Prelims cutoff trend 2014-2024
The UPSC Prelims cutoff over the last decade shows that qualifying marks are highly unpredictable and depend on factors such as paper difficulty, number of vacancies, and candidate performance. There is no fixed “safe score” — even high-scoring years have seen sudden drops, while tougher papers have sharply lowered cutoffs.
A clear trend is the relative decline in cutoffs after 2020, especially in years with tougher GS papers, highlighting the growing importance of smart question selection and accuracy rather than attempting more questions blindly. Category-wise variations further underline that aspirants must prepare with buffer margins rather than target past cutoffs.
Key takeaway: Prelims is a screening test, not a scoring contest. Clearing it consistently requires conceptual clarity, elimination skills, and disciplined test strategy, not chasing previous year cutoffs.
The table below presents the category-wise UPSC Prelims cutoffs of the last 10 years for a clear, data-driven understanding.
| Category | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | 98 | 98 | 92.51 | 87.54 | 88.22 | 75.41 | 87.98 |
| EWS | - | 90 | 77.55 | 80.14 | 82.83 | 68.02 | 85.92 |
| OBC | 96.66 | 95.34 | 89.12 | 89.12 | 87.54 | 74.75 | 87.28 |
| SC | 84 | 82 | 74.84 | 75.41 | 74.08 | 59.25 | 79.03 |
| ST | 83.34 | 77.34 | 68.71 | 70.71 | 69.35 | 47.82 | 74.23 |
| PWD 1 | 73.34 | 53.34 | 70.06 | 68.02 | 49.84 | 40.40 | 69.42 |
| PWD 2 | 53.34 | 44.66 | 63.94 | 67.33 | 58.59 | 47.13 | 65.30 |
| PWD 3 | 40.00 | 61.34 | 40.82 | 43.09 | 40.40 | 40.40 | 40.56 |
| PWD 5 | 45.34 | 61.34 | 42.86 | 45.80 | 41.76 | 33.68 | 40.56 |
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