UPSC Exams-Reservation-Frequently Asked questions and Free Counselling

Sir, how does the reservation criteria work. What is normally the cut off mark for an SC candidate in prelims?

- Dhiraj 

The Reservation is as per the government guidelines. That is 27% for OBCs , 15% for SCs and 7.5% for STs. These reservations are given in the Preliminary stage itself.

There is no minimum mark like that in the UPSC. Suppose 750 students from a particular category is to be selected, top 750 candidates will be selected among the particular category. The original marks obtained from the General Studies and CSAT paper is totaled for the ranking. But the cut off varies from year to year and also community to community.