance of candidates in a given year can raise or lower the cutoff based on overall scoring trends.
- Additionally, reservation policies and category-wise seat distribution affect cutoffs for different categories like General, OBC, SC, and ST. Lastly, the normalisation process and moderation techniques used by UPSC to maintain consistency and fairness also influence the final cutoff.
Understanding these factors can help aspirants plan their preparation more strategically and realistically.
UPSC Previous Year Cut-off
Knowing the UPSC CSE Previous Year Cut Off Marks can help you understand the trend of difficulty levels used by the Union Public Service Commission in terms of Prelims, Mains, and Interview Rounds. Here, we are presenting UPSC Previous Year Cut-Offs, which will help all candidates understand the cut-off for the upcoming UPSC Exam. Examine the previous year’s cut-off marks and devise a strategy to achieve high scores in the future UPSC CCE exam.
UPSC Cut Off 2025 (Expected)
UPSC Prelims 2024 Cutoff Marks (Based on GS Paper-I)
The UPSC Prelims exam is broken into two papers: General Studies Paper I (GS I) and General Studies Paper II (CSAT). Whereas GS I is used to compile the merit list, CSAT is a qualifying examination. Candidates must get a minimum score of 33% on the CSAT. The Prelims cut-off varies from year to year, depending on factors such as the complexity of the examinations, the number of aspirants, and the number of seats available.
| Category | Cut-off Marks (2024) |
| General | 87.98 |
| EWS | 85.92 |
| OBC | 87.28 |
| SC | 79.03 |
| ST | 74.23 |
| PwBD-1 | 69.42 |
| PwBD-2 | 65.30 |
| PwBD-3 | 40.56 |
| PwBD-5 | 40.56 |
UPSC Mains 2024 Cut Off Marks
The UPSC Mains test consists of nine papers, with only seven considered for merit ranking. The remaining two papers, the English Language Paper and the Indian Language Paper, are qualifying in nature. To get to the Interview stage, candidates must score over the Mains cutoff. The cut-off is based on the overall performance in the Mains exams.
| Category | Cut-off Marks (2024) |
| General | 729 |
| EWS | 696 |
| OBC | 702 |
| SC | 685 |
| ST | 684 |
| PwBD-1 | 663 |
| PwBD-2 | 696 |
| PwBD-3 | 307 |
| PwBD-5 | 361 |
Last 5 Years UPSC Cut-off
It is crucial to examine the trends of past UPSC Cut Offs in order to forecast the category-wise cut-off for UPSC 2025. The Prelims cut-off for the General category has fluctuated between 74.41 and 98 marks over the past five years, while the Mains cut-off has ranged from 700 to 750 marks. The trend indicates a minor increase in the cut-off marks each year, which is indicative of the increasing competition. Based on the UPSC Cut off trend analysis, it is possible that there will be a slight increase. Here is the UPSC Prelims Cut off analysis for the past five years:
UPSC Prelims Cutoff Last 5 Years Category-wise
| UPSC Prelims Cut Off (2023-2019) | |||||
| Category | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| General | 75.41 | 88.22 | 87.54 | 92.51 | 98 |
| OBC | 74.75 | 87.54 | 89.12 | 89.12 | 95.34 |
| ST | 47.82 | 69.35 | 70.71 | 68.71 | 77.34 |
| SC | 59.25 | 74.08 | 75.41 | 74.84 | 82 |
| PWD 1 | 40.40 | 49.84 | 68.02 | 70.06 | 53.34 |
| PWD 2 | 47.13 | 58.59 | 67.33 | 63.94 | 44.66 |
| PWD 3 | 40.40 | 40.40 | 43.09 | 40.82 | 61.34 |
| PWD 4 | 33.68 | 41.76 | 45.80 | 42.86 | 61.34 |
| EWS | 68.02 | 82.83 | 80.14 | 77.55 | 90 |
UPSC Mains Cutoff Last 5 Years Category-wise
| UPSC Mains Cut Off (2023-2019) | |||||
| Category | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| General | 741 | 748 | 745 | 736 | 751 |
| OBC | 712 | 714 | 707 | 698 | 718 |
| ST | 692 | 706 | 700 | 682 | 699 |
| SC | 694 | 699 | 700 | 680 | 706 |
| PWD 1 | 673 | 677 | 688 | 648 | 663 |
| PWD 2 | 718 | 706 | 712 | 699 | 698 |
| PWD 3 | 396 | 351 | 388 | 425 | 374 |
| PWD 4 | 445 | 419 | 560 | 300 | 561 |
| EWS | 706 | 715 | 713 | 687 | 696 |
UPSC Final Cutoff Last 5 Years Category-wise
| UPSC Final Cut off (2023-2019) | |||||
| Category | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| General | 953 | 960 | 953 | 944 | 961 |
| OBC | 919 | 923 | 910 | 907 | 925 |
| SC | 890 | 893 | 886 | 875 | 898 |
| ST | 891 | 900 | 883 | 876 | 893 |
| PWD 1 | 894 | 879 | 892 | 867 | 861 |
| PWD 2 | 930 | 913 | 932 | 910 | 890 |
| PWD 3 | 756 | 632 | 689 | 675 | 653 |
| PWD 4 | 589 | 590 | 701 | 465 | 708 |
| EWS | 923 | 926 | 916 | 894 | 909 |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: What is the UPSC cut-off?
A: It is the minimum score required to qualify each stage of the UPSC Civil Services Exam.
Q: Does the UPSC cut-off vary every year?
A: Yes, it varies based on factors like exam difficulty, vacancies, and candidate performance.
Q: Are there different cut-offs for different categories?
A: Yes, UPSC releases category-wise cut-offs (General, OBC, SC, ST, EWS, PwBD).
Q: Is there a sectional cut-off in UPSC Prelims?
A: No, but candidates must score at least 33% in CSAT (Paper II) to qualify.
Q: When is the cut-off officially released?
A: The final cut-off is released by UPSC after the entire exam process is completed.