UPSC IAS 2025 Cutoff – Prelims Mains and Final Category wise and Trend Analysis

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The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released the cutoff for Civil Services Examination 2025.

Download the official UPSC IAS Cutoff PDF from the link given below

UPSC IAS 2025 cutoff

Cutoff scores for these exams are crucial indicators of both the difficulty level of the exam and the competitiveness among candidates. Below, we analyze the recent UPSC IAS 2025 cutoff data along with trends from the past seven years across various stages of the exam: Prelims, Mains, and Finals. This analysis provides a clear understanding of how the cutoffs have evolved, offering insights into the shifting dynamics of the examination.

UPSC CSE Exam Combined Cutoff for 2025

CategoryPrelims CutoffMains CutoffFinal Cutoff
General92.66739963
EWS89.34706926
OBC92.00717931
SC84.00700905
ST82.66694902
PwBD-176.66703917
PwBD-254.66708944
PwBD-340.66536804
PwBD-540.66451631

UPSC Prelims Cutoff Category-wise analysis of last 7 years

UPSC Prelims marks are not counted in the final marks of the exam. They are just for the selection of the candidates for the mains examination. These cutoff marks are of the GS Paper 1. CSAT exam marks are just for qualifying purpose. If a person is not able to score the qualifying marks i.e. 1/3 of the total marks, her/his marks in the GS Paper doesn’t matter or won’t be checked.

Category2025202420232022202120202019
General92.6687.9875.4188.2287.5492.5198.00
EWS89.3485.9268.0282.8380.1477.5590.00
OBC92.0087.2874.7587.5484.8589.1295.34
SC84.0079.0359.2574.0875.4174.8482.00
ST82.6674.2347.8269.3570.7168.7177.34
PwBD-176.6669.4240.4049.8468.0270.0653.34
PwBD-254.6665.3047.1358.5967.3363.9444.66
PwBD-340.6640.5640.4040.4043.0940.8240.66
PwBD-540.6640.5633.6841.7645.8042.8661.34

UPSC Mains Cutoffs for last 7 years

UPSC Mains stage includes 9 papers. 7 papers are considered for calculating the total mains marks. 2 papers are of qualifying nature, i.e. the English Language Paper and the Indian Language Paper. Candidates must secure a minimum qualifying marks in these language papers as prescribed by the UPSC.

Category2025202420232022202120202019
General739729741748745736751
EWS706696706715713687696
OBC717702712714707698718
SC700685694699700680706
ST694684692706700682699
PwBD-1703663673677668648663
PwBD-2708696718706712699698
PwBD-3536307396351388425374
PwBD-5451361445419560300561

UPSC Final Cutoffs Last 7 Years Trend Analysis

Category2025202420232022202120202019
General963947953960953944961
EWS926917923926916894909
OBC931910919923910907925
SC905880890893886875989
ST902884891900883876893
PwBD-1917876894879892867861
PwBD-2944913930913932910890
PwBD-3804701756632689675653
PwBD-5631461589590701465708

What is UPSC Cutoff 2025?

UPSC Cutoffs are used to filter candidates at each stage of the examination—Prelims, Mains, and Interview. Only those scoring above the cutoff in the Preliminary exam are eligible to appear for the Mains, and similarly, passing the Mains cutoff is necessary to reach the interview stage. The UPSC exams attract a very large number of applicants. Cutoffs help manage this volume by ensuring only the most competitively positioned candidates proceed to subsequent stages.

Why UPSC Cutoff analysis is important for the aspirants?

Candidates can set realistic performance goals based on previous years’ cutoffs, which can help in better time and resource management during preparation. For example, a candidate need not make all the questions correct to qualify and make it to the final list. They can focus on their strength and get selected.

By adjusting cutoffs for different categories like General, OBC, SC, ST, and various disability statuses, UPSC promotes an inclusive selection process that considers socio-economic and physical challenges.

Publicly announcing the cutoff marks for each stage and category adds to the transparency of the competitive exam system.

What are the tie breaking rules of UPSC?

Wherever two or more candidates have secured equal aggregate marks in CSE Exam, 2025, the tie(s) have been resolved in accordance with the principles approved by the Commission, viz.

(i) If the marks in aggregate (Final Marks) are equal, the Candidate securing more marks in the Compulsory@ (Common) Papers of written examination (“Paper-I : Essay”, “Paper-II : GS-I”, “Paper-III : GS-II”, “Paper-IV : GS III”, “Paper-V : GS-IV”) and the Personality Test put together has been ranked higher;

(ii) If the marks at (i) above are equal, then the candidate securing more marks in the Compulsory@ (Common) Papers of written examination (“Paper-I : Essay”, “Paper-II : GS-I”, “Paper-III : GS-II”, “Paper-IV : GS-III” , “Paper-V : GS-IV” put together) has been ranked higher;

(iii) If the marks at (i) & (ii) above are also equal, the candidate Senior in age has been ranked higher.
@ Compulsory Papers include Essay, General Studies-I, General Studies-II, General Studies-III and General Studies-IV.

What factors decide the final UPSC cutoff?

Vacancy Count: The total number of vacancies available for the positions influences the cutoff scores. More vacancies may lead to slightly lower cutoffs to fill all the positions, whereas fewer vacancies might result in higher cutoffs.

Average Performance: How well candidates perform on average can directly influence the cutoff. Better overall performance usually raises the cutoff level.

Category-wise Reservations: India’s reservation policy mandates different cutoffs for different categories like General, OBC, SC, ST, and Persons with Disabilities. This ensures equitable opportunities for candidates from various socio-economic backgrounds.

Score Normalization: In exams conducted in multiple sessions or having different sets of question papers, scores may be normalized to adjust for any variation in the difficulty levels of different test batches.

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By prashant shekhar

I am a content writer at ForumIAS

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