UPSC Cut Off 2025, 2024 & Previous Years
Prelims, Mains and final cut-offs by category from 2012 to 2025, plus how many candidates applied, appeared and were finally selected every year since 2010. Every number is UPSC's own.
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Quick answer: UPSC cut-off 2025
For CSE 2025 the General cut-off was 92.66/200 in Prelims, 739/1,750 in Mains and 963/2,025 in the final list, with the Prelims cut-off up 4.68 marks on 2024.
| Category | Prelims / 200 | Mains (written) / 1,750 | Final / 2,025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
958 candidates were recommended against 1,087 vacancies in CSE 2025. See the full 2025 breakdown, PwBD included →
UPSC Prelims cut-off trend (General, out of 200)
From 2015, the Prelims cut-off is decided by GS Paper I alone. It swings with paper difficulty: 75.41 in 2023, 116 in 2016. That gap is about 20 questions.
2012–2014 cut-offs counted both papers (out of 400; 385 in 2014), so they are left out of this line. They are in the table below.
How many candidates apply, appear and get selected
Roughly half of those who apply never sit the paper. Of those who do, about 1 in 680 is finally selected. The odds are tough, but they are odds against the whole field, not against a prepared candidate.
UPSC vacancies by year
Vacancies notified for the final result of each examination year.
UPSC cut-off and numbers, all years
General category cut-offs and the full candidate funnel. Tap a year for category-wise tables.
| Year | Prelims (Gen) | Mains (Gen) | Final (Gen) | Applied | Appeared | Qualified for Mains | Appeared Mains | Called for interview | Selected | Vacancies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 92.66 | 739 | 963 | — | — | — | — | — | 958 | 1,087 |
| 2024 | 87.98 | 729 | 947 | — | — | — | — | — | 1,009 | 1,129 |
| 2023 | 75.41 | 741 | 953 | — | — | — | — | — | 1,016 | 1,143 |
| 2022 | 88.22 | 748 | 960 | — | — | — | — | — | 933 | 1,022 |
| 2021 | 87.54 | 745 | 953 | 10,93,984 | 5,08,619 | 9,214 | 8,930 | 1,824 | 748 | 749 |
| 2020 | 92.51 | 736 | 944 | 10,40,060 | 4,82,770 | 10,564 | 10,343 | 2,053 | 836 | 836 |
| 2019 | 98.00 | 751 | 961 | 11,35,261 | 5,68,282 | 11,845 | 11,474 | 2,306 | 922 | 927 |
| 2018 | 98.00 | 774 | 982 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2017 | 105.34 | 809 | 1,006 | 9,47,728 | 4,56,625 | 13,366 | 13,060 | 2,568 | 1,056 | 1,058 |
| 2016 | 116.00 | 787 | 988 | 11,28,262 | 4,59,659 | 15,452 | 15,149 | 2,961 | 1,209 | 1,209 |
| 2015 | 107.34 | 676 | 877 | 9,39,735 | 4,63,391 | 15,008 | 14,642 | 2,797 | 1,164 | 1,164 |
| 2014 | 205 /385 | 678 | 889 | 9,47,428 | 4,46,623 | 16,933 | 16,286 | 3,308 | 1,363 | 1,364 |
| 2013 | 241 /400 | 564 | 775 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2012 | 209 /400 | 700 | 936 | 5,50,080 | 2,71,442 | 13,092 | 12,190 | 2,674 | 1,091 | 1,091 |
| 2011 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2010 | — | — | — | 5,47,698 | 2,69,036 | 12,493 | 11,865 | 2,589 | 1,042 | 1,043 |
— means UPSC has not published that figure in its annual reports or result notices. Selected counts for 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 are the main result-day lists.
