The UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2026 will be conducted on 24 May 2026 (Sunday) in two shifts across India.
-
General Studies Paper 1 (Question Paper)General Studies Paper 1 (Question Paper)
-
General Studies Paper 1 (Answer Explanation)General Studies Paper 1 (Answer Explanation)
-
General Studies Paper 2 (Question Paper)General Studies Paper 2 (Question Paper)
UPSC Prelims 2026 Provisional Answer Key (Official)
-
General Studies Paper I (Answer Key)General Studies Paper I (Answer Key)
-
General Studies Paper II (Answer Key)General Studies Paper II (Answer Key)
UPSC Prelims Category-Wise Cut-Off Trends (2020–2025)
| Category | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | 92.66 | 87.98 | 75.41 | 88.22 | 87.54 | 92.51 |
| EWS | 89.34 | 85.92 | 68.02 | 82.83 | 80.14 | 77.55 |
| OBC | 92.00 | 87.28 | 74.75 | 87.54 | 84.85 | 89.12 |
| SC | 84.00 | 79.03 | 59.25 | 74.08 | 75.41 | 74.84 |
| ST | 82.66 | 74.23 | 47.82 | 69.35 | 70.71 | 68.71 |
| PwBD-1 | 76.66 | 69.42 | 40.40 | 49.84 | 68.02 | 70.06 |
| PwBD-2 | 54.66 | 65.30 | 47.13 | 58.59 | 67.33 | 63.94 |
| PwBD-3 | 40.66 | 40.56 | 40.40 | 40.40 | 40.03 | 40.82 |
| PwBD-5 | 40.66 | 40.56 | 33.68 | 41.76 | 45.80 | 42.86 |
Key Takeaways from the Data
- The 2023 Dip: The year 2023 witnessed the lowest cut-off in recent history (75.41 for General) due to an exceptionally difficult GS Paper 1 and a highly challenging CSAT paper that knocked out many high-scoring candidates.
- Shrinking Category Cushion: The gap between the General, OBC, and EWS categories has drastically narrowed. In 2025, the difference between General (92.66) and OBC (92.00) is a mere 0.66 marks, indicating that competition across all segments has intensely levelled up.
- The 90+ Mark Threshold: While a score of 85–88 used to be historically considered “safe”, the upward trajectory in 2025 underscores that varying paper difficulty and reduced vacancies require aiming for a higher accuracy benchmark.
PAPER-I
- It is General Studies paper, having questions form history, geography, polity and governance, environment, current affairs etc
- 100 questions are there , each carrying 2 marks
NOTE: 1/3 marks deducted for each wrong answer
PAPER-II
- It includes test of comprehension, general mental ability, basic numeracy, data interpretation etc
- It consists of 80 questions each carrying 2.5 marks
- 1/3 marks cut for each wrong
NOTE: This paper is qualifying in nature, with a minimum of 33%
marks
NOTE: The paper 1 marks determines the merit list, subject to qualifying the paper 2. The cut off is determined by paper 1 marks.
