UPSC Cut Off Marks – Prelims, Mains & Final Cut Off last 5 year
What is UPSC exam?
The IAS exam or UPSC exam, the UPSC Civil Services Examination abbreviated as CSE is one of the competitive exam that is organized by the Union Public Service Commission to engage aspirants who are eligible for the post of civil service in India that includes IAS, IFS, IPS and other services. This is held in 3 parts that are:-
- Prelims
- Mains
- Personality Test or interview
Here the Prelims is the primary phase of UPSC exam that is a screening exam where the marks achieved is not added in the final merit but the marks of the Paper 1 of GS is vital to list the cut off of Prelims exam.
The Prelims exam comprises of 2 papers which are based on MCQ and are objective type whereas the Mains exam is a descriptive exam comprising 9 papers.
Exam Pattern
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Prelims
Name of the Paper | Total Questions | Total Marks | Time | Exam Nature |
GS Paper 1 | 100 | 200 | 2 hours | The marks obtained is taken for the cut off |
GS Paper 2 (CSAT) | 80 | 200 | 2 hours | The candidate appearing should have to obtain a minimum of 33% marks for qualifying CSAT. |
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Mains
Paper | Subject | Time | Total Marks | Exam Nature | Paper Type |
Paper A | Compulsory Indian Language | 3 hours | 300 | Qualifying exam | Descriptive paper |
Paper B | English | 3 hours | 300 | Qualifying exam | Descriptive paper |
Paper I | Essay | 3 hours | 250 | Merit based exam | Descriptive paper |
Paper II | General Studies I | 3 hours | 250 | Merit based exam | Descriptive paper |
Paper III | General Studies II | 3 hours | 250 | Merit based exam | Descriptive paper |
Paper IV | General Studies III | 3 hours | 250 | Merit based exam | Descriptive paper |
Paper V | General Studies IV | 3 hours | 250 | Merit based exam | Descriptive paper |
Paper VI | Optional I | 3 hours | 250 | Merit based exam | Descriptive paper |
Paper VII | Optional II | 3 hours | 250 | Merit based exam | Descriptive paper |
Exam Syllabus
Prelims
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General Studies Paper 1
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- Current events about the National as well as the International Importance.
- The history of India and its National Movements.
- The geography of India as well as the World that includes the physical, social, Indian economic Geography and also of the World.
- The Polity and Governance of India including the Constitution, the political system, The Panchayati Raj, the public policy, issue of rights and many more.
- The Social and Economic and Social Development having sustainable development, poverty, inclusion, demographics, social sector initiatives and etc.
- The Common issues on the ecology of Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization General Science.
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General Studies Paper 2
The General Studies Paper 2 Prelims is also called as the Civil Services Aptitude Test abbreviated as CSAT. The below mentioned topics are set in the IAS syllabus for this particular paper:
- Comprehension
- Interpersonal skills including communication skill
- Logica l reasoning and analytical ability
- Decision-making and problem solving
- General mental ability
- Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc., – Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc., – Class X level)
Mains
- Paper I: Essay
Candidates are asked to compose essays on different topics. They are expected to set their thoughts in an arranged manner with concise write up. Marks will be provided on the basis of good and proper expression.
Paper II: General Studies 1- Heritage and Culture of India and World’s and Society’s History and Geography
- Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature & Architecture from ancient to modern times.
- The modern History of India that tells about the middle of the 18th century till the recent significant events, issues and many more.
- The Struggle for Freedom and its different stages and important contributors and their contributions from various parts of the India.
- Consolidations after Independence and its reorganization within India.
- The World’s History that will include all events taking place from the 18th century namely the Industrial Revolution, the World Wars, the redraw of national boundaries, the colonization, the decolonization, the political philosophies such communism, capitalism, socialism and many more along with their forms and their effects upon the society.
- The special features of Indian Society, its Diversity. The role of women and organizations, population and other associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and how to solve them. The effects of globalization on the society of India- the Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism and secularism.
- Special features of the physical geography of the World.