UPSC previous year cut-off by category (Prelims)
| Year | General | EWS | OBC | SC | ST | Out of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 92.66 | 89.34 | 92.00 | 84.00 | 82.66 | 200 |
| 2024 | 87.98 | 85.92 | 87.28 | 79.03 | 74.23 | 200 |
| 2023 | 75.41 | 68.02 | 74.75 | 59.25 | 47.82 | 200 |
| 2022 | 88.22 | 82.83 | 87.54 | 74.08 | 69.35 | 200 |
| 2021 | 87.54 | 80.14 | 84.85 | 75.41 | 70.71 | 200 |
| 2020 | 92.51 | 77.55 | 89.12 | 74.84 | 68.71 | 200 |
| 2019 | 98.00 | 90.00 | 95.34 | 82.00 | 77.34 | 200 |
| 2018 | 98.00 | — | 96.66 | 84.00 | 83.34 | 200 |
| 2017 | 105.34 | — | 102.66 | 88.66 | 88.66 | 200 |
| 2016 | 116.00 | — | 110.66 | 99.34 | 96.00 | 200 |
| 2015 | 107.34 | — | 106.00 | 94.00 | 91.34 | 200 |
| 2014 | 205 | — | 204 | 182 | 174 | 385 |
| 2013 | 241 | — | 222 | 207 | 201 | 400 |
| 2012 | 209 | — | 190 | 185 | 181 | 400 |
UPSC Mains and final cut-off by category
| Year | Mains (written) | Final | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gen | EWS | OBC | SC | ST | Gen | EWS | OBC | SC | ST | |
| 2025 | 739 | 706 | 717 | 700 | 694 | 963 | 926 | 931 | 905 | 902 |
| 2024 | 729 | 696 | 702 | 685 | 684 | 947 | 917 | 910 | 880 | 884 |
| 2023 | 741 | 706 | 712 | 694 | 692 | 953 | 923 | 919 | 890 | 891 |
| 2022 | 748 | 715 | 714 | 699 | 706 | 960 | 926 | 923 | 893 | 900 |
| 2021 | 745 | 713 | 707 | 700 | 700 | 953 | 916 | 910 | 886 | 883 |
| 2020 | 736 | 687 | 698 | 680 | 682 | 944 | 894 | 907 | 875 | 876 |
| 2019 | 751 | 696 | 718 | 706 | 699 | 961 | 909 | 925 | 898 | 893 |
| 2018 | 774 | — | 732 | 719 | 719 | 982 | — | 938 | 912 | 912 |
| 2017 | 809 | — | 770 | 756 | 749 | 1,006 | — | 968 | 944 | 939 |
| 2016 | 787 | — | 745 | 739 | 730 | 988 | — | 951 | 937 | 920 |
| 2015 | 676 | — | 630 | 622 | 617 | 877 | — | 834 | 810 | 801 |
| 2014 | 678 | — | 631 | 631 | 619 | 889 | — | 844 | 830 | 811 |
| 2013 | 564 | — | 534 | 518 | 510 | 775 | — | 742 | 719 | 707 |
| 2012 | 700 | — | 682 | 660 | 659 | 936 | — | 911 | 870 | 864 |
Mains is out of 1,750 and final out of 2,025 from 2013. EWS starts in 2019. 2012 used the older Mains scheme.
UPSC cut-off year by year
What the trend means for your target
Don't chase last year's number. The Prelims cut-off has moved by more than 41 marks between years, so a safe Prelims goal is to score 100+ consistently in full-length mocks. That margin is what carries you through a hard paper.
Mains and the final list are steadier. A General candidate has needed about 42% of the written marks to reach the interview, so steady answer-writing in every paper matters more than one brilliant optional.
Most of all, the funnel shows that many who apply never really prepare. If you study with the real papers, connected to the syllabus, you are already competing with a far smaller group than the headline numbers suggest.
Turn cut-offs into a plan
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What is the UPSC cut-off for 2025?
For CSE 2025, the General category cut-off was 92.66 out of 200 in Prelims (GS Paper I), 739 out of 1,750 in Mains (written) and 963 out of 2,025 in the final merit list.
What was the UPSC Prelims cut-off in 2024?
General 87.98, EWS 85.92, OBC 87.28, SC 79.03 and ST 74.23 out of 200.
What is the UPSC Mains cut-off?
The Mains (written) cut-off for General was 739 out of 1,750 in 2025 and 729 in 2024. Since 2015 it has ranged from 676 to 809. Each of the seven ranked papers also needs at least 10%.
Is CSAT counted in the Prelims cut-off?
No. Since 2015 the Prelims cut-off is based on GS Paper I alone. CSAT (Paper II) is qualifying: you need 33% in it, but its marks are not added. In 2012 to 2014 both papers were counted, so those cut-offs are out of 400 (385 in 2014) and cannot be compared directly.
How many candidates appear in UPSC Prelims?
In CSE 2021, 10,93,984 candidates applied and 5,08,619 actually appeared, about 46%. Only 9,214 qualified for Mains and 748 were finally recommended.
What is the lowest and highest Prelims cut-off for General?
Since Prelims moved to GS Paper I only (2015), the lowest General cut-off was 75.41 in 2023 and the highest was 116 in 2016, out of 200.
Why does the UPSC cut-off change every year?
It moves with the difficulty of the paper, the number of vacancies and how many candidates write the exam. A hard paper pulls the Prelims cut-off down; more vacancies usually lower the final cut-off.