Cut-off trends
What score actually clears each exam
Cut-offs are category-wise, often state or region-wise, and normalised across shifts, so no single number tells the story. For each exam we explain how the cut-off is built, what pushes it up or down, and exactly where the conducting body publishes the real figure.
Bank exams
- IBPS RRB ClerkBanking
IBPS RRB Clerk cut-off, explained
IBPS RRB Office Assistant cut-offs are drawn bank by bank and category by category, after normalisation across shifts, so there is no single figure. The Preliminary paper screens and the Main examination decides the merit on its own, since there is no interview. IBPS publishes the real cut-offs on your scorecard. This page explains how the number is built and what moves it, and links to the official source rather than an estimate.
How the cut-off works - IBPS RRB POBanking
IBPS RRB PO cut-off, explained
IBPS RRB Officer Scale I cut-offs are drawn bank by bank and category by category, after normalisation across shifts, so there is no single figure to quote in advance. The Preliminary paper screens, the Main and interview decide the merit in an 80:20 ratio, and IBPS publishes the real cut-offs on your scorecard. This page explains how the number is built and what moves it, and links to the official source.
How the cut-off works - IBPS ClerkBanking
IBPS Clerk cut-off, explained
IBPS Clerk cut-offs are state-wise and category-wise, so there is no single national figure and no honest one to quote in advance. IBPS normalises scores across shifts, shortlists from the Preliminary examination, and decides the merit list from the Main alone because there is no interview. It publishes the real cut-offs on your scorecard after each stage. This page explains how that number is built and what moves it, and points you to the official source rather than a coaching estimate.
How the cut-off works - SBI ClerkBanking
SBI Clerk cut-off, explained
SBI Clerk cut-offs are state-wise and category-wise, and SBI does not publish a Preliminary cut-off mark: the Preliminary result is shown as qualified or not. The merit list comes from the Main examination alone, since there is no interview, and SBI releases category-wise marks with the final result. So the prelims figures circulating in advance are estimates. This page explains how the number is built and what moves it, and links to the official portal for the real marks.
How the cut-off works - IBPS POBanking
IBPS PO cut-off, explained
There is no single IBPS PO cut-off, and no honest one to memorise in advance. IBPS sets a separate cut-off for each category, in each stage, in each cycle, after normalising scores across shifts, and it publishes the real figures on your scorecard once a stage is over. What is worth knowing before then is how that number is arrived at and what pushes it up or down, so a figure quoted on a coaching site is easy to sanity-check. This page explains the mechanism and the trend, and links you to the official place the number appears.
How the cut-off works - SBI POBanking
SBI PO cut-off, explained
SBI does not publish a Preliminary cut-off mark. It shows your Preliminary result as qualified or not, shortlists at about ten times the vacancies category-wise, and releases category-wise marks only later in the process. So the specific prelims numbers circulating before results are estimates, not official figures. What is worth knowing is the mechanism and what moves the bar, so an estimate is easy to sanity-check. This page sets that out and links to the official portal where SBI publishes the real marks.
How the cut-off works
Railway exams
- RRB Group DRailways
RRB Group D cut-off, explained
RRB Group D cut-offs are normalised and drawn Railway Recruitment Board by board and category by category, so there is no single national figure. A single Computer Based Test decides the merit position, subject to a qualifying physical test, and each board publishes its own normalised cut-offs with its result. This page explains how the number is built, why normalisation matters, and what moves the bar, and it links to the official boards where the real figures appear.
How the cut-off works - RRB NTPCRailways
RRB NTPC cut-off, explained
RRB NTPC cut-offs are normalised, drawn Railway Recruitment Board by board and category by category, so there is no single national figure. CBT 1 screens, CBT 2 decides the merit, and each board publishes its own normalised cut-offs with its result. This page explains how that number is built, why normalisation makes the raw score misleading, and what moves the bar, and it links to the official boards where the real figures are published.
How the cut-off works
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How a cut-off is built, in three ideas
It is a multiple of vacancies
Most stages shortlist a fixed multiple of the posts on offer. Fewer vacancies means a higher bar, which is why the cut-off often tracks the vacancy count more than the paper.
Scores are normalised
Because these exams run over many shifts, raw marks are adjusted for shift difficulty. An easy paper raises the normalised cut-off rather than lowering it, which surprises most candidates.
There is no single number
Cut-offs are drawn per category and often per state or Railway board. The figure that matters to you is the one for your category and where you applied, not a national headline number.
Work out where you stand
You cannot know a future cut-off, but you can measure your own score against it precisely once you have it, and estimate your position in the meantime.
Score and negative-marking calculator
Turn attempts and accuracy into the net score a cut-off is actually measured in.
Normalisation calculator
See how a raw score becomes a normalised one across shifts, the number cut-offs use.
Percentile and cut-off distance
Estimate your percentile and how far a score sits from a given cut-off.