UPSC Prelims 2026 Cut-Off May Drop Due to High Difficulty in General Studies Paper 1

मुख्य बातें
- •UPSC Prelims 2026 cut-off may drop due to high difficulty in General Studies Paper 1
- •Cut-off is based only on General Studies Paper 1; CSAT is qualifying with 33% minimum
- •Official cut-off will be announced after final results, following Main Exam and Interview
- •Normalization of scores accounts for variations in paper difficulty across years
- •Previous cut-offs: 88.22 (2023) and 93.71 (2022) for General Category
- •UPSC Prelims 2026 expected in June 2026; answer keys and results to follow
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2026 is expected to have a lower cut-off due to the reportedly high difficulty level of General Studies Paper 1, according to preliminary assessments by coaching institutes. The official cut-off will only be released after the final results are declared, typically several months after the exam is conducted.
In the UPSC Prelims, the cut-off is determined solely by scores in General Studies Paper 1, while the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) is only qualifying in nature. This means candidates must secure at least 33% in CSAT to qualify, but their CSAT score will not count toward the final cut-off. The cut-off for 2026 will be released after the final merit list is published, following the Main Examination and Personality Test stages.



