Cut-off Marks — Meaning, Definition & Examples (Sarkari Exam 2026)
Category: Selection
Short definition: Minimum qualifying score that a candidate must obtain to advance to the next stage of a Sarkari recruitment exam or to be considered for selection.
What is Cut-off Marks? (Detailed Explanation)
Cut-off marks are the minimum scores that recruitment boards like SSC, UPSC, IBPS, RRB, and state PSCs publish after each exam stage. A candidate scoring below the cut-off is eliminated from further consideration, regardless of how many vacancies remain unfilled. Cut-offs are set separately for every category — General, EWS, OBC (NCL), SC, ST, PwBD — and often differ by state, post, and language medium.
There are two distinct types of cut-offs in Sarkari exams: the qualifying cut-off (the bare minimum to be declared 'qualified', often 33%–40% of total marks) and the merit cut-off (the score of the last candidate selected for that vacancy pool). For example, in SSC CGL Tier-1, the qualifying cut-off may be 25 marks but the General-category merit cut-off is typically 130+ marks. Both must be cleared to make it to Tier-2.
Cut-offs vary year-to-year because they depend on three live factors: the difficulty of the question paper, the number of candidates appearing, and the number of vacancies notified. A tougher paper plus fewer vacancies always produces a lower cut-off. Boards publish cut-offs only after the result, never in advance — so the 'expected cut-off' figures you see on coaching websites are predictions, not official.
Live examples from Sarkari Exam notifications
- SSC CGL Tier-1 2024 General cut-off: 142.46
- IBPS PO Prelims 2024 General cut-off: ~50/100
- UPSC CSE Prelims 2024 General cut-off: 87.54/200
Frequently Asked Questions about Cut-off Marks
Q1. Are cut-off marks released along with the result?
Most boards (SSC, UPSC, IBPS) release category-wise cut-offs within 7–30 days of the result. RRB and some state PSCs release them only after the final selection list is out.
Q2. Can the cut-off be lower than the qualifying marks?
No. The merit cut-off is always equal to or higher than the qualifying cut-off. If vacancies are not filled at the qualifying level, the post is re-advertised — boards do not lower the qualifying threshold.
Q3. Does normalisation affect cut-off calculation?
Yes. In multi-shift exams (SSC, RRB), raw marks are converted to normalised marks before the cut-off is applied. The published cut-off is on normalised marks, not raw marks.
Related Sarkari terms you should know
- Normalisation of Marks — Statistical method used by recruitment boards to make scores comparable across multiple shifts of th…
- Merit List — The final ranked list of candidates published by a recruitment board in descending order of total ma…
Where to learn more
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