CUT OFF MARKS

Cut Off Marks for Prelims Exams

The following marks were when there was no negative marking. Now with the system of -ve marking for the IAS exams the cut-off has gone down further. So the trick is not to guess unecessarily and reduce your marks. Concentrate on the correct answers and make no guesses. That should take you far.

Optional subject	Minimum number of questions need to be correct for optional subject	Minimum number of questions need to be correct for General Studies
Geography	84-95	90+
Indian History	95-98	95
Mathematics	68	95
Political Science	90+	95+
Public Administration	84-98	90
Sociology	94-100	95

Toppers' Marks - Civil Service Mains Examination 2003

Subject	Maximum Marks	1st Rank1	3rd Rank2	6th Rank3	7th Rank4
Essay	200	125	132	119	108
General Studies - Paper I	300	192	197	179	154
General Studies - Paper II	300	147	164	180	127
Optional I - Paper I	300	173	173	165	174
Optional I - Paper II	300	180	171	180	183
Optional II - Paper I	300	190	166	181	205
Optional II - Paper II	300	157	191	200	185
Interview	300	230	180	174	201
Total marks	2300	1394	1374	1338	1337

Percentage of marks obtained by Toppers:

Subject	Maximum Marks	1st1 Rank	3rd2 Rank	6th3 Rank	7th4 Rank
Essay	100	62.50	66.00	59.50	54.00
General Studies - Paper I	100	64.00	65.67	59.67	51.33
General Studies - Paper II	100	49.00	54.67	60.00	42.33
Optional I - Paper I	100	57.67	57.67	55.00	58.00
Optional I - Paper II	100	60.00	57.00	60.00	61.00
Optional II - Paper I	100	63.33	55.33	60.33	68.33
Optional II - Paper II	100	52.33	63.67	66.67	61.67
Interview	100	76.67	60.00	58.00	67.00
Total marks	100	60.61	59.74	58.17	58.13