UPSC Prelims Score Calculator (Negative Marking)

How the calculator works

It applies the rule in the CSE 2026 notice to the numbers you enter. Each right answer earns the marks for that question. Each wrong answer loses one-third of them. A question you left blank adds and loses nothing.

So your score is: right answers × marks per question, minus wrong answers × one-third of the marks per question. For example, 60 right and 30 wrong in General Studies Paper I, where each question carried 2 marks in CSE 2026, gives 120 − 20 = 100.

The calculator fills in the marks per question for you. UPSC's CSE 2026 test booklets had 100 questions in Paper I and 80 in Paper II, and each says all its questions carry equal marks. With 200 marks a paper, that is 2 marks a question in Paper I and 2.5 in Paper II. If you are scoring a mock test with different figures, choose "Another test" and enter its own.

What to count as wrong

• Any wrong answer you marked. Each one costs one-third of that question's marks.
• Any question where you marked more than one answer. The notice treats it as wrong even if one of your answers was correct.
• Not questions you left blank. Count those as neither right nor wrong; they carry no penalty.

Reading your result

• Right answers shows the marks you earned: right answers × marks per question.
• Wrong answers shows the marks deducted: one-third of a question's marks for each one.
• Not answered is the questions in the paper minus your right and wrong answers. They change nothing.
• Score is the first line minus the second, out of the paper's full marks.

Because each wrong answer costs a third of a question, three wrong answers wipe out exactly one right answer. If your wrong answers are more than three times your right ones, the score goes below zero.

Why both papers matter

The prelims has two papers on the same day, and the notice says a candidate who does not appear in both is disqualified. Score each paper separately: Paper I against the qualifying marks UPSC fixes, Paper II against 33%. Neither score is carried forward, because prelims marks don't count towards your final rank.

What the calculator doesn't tell you

• Whether you'll clear the prelims. UPSC fixes the qualifying marks in General Studies Paper I for each exam, so they aren't known in advance. The cut-off checker shows which past years a Paper I score would have cleared.
• Your official marks. This is arithmetic on your own count. The notice says that, as the prelims is only a screening test, no mark sheets are supplied to candidates.

For Paper II (CSAT), the calculator also checks your score against the 33% you need to qualify, which is 66 of 200 marks. Paper II marks don't count towards the prelims cut-off, but without that 33% you don't qualify for the mains, whatever your Paper I score.

For how the penalty works, with more examples, see negative marking explained.