- Distribution of the major natural resources all over the world that includes the South Asia and the subcontinent of India and also the factors that are responsible for the site of primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors of industries in different parts of the world including India. Major Geophysical phenomena, like earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic activity, cyclones and many more. Geographical features and also their locations – their changes in critical geographical features that includes waterbodies and ice caps and also in flora and fauna and their effects in such changes.
Paper III: General Studies 2- Constitution, Social Justice, Polity, Governance and International Relations
- The Constitution of India including the historical underpinnings, the evolution, features, the amendments, the significant provisions and the basic structure.
- The responsibilities and functions of the Union as well as the States that includes its issues and all the challenges pertaining to the federal structure, the power of devolution and the finances up to its local levels and all the challenges lying in between.
- Division of powers between in different organs, dispute redressed mechanisms and its institutions.
- Difference in the scheme of the constitution of India with that of other countries, the Parliament and its State Legislatures that includes the structure, its functioning, the way of conducting business, its powers and privileges and all the issues that arise out of these.
- The structure, the organization, and its functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary, the Ministries and all the Departments of the Government; the pressure groups and all formal as well as informal organisations and their functions in the Polity.
- Special features of the Representation of People’s Act.
- Engagement to different posts of the constitution, its powers and functions and the responsibilities of different Constitutional bodies.
- The statutory, regulatory, and its different quasi-judicial heads, the Government policies and its interventions for making of different sectors and all the issues arising from their design and its implementation.
- The processes of development and all the development industry that includes their role in various NGOs, SHGs and different groups, organisations, donors, charities and many more.
- The schemes for the welfare of various vulnerable divisions of the population by the Center and States and their performance in these schemes; the mechanisms, laws and bodies responsible for the protection and the betterment of these various vulnerable divisions.
- Issues that are related to development and its management for various Social Sector or Services on grounds of Health, Education, Human Resources.
- Problems that are related to poverty and hunger.
- Major aspects of governance, the transparency, accountability, e-governance – applications, models, successes and many more ; the citizens charters, accountability and institutional and many other different measures.
- The responsibilities of Civil Services in the democracy.
- India and its neighbourhood and other relations. The Bilateral, regional and the global divisions and its agreements that involve India for hampering the interests of India.
- The major International institutions and agencies and also their structure.
Paper IV: General Studies 3- Economic Development, Bio diversity, Technology, Security, Environment and Disaster Management
- The economy of India and its issues that are related to the planning, growth, development and employment and including the growth and all the issues arising due to it.
- The budgeting of the government and the important cropping patterns of the crops in different parts of India and its various types of irrigation and the systems of irrigation storage, the transport and the marketing of agricultural products and other related topics.
- The E-technology in the help of the issues of farmers that are related directly or indirectly to the farm subsidies and the nominal support prices.
- The system of public distribution and its objectives, its functioning and limitations also the problems of buffer stocks and security of food; the Technology missions and economics of animal rearing.
- The processing of food and all other related industries of India and its scope and significance, its location, the upstream and downstream necessities and the chain of supply management.
- The land reforms of India and the effects of liberalization upon the Indian economy, the variations in policies of the industries and the effects on growth of industries.
- The infrastructure of Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways and many more.
- The models of investments in Science and Technology that includes its developments and their uses and its effects in our day to day life and achievements of the Indians in the field of science & technology.
- Increase in the awareness on grounds of the IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and problems that are related to the intellectual rights in property.
- The conservation, the environmental pollution and its degradation, the impact on the environment and the assessment Disaster and also the disaster management.
- The linkages between the development and dispersion of extremism.
- Function of the external state as well as the non-state actors in developing the challenges to the internal security.
- The challenges faced to the internal security by means of communication networks, the role of media and the social networking sites, the basics of security of cyber; laundering of money and methods to prevent them.
- The challenges of security and its management in the areas of border and relations with organized crime with terrorism and different Security forces and agencies.
Paper V: General Studies 4- Integrity, Aptitude and Ethics
This paper is set with questions to examine the aptitude and approach of the candidate towards the problems that are related to the integrity and probity in the life of common people and the problem solving approach to different problems that are to be faced while dealing with society. Questions may consist the approach to case study in order determine the following aspects. The Ethics and the Human Interface: It includes the essence, the determinants and all the consequences of Ethics in every actions of human; the dimensions of the ethics along with the ethics in private as well as public relationships.
