UPSC releases the cut off for IAS prelims and main exams separately on the scheduled dates. Cut off is the benchmark or the minimum marks which candidates need to secure in order to move further in the UPSC recruitment process. The cut off is decided on the basis of total vacancies, difficulty level of paper and number of candidates appearing for the exam.
Civil Services (IAS) exam is conducted in two stages – prelims (objective) and main (descriptive paper). Prelims is more of a screening process for the candidates to check if they are eligible for the mains round. The marks obtained in the prelims exam does not count in the final exam scores that are considered for the recruitments in civil services posts. Final cut off considers Mains cut off and marks obtained in the interview round for the final merit list.
In this article, we will feature the cut offs of the previous year’s Civil Services Exam. You will also get to know how to check the cut off online and key events in Civil Services Exam 2020.
UPSC Civil Services Cut off – Prelims and Mains Cut off
UPSC IAS 2020 cut off has not yet been released since the exams are yet to be conducted for this year. IAS prelims exam 2020 was scheduled to be conducted in the month of May 2020. On 4th May, UPSC announced the deferrment of the Prelims exam until further notice. [Read the Civil Services Exam Dates article for updates]
Hence, let’s talk about the cut offs of Civil Services (Preliminary) Exam, 2019 and the cut offs of IAS prelims and main exam in the year before that. IAS Prelims 2019 was held in June 2019 and results were declared in July 2019. We have given more focus on the IAS Prelims exam, the cut off for the IAS Prelims 2019 and brief on Mains cut off in the following sections below:
IAS Prelims Paper – Marks, Negative Marking
|
Subjects |
No. of Objective Questions |
Duration |
|
GS Paper 1 |
100 Questions (2 marks) |
2 Hours |
|
GS Paper 2 (Qualifying nature) |
80 Questions (2.5 marks) |
2 Hours |
|
Total |
180 Questions (400 marks) |
The questions asked in the IAS Prelims 2019 were moderate to difficult. A negative marking of ⅓ marks was deducted from the total marks. This information is crucial for analysing what cut off can you expect after attempting the papers.
The category wise cut off list of IAS Prelims 2019 is mentioned below:
|
Category |
Cut-Off GS Paper-I (Out of 200 Marks) |
|
|
General |
95-105 |
|
|
EWS |
95-100 |
|
|
OBC |
90-100 |
|
|
SC |
85-95 |
|
|
ST |
80-90 |
|
|
Previous qualifying marks for IAS Prelims GS Paper – II (CSAT) 2019 (Out of 200 Marks) |
||
|
Minimum Percentage |
33% |
|
The previous year’s (2015 to 2018) cut off for IAS Prelims GS Paper 1 is mentioned in the table below:
|
IAS Prelims GS Paper-I Cut off Marks in the Previous Years |
|||||
|
Category |
2018 |
2017 |
2016 |
2015 |
|
|
General |
98.00 |
105.34 |
116 |
107.34 |
|
|
OBC |
96.66 |
102.66 |
110.66 |
106 |
|
|
SC |
84.00 |
88.66 |
99.34 |
94 |
|
|
ST |
83.34 |
88.66 |
96 |
91.34 |
|
|
PwBD – 1 |
73.34 |
85.34 |
75.34 |
90.66 |
|
|
PwBD – 2 |
53.34 |
61.34 |
72.66 |
76.66 |
|
|
PwBD- 3 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
|
|
Minimum Qualifying Marks for IAS Prelims GS Paper – II (CSAT) 2018 |
|||||
|
Minimum Percentage |
33% |
||||
The IAS Mains 2019 cut off marks are mentioned in the table below:
|
Category |
Cut Off Marks |
|
General |
775 |
|
EWS |
740 |
|
OBC |
735 |
|
SC |
725 |
|
ST |
724 |
|
PH-1 |
715 |
|
PH-2 |
690 |
|
PH-3 |
523 |
IAS Cut off Marks for 2018 exam is shown in the table below:
|
Categories |
Prelims Cut Off |
Mains Cut Off |
Final Cut Off |
|
General |
98 |
774 |
982 |
|
OBC |
96.66 |
732 |
938 |
|
SC |
84 |
719 |
912 |
|
ST |
83.34 |
719 |
912 |
|
OH |
73.34 |
711 |
899 |
|
VI |
53.34 |
696 |
908 |
|
HI |
40 |
520 |
754 |
UPSC Civil Services Cut off – Check Cut Off Marks Online
Step 1: Applicants have to log in to the official website of UPSC (http://upsc.gov.in/).
Step 2: Under the Examination tab, click on the Cut off button.
Step 3: Click on the Download button of the exam for which you want to check the cutoff for.
Once you click on the button, the IAS exam cutoff will appear on the screen.
To know how to register for UPSC Civil Services, read Civil Services (IAS) Exam here.
UPSC Civil Services Cut off – Key Dates (2020)
IAS Prelims Exam 2020 has been scheduled to be conducted on 31 May 2020. On the other hand, UPSC has not issued any notice regarding the new IAS interview 2019 dates yet.
The key dates for the events in the Civil Services (IAS) 2020 exam is mentioned below:
|
Key Dates |
Notifications |
|
12 February 2020 |
UPSC issued the Civil Services (IAS) Exam announcement of 796 vacancies. |
|
3 March 2020 |
Online applications were accepted until this date. |
|
31 May 2020 (Deferred) |
IAS Prelims 2020 Exam will be conducted in offline mode. (Deferred) |
|
Dates not announced |
IAS Prelims Exam results |
|
18 September 2020 |
IAS Mains Exam is scheduled on this date |
UPSC Civil Services Cut off – Post Prelims Exam Process
IAS Mains Exam – The candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will have to apply online again and submit an on-line Detailed Application Form-I [DAF-I] along with scanned documents/certificates in support of their date of birth, category etc.
IAS Interview – The candidates who are declared to have qualified Civil Services (Main) Examination will be required to mandatorily indicate the order of preferences only for the participating services in the Civil Services Examination for the year, for which they are interested to be allocated to, in the on-line Detailed Application Form-II [DAF-II], before the commencement of Personality Tests (Interviews) of the examination.
UPSC Civil Services Cut off – FAQs
Q. What are the next steps after obtaining IAS cut off?
If you obtain a required cut off in prelims or mains you move to next stage of the exam. If you obtain the required cut off in UPSC IAS Mains exam, then you will be called for interview. Performance in the interview and cut off in marks is considered together for final cut off. Candidates who achieve the final cut off are selected for civil services posts.
Q. What were the expected cut off in IAS 2019 prelims for general category candidates?
The expected cut off in IAS 2019 prelims for general/EWS candidates were 95-105.
Q. What were the cut off for UPSC IAS 2019 Mains for General Category Candidates?
Only candidates who secured 775 out of 1800 were able to qualify for final interview round.
Q. Is there qualifying marks to be obtained in the GS Paper II in UPSC IAS Prelims?
Yes, GS paper-II is qualifying in nature with minimum passing marks required is 33%.
Q. Will the IAS prelims be held on time this year?
UPSC IAS 2020 prelims are yet to happen and it has got further postponed (from 31 May, 2020 until further notice) due to the prolonged lockdown in the country.
