UPSC Cut-off Marks 2019 Released – You just needed 47.5% marks to clear IAS/IPS exam last year!

UPSC Cut-off Marks 2019 for Civil Services Examination is now available in the public domain. The minimum qualifying marks for Prelims, Mains and Final selection of UPSC IAS Exam 2019 is released.

UPSC Prelims Cut Off Marks 2019 (Out of 200)

The Cut-off score of General Category (open merit) remained the same as in 2018, ie 98 marks out of 200. However, the introduction of Economically Weaker Section Reservation (EWS) was the major change last year.

The cut-off scores are as below.

• General – 98.00
• EWS – 90.00
• OBC – 95.34 (in 2018, it was 96.66)
• SC –  82.00 (in 2018, it was 84.00)
• ST – 77.34 (in 2018, it was 83.34)
• PwBD‐1 – 55.34
• PwBD‐2 – 44.66
• PwBD‐3 – 40.66
• PwBD‐5 – 61.34

• PwBD means – Candidates belonging to Persons with Benchmark Disability (PwBD)

Note: Cut off marks for UPSC Prelims is on the basis of GS Paper‐I only. However, GS Paper‐II was of qualifying nature with 33% marks as per Rule 15 of Civil Services Examination, 2019.

UPSC Mains Cut Off Marks 2019 (Out of 1750)

• General – 751 (in 2018, the cut-off marks were 774)
• EWS – 696
• OBC – 718 (in 2018 it was 732)
• SC –  706 (against 719 in 2018)
• ST – 699 (against 719 in 2018)
• PwBD‐1 – 663
• PwBD‐2 – 698
• PwBD‐3 – 374
• PwBD‐5 – 561

Note: Subject to 10% marks in each of the seven competitive papers i.e. Essay, GS‐I, GS‐II, GS‐III, GS‐IV, Optional‐I and Optional‐II.

UPSC Final Cut Off Marks 2019 (Out of 2025)

• General – 961 (In 2018 cut-off was 982)
• EWS – 909
• OBC – 925 (In 2018, cut off was 938)
• SC –  898 (In 2018, the respective cut-off was 912)
• ST – 893 (In 2018, the respective cut-off was 912)
• PwBD‐1 – 861
• PwBD‐2 – 890
• PwBD‐3 – 653
• PwBD‐5 – 708

UPSC Cut-off Marks 2019 Analysis

This is the 2nd consecutive year that the cut-off marks has fallen for all stages – Prelims, Mains, and Final Selection.

It is interesting to note to be selected into the prestigious Civil Services, in 2019 a general category candidate had to score just 961 marks out of 2025. In percentage terms, this would be 47.45%. This means if you had just scored 48% marks in the last year UPSC Exam, you were safely in!

Of course, this is not easy considering the strict valuation standards of UPSC, but we just wanted aspirants to know that UPSC is always a low scoring game!

The cut-off scores also give crucial insights into other categories.

The OBC category cut-off score was 36 marks less than the general category cut-off (for final selection).

The SC and ST category cut-off was less by 63 and 68 marks, respectively, when compared to the general category cut off (open merit cut-off).

However, the figure which needs major attention is the EWS cut-off (Economic Reservation).

For the final section, the EWS cut-off was substantially lower than general cut-off and OBC cut-off. In Mains, EWS cut-off was lower than all categories like OBC, SC, and ST.

For Prelims, ClearIAS does normally predict the cut-off score. However, we share the trends in our platform with our users, when aspirants plot their marks after Prelims. However, EWS reservation was a new introduction in 2019, which made the comparison with previous years difficult.

Analysis of previous year cut-off score shows that it is the 2nd time in the last 5 years that the general cut-off came below 100. A candidate just needed 98 marks out of 200 as per official UPSC key to clear UPSC CSE Prelims 2019 (49%). The General Cut off for Prelims was 98 in 2018, 105.34 in 2017, 116.00 in 2016 and 107.34 in 2015.

PS: To check the previous year cut-off mark trends, check this link.

How close were you to the Minimum Qualifying Marks, last year?

Looking at the cut-off score, many of you who missed it by a narrow margin can now realise how close were you. A few marks could have changed your career, life, and destiny.

The ideal thing to do now is not to repeat past mistakes.

To get the extra-edge you badly need to clear Prelims, join ClearIAS Prelims Online Mock Test Series.

It’s not yet late! But don’t delay it further!

Conclusion

The cut-off marks for UPSC Civil Services Exam depends on many factors like the number of candidates in the competition, the number of vacancies, exam difficulty, and valuation standards.

UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE) is widely considered as one of the toughest exams to crack, considering the fact that the vacancies are only less than 1000, while the number of applicants is around 10,00,000. However, ‘real competition‘ is much less. Also, UPSC CSE is a low-scoring game.

Any serious aspirant who prepare strategically, combining knowledge with the right techniques, can easily clear the UPSC Civil Services Exam. Testimonials of ClearIAS online students proves this.

All you need to do is to work hard (and smart) to ensure that you score at-least above 48 percent!