- The values of Humans and the lessons from the lives and the teachings of our great leaders, the reformers and the administrators and the role of the family, the society and all educational institutions.
- Attitude: the content, the structure and its function; the influence and the relations with the thought and the behaviour and also the moral and political attitude and also its social influence and the persuasion.
- The aptitude and its foundational values for the Civil Service , its integrity and impartiality and the non-partisanship and the tolerance and compassion to the weaker sections of the society.
- The emotional intelligence and concepts and their functions in administration and the governance. The contributions of all the moral thinkers and the philosophers from India as well as the world.
- The values and ethics of public or civil service in Public administration: The Status and their problems; the ethical concerns and the dilemmas of the government and its private institutions; the laws and the rules and regulations and the conscience as sources of ethical guidance.
- The probity in the Governance and the Concepts of the public service and the philosophical basis of the governance and probity.
- The information sharing and the transparency in the government and the Right to Information, the Codes of Ethics and the Codes of Conduct and many more are the ase Studies on above issues.
Paper VI and VII: Optional Paper 1 and 2
The optional Subjects are extremely vital for the Exam because they carry 500 marks out of 1750 in the mains. There are more than 45 options for the optional subject that includes different subjects in the exam. Here are the list of all the optional subjects that are available for the exam.
- Agriculture
- Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
- Anthropology
- Botany
- Chemistry
- Civil Engineering
- Commerce and Accountancy
- Economics
- Electrical Engineering
- Geography
- Geology
- History
- Law
- Management
- Mathematics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Medical Science
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Political Science and International Relations
- Psychology
- Public Administration
- Sociology
- Statistics
- Zoology
In literature of the below mentioned languages are also some of the options for the optional subjects of mains exam. You can select any one of the subject that suits you best for the optional subject for UPSC Exam.
- Assamese
- Bengali
- Bodo
- Dogri
- Gujarati
- Hindi
- Kannada
- Kashmiri
- Konkani
- Maithali
- Malayalam
- Manipuri
- Marathi
- Nepali
- Odia
- Punjabi
- Sanskrit
- Santhali
- Sindhi
- Tamil
- Telugu
- Urdu
- English
Cut off for UPSC in 2016
- Prelims
The marks to be obtained so as to get selected for mains are tabulated below:-
Category | Cut off out of 200 | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2015) |
General | 116.00 | 107.34 |
SC | 99.34 | 94.00 |
ST | 96.00 | 91.34 |
OBC | 110.66 | 106.00 |
PH1 | 75.34 | 90.67 |
PH2 | 72.66 | 76.66 |
PH3 | 40.00 | 40.00 |
Along with this the aspirants have to obtain a minimum of 33% marks in GS Paper 2.
- Mains
The marks to be obtained in Mains to get selected for the personal interview sessions are:-
Category | Cut off out of 1750 | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2015) |
General | 787 | 676 |
SC | 739 | 622 |
ST | 730 | 617 |
OBC | 745 | 630 |
PH1 | 713 | 580 |
PH2 | 740 | 627 |
PH3 | 545 | 504 |
It is necessary to obtain 10% score in all of the seven papers that are the Essay, GS I , GS II, GS III, GS IV, Optional I, Optional II and a minimum of 25% in the compulsory papers.
- Final Rank List
Marks that are included in the final rank list are:-
Category | Cut off for final Rank List out of 2025 | Comparison with last year’s cut off |
General | 988 | 877 |
SC | 937 | 810 |
ST | 920 | 801 |
OBC | 951 | 834 |
PH1 | 927 | 802 |
PH2 | 951 | 830 |
PH3 | 817 | 697 |
Analysis
In the case of the evaluation of UPSC exam their is no good marks or bad marks rather it is based on only a relative performance. If the valuation is strict, say in case of the 2013 exam, the results are very low. But in this year i.e. in 2016 their is observed a hike in marks which may be due to 2 reasons-
- The valuation was liberal.
