SSC CGL 2026 expected Tier 1 cutoff
SSC does not publish a cutoff in advance. This page is an estimate: the band is the lowest and highest official Tier 1 cutoff of 2023, 2024, 2025 for the main list. Treat it as a target to beat in your mocks, not a prediction.
| Category | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Band (low – high) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UR | 151.9 | 152.97 | 136.83 | 136.83 – 152.97 |
| EWS | 139.54 | 141.82 | 127.41 | 127.41 – 141.82 |
| OBC | 130.16 | 146.23 | 130.36 | 130.16 – 146.23 |
| SC | 115.26 | 126.42 | 114.97 | 114.97 – 126.42 |
| ST | 106.83 | 111.85 | 106.36 | 106.36 – 111.85 |
Out of 200 marks, after normalisation. List: Tier 1 → Tier 2 (all posts except AAO/JSO).
What moves the cutoff
- Paper difficulty. A harder paper pushes normalised scores down. The drop from 2024 to 2025 in the UR column above is an example.
- Vacancies and candidates. More posts for the same pool lets SSC call more candidates for Tier 2, which usually lowers the line.
- Shift-wise difficulty. Marks are normalised across shifts, so your raw score and your normalised score can differ. See shift-wise exam analysis for how each shift felt.
- Category. Reserved-category lines sit well below UR, and the gap changes every year.
How to use this
Aim for a mock score a comfortable margin above the high end of your category's band, because Tier 1 is only a screening round and a borderline score can miss. Remember Tier 1 marks do not count towards the final merit for most posts, so use the extra time in Tier 2 preparation too.
Enter your mock result in the score calculator to see the gap to the cutoff by category, or read your response sheet in the marks calculator. Then take a full mock.