UPSC Cut Off 2026: Check CSE Prelims Category Wise Expected Cut Off marks Here

UPSC Prelims Cut Off 2026: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has conducted the Civil Services Preliminary examination 2026 on 24 May 2026 in two shifts. The Prelims was held in offline mode for GS and CSAT papers. Each paper was of 2 hours duration. The candidates who have appeared for the prelims examination must secure the cut off marks to be eligible for the next stage of selection process. The official cut off marks will be released with the UPSC Final result 2026. Meanwhile, the candidates can check the expected cut off marks to gauge their chances of qualifying.

UPSC Prelims Exam Analysis 2026

UPSC Prelims Unofficial Answer Key 2026

UPSC Prelims 2026 Expected Cut Off

The UPSC Prelims expected cut off 2026 will help the candidates to analyse their chances of qualifying the Prelims exam. The candidates who will get shortlisted in the prelims will be eligible to appear for the UPSC Mains written examination. The Prelims exam consists of two papers- General Studies (GS) and CSAT. The candidates need to qualify the CSAT with only 33% marks (66 out of 200). The GS marks are more important. Check the category-wise expected cut off below.

UPSC Prelims Expected Cut Off 2026 for GS Paper

The category-wise expected cut off marks for UPSC Prelims GS paper are provided here.

Last Year Cut Off for UPSC Prelims

Last year, in 2025, the Prelims cut off marks for the General category was 92.66. The cut off marks for the SC and ST were 84 and 82.66 respectively.

UPSC Prelims Cut Off Last 5 Years

The candidates can have a look at the last 5 years cut off marks to have an idea that how much cut off marks can vary

Lowest UPSC Prelims Cut Off in Last 5 Years

The lowest UPSC Prelims cut off in the last 5 years was in 2023, where the cut off for General category was 75.41. The cut off for OBC and EWS was 74.75 and 68.02 respectively.

UPSC CSAT Qualifying Marks

The candidates need to obtain 33% marks in the CSAT paper, which is qualifying in nature. This means out of a total 200 marks, the candidates need to obtain 66 marks to qualify the CSAT.

upsc official answer key

UPSC for the first time in its history, is going to release the official answer key for the candidates to raise objections. The upsc official answer key will be released anytime soon.

Factors Affecting UPSC Prelims Cut Off 2026

There are a number of factors which affect the UPSC Prelims cut off. These factors influence whether the cut off goes high or lower. The factors are:

• Difficulty Level of the Exam: The difficulty level plays a major role in shaping the cut off marks. If the paper is difficult then the cut off remains lower and vice versa.

• Number of Applicants: Every year around 10 lakh candidates apply for the UPSC CSE exam. Out of which, approx 5-6 lakhs appear in the Prelims which makes the competition more intense. This means the cut off will go higher.

• Number of Vacancies: More the number of vacancies, less will be the cut off. If the number of vacancies is lower, then the cut off will be higher.