- The candidates appearing have prepared better and were under the right guidance and have followed a better study materials from their respective coaching centres.
The percentage of cut off for UPSC has increased and has become 4.5% or 9 marks in the year 2016 as compared to the cut off of last year. In the mains the cut off is about 6% or 111 marks more as compared to the previous year and in the final cut off the marks also increased by 6% or 111 marks.
Cut off for UPSC in 2017
- Prelims
The marks to be obtained so as to get selected for mains are tabulated below:-
Category | Cut off out of 200 | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2016) | Comparison with past cut off (2015) |
General | 105.34 | 116.00 | 107.34 |
SC | 88.66 | 99.34 | 94.00 |
ST | 88.66 | 96.00 | 91.34 |
OBC | 102.66 | 110.66 | 106.00 |
PH1 | 88.88 | 75.34 | 90.67 |
PH2 | 61.34 | 72.66 | 76.66 |
PH3 | 40.00 | 40.00 | 40.00 |
According to the Rule no. 15 of CSE the aspirants have to obtain a minimum of 33% marks in GS Paper 2.
- Mains
The marks to be obtained in Mains to get selected for the personal interview sessions are:-
Category | Cut off out of 1750 | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2016) | Comparison with past cut off (2015) |
General | 809 | 787 | 676 |
SC | 756 | 739 | 622 |
ST | 749 | 730 | 617 |
OBC | 770 | 745 | 630 |
PH1 | 734 | 713 | 580 |
PH2 | 745 | 740 | 627 |
PH3 | 578 | 545 | 504 |
It is necessary to obtain 10% score in all of the seven papers that are the Essay, GS I , GS II, GS III, GS IV, Optional I, Optional II and a minimum of 25% in the compulsory papers.
- Final Rank List
Marks that are included in the final rank list are:-
Category | Cut off out of 2025 | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2016) | Comparison with past cut off (2015) |
General | 1006 | 988 | 877 |
SC | 944 | 937 | 810 |
ST | 939 | 920 | 801 |
OBC | 968 | 951 | 834 |
PH1 | 923 | 927 | 802 |
PH2 | 948 | 951 | 830 |
PH3 | 830 | 817 | 697 |
Analysis
The cut off marks for general category is 38 marks more than OBC, 62 marks more than SC and 67 marks more than ST.
The cut off in 2017 has been reduced whereas in mains and final rank list it has been increased. Besides the decrease in the vacancy number the minimum marks for qualification to apply for the prelims are also decreased as the questions prepared were competitively tougher that 2016. Whereas the increase in the cut off marks for mains as well as for the Final Rank list can be due to less vacancies and more preparation of the aspirants.
Cut off for UPSC in 2018
- Prelims
The marks to be obtained so as to get selected for mains are tabulated below:-
Category | Cut off out of 200 | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2017) | Comparison with previous cut off (2016) |
General | 98.00 | 105.34 | 116.00 |
SC | 84.00 | 88.66 | 99.34 |
ST | 83.34 | 88.66 | 96.00 |
OBC | 96.66. | 102.66 | 110.66 |
PwBD 1 | 73.34 | 88.88 | 75.34 |
PwBD 2 | 53.34 | 61.34 | 72.66 |
PwBD 3 | 40.00 | 40.00 | 40.00 |
PwBD 5 | 45.34 | – | – |
According to the Rule no. 15 of CSE the aspirants have to obtain a minimum of 33% marks in GS Paper 2.
- Mains
The marks to be obtained in Mains to get selected for the personal interview sessions are:-
Category | Cut off out of 1750 | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2017) | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2016) |
General | 774 | 809 | 787 |
SC | 719 | 756 | 739 |
ST | 719 | 749 | 730 |
OBC | 732 | 770 | 745 |
PwBD 1 | 711 | 734 | 713 |
PwBD 2 | 696 | 745 | 740 |
PwBD 3 | 520 | 578 | 545 |
PwBD 5 | 460 | – | – |
It is necessary to obtain 10% score in all of the seven papers that are the Essay, GS I , GS II, GS III, GS IV, Optional I, Optional II and a minimum of 25% in the compulsory papers.
- Final Rank List
Marks that are included in the final rank list are:-
Category | Cut off out of 2025 | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2017) | Comparison with previous cut off (2016) |
General | 982 | 1006 | 988 |
SC | 912 | 944 | 937 |
ST | 912 | 939 | 920 |
OBC | 938 | 968 | 951 |
PwBD 1 | 899 | 923 | 927 |
PwBD 2 | 908 | 948 | 951 |
PwBD 3 | 754 | 830 | 817 |
PwBD 5 | 718 | – | – |
Analysis
The cut off marks fall under 3 stages namely, prelims, mains and interviews. On the contrary to the point of view that the cut off will surely increase if the vacancies has been deducted on comparison to the previous year. In the past 4 years it has been for the first time when the cut off for general candidates has been reduced below 100. Thus a candidate has to score 98 out of 200 which is 49% according to the rules of UPSC.
In case of the Final rank list the general category candidates has to obtain only 982 marks out of 2025 which is about 48.49%. That means that if someone could score merely 49% in the exam he or she would have been surely selected.
But it is actually not that easy to say on considering the valuation that would be strict and the aspirants should keep in mind that this exam i.e. UPSC is as exams that always yields less marks.
Cut off for UPSC in 2019
- Prelims
The marks to be obtained so as to get selected for mains are tabulated below:-
Category | Cut off out of 200 | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2018) | Comparison with previous cut off (2017) |
General | 98.00 | 98.00 | 105.34 |
SC | 82.00 | 84.00 | 88.66 |
ST | 77.34 | 83.34 | 88.66 |
OBC | 95.34 | 96.66. | 102.66 |
EWS | 90.00 | – | – |
PwBD 1 | 55.34 | 73.34 | 88.88 |
PwBD 2 | 44.66 | 53.34 | 61.34 |
PwBD 3 | 40.66 | 40.00 | 40.00 |
PwBD 5 | 61.34 | 45.34 | – |
According to the Rule no. 15 of CSE the aspirants have to obtain a minimum of 33% marks in GS Paper 2.
- Mains
The marks to be obtained in Mains to get selected for the personal interview sessions are:-
Category | Cut off out of 1750 | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2018) | Comparison with previous cut off (2017) |
General | 751 | 774 | 809 |
SC | 706 | 719 | 756 |
ST | 699 | 719 | 749 |
OBC | 718 | 732 | 770 |
EWS | 696 | – | – |
PwBD 1 | 663 | 711 | 734 |
PwBD 2 | 688 | 696 | 745 |
PwBD 3 | 374 | 520 | 578 |
PwBD 5 | 561 | 460 | – |
It is necessary to obtain 10% score in all of the seven papers that are the Essay, GS I , GS II, GS III, GS IV, Optional I, Optional II and a minimum of 25% in the compulsory papers.
- Final Rank List
Marks that are included in the final rank list are:-
Category | Cut off out of 2025 | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2018) | Comparison with previous cut off (2017) |
General | 961 | 982 | 1006 |
SC | 898 | 912 | 944 |
ST | 893 | 912 | 939 |
OBC | 925 | 938 | 968 |
EWS | 909 | – | – |
PwBD 1 | 861 | 899 | 923 |
PwBD 2 | 890 | 908 | 948 |
PwBD 3 | 653 | 754 | 830 |
PwBD 5 | 708 | 718 | – |
Analysis
The cut off marks fall under 3 stages namely, prelims, mains and interviews. On the contrary to the point of view that the cut off will surely increase if the vacancies has been deducted on comparison to the previous year. In this year the cut off for general candidates is 961 out of 2025 marks which is about 47.45% Thus a candidate has to score 48% to qualify according to the rules of UPSC.
But it is actually not that easy to say on considering the valuation that would be strict and the aspirants should keep in mind that this exam i.e. UPSC is as exams that always yields less marks.
This cut off provides us with a vital insights into the other categories also. Where the cut off for General category is 36 marks more than that of OBC in terms of the final rank list and in SC it is 63 marks more and in ST is 68 marks more. The category that mostly needs attention is EWS as it was newly introduced in this year which is considerably less than the cut off of all other categories.
Cut off for UPSC in 2020
- Prelims
The marks to be obtained so as to get selected for mains are tabulated below:-
Category | Cut off out of 200 | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2019) | Comparison with previous cut off (2018) |
General | 92.51 | 98.00 | 98.00 |
SC | 74.84 | 82.00 | 84.00 |
ST | 68.71 | 77.34 | 83.34 |
OBC | 89.12 | 95.34 | 96.66. |
EWS | 77.55 | 90.00 | – |
PwBD 1 | 70.06 | 55.34 | 73.34 |
PwBD 2 | 63.94 | 44.66 | 53.34 |
PwBD 3 | 40.82 | 40.66 | 40.00 |
PwBD 5 | 42.86 | 61.34 | 45.34 |
According to the Rule no. 15 of CSE the aspirants have to obtain a minimum of 33% marks in GS Paper 2.
- Mains
The marks to be obtained in Mains to get selected for the personal interview sessions are:-
Category | Cut off out of 1750 | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2019) | Comparison with previous cut off (2018) |
General | 736 | 751 | 774 |
SC | 680 | 706 | 719 |
ST | 680 | 699 | 719 |
OBC | 698 | 718 | 732 |
EWS | 687 | 696 | – |
PwBD 1 | 648 | 663 | 711 |
PwBD 2 | 699 | 688 | 696 |
PwBD 3 | 425 | 374 | 520 |
PwBD 5 | 300 | 561 | 460 |
It is necessary to obtain 10% score in all of the seven papers that are the Essay, GS I , GS II, GS III, GS IV, Optional I, Optional II and a minimum of 25% in the compulsory papers.
- Final Rank List
Marks that are included in the final rank list are:-
Category | Cut off out of 2025 | Comparison with last year’s cut off (2019) | Comparison with previous cut off (2018) |
General | 944 | 961 | 982 |
SC | 875 | 898 | 912 |
ST | 876 | 893 | 912 |
OBC | 907 | 925 | 938 |
EWS | 894 | 909 | – |
PwBD 1 | 867 | 861 | 899 |
PwBD 2 | 910 | 890 | 908 |
PwBD 3 | 675 | 653 | 754 |
PwBD 5 | 465 | 708 | 718 |
Analysis
The cut off marks fall under 3 stages namely, prelims, mains and interviews. On the contrary to the point of view that the cut off will surely increase if the vacancies has been deducted on comparison to the previous year. In this year the cut off for general candidates is 944 out of 2025 marks which is about 46.61 % Thus a candidate has to score 47% to qualify according to the rules of UPSC. Only when the answer key was published the appearing candidates could know whether any question was cancelled due to which the cut off was reduced.
But it is actually not that easy to say on considering the valuation that would be strict and the aspirants should keep in mind that this exam i.e. UPSC is as exams that always yields less marks.
This cut off provides us with a vital insights into the other categories also. Where the cut off for General category is 37 marks more than that of OBC in terms of the final rank list and in SC it is 69 marks more and in ST is 68 marks more. The category that mostly needs attention is EWS as it was newly introduced the previous year where the cut off was considerably less than the cut off of all other categories. But this year the cut off was less than that of the general candidates but more than that of SC and ST.
How can a candidate improve its performance?
The first suggestion that is to be given is to never repeat the mistakes that were made earlier as the same mistakes will yield the same old result. And besides working hard and simply mugging things up try to adapt more and more intelligent strategies that would help in answering the paper with less expenditure of time and keep practicing the previous year’s questions papers and take part in mock tests.
Conclusion
The UPSC cut off marks are based on the following criterions:-
- The amount of vacancies
- The difficulty in exams
- The competition among the aspirants
- The standard of valuation
This exam is said to be one of the difficult of all the competitive exams where there are less than 1000 vacancies whereas the applicants are more than 10,00,000 in number. A candidate who is serious with the exam will prepare with proper strategies and right techniques and all what is needed is hard work and smart work to achieve at least more than 47%.