UPSC Topper Marks: How Many Marks the Toppers Scored

The rank 1 candidate of CSE 2025, Anuj Agnihotri, scored 1,071 out of 2,025: 867 out of 1,750 in the written mains and 204 out of 275 in the interview. In the eight years whose marks lists we found on UPSC's website, rank 1 scored between 1,043 and 1,126 in total.

All marks on this page are copied from UPSC's "marks of recommended candidates", which UPSC publishes after each final result. The table has rank 1 for each year; open a year to see ranks 1 to 10.

How the total is made up

A candidate's total has two parts, both set out in the CSE 2026 notice:

• Written, out of 1,750: Essay, General Studies I to IV and the two optional papers, 250 marks each. The two language papers are qualifying and are not added.
• Interview, out of 275: the personality test, which has no minimum qualifying mark.

UPSC's marks lists give only these three figures for each candidate: written total, interview marks and final total. They do not break the written total into papers.

What the numbers show

• The written total varies more than the interview. Rank 1's written total ranged from 843 in CSE 2024 to 950 in CSE 2017; rank 1's interview marks ranged from 158 in CSE 2019 to 204 in CSE 2025.
• The top of the list is close together. In CSE 2025 rank 1 had 1,071 and rank 10 had 1,033. Several pairs of candidates had the same total: in CSE 2024, ranks 2 and 3 both had 1,038.
• Ties are broken by rule. Each year's cut-off notice explains how. Under the CSE 2025 notice, the candidate with more marks in the compulsory papers (Essay and GS I to IV) and the interview together ranks higher; if that is also equal, the compulsory papers alone decide; after that, the older candidate.
• You do not need a topper's total to be selected. You need at least your category's final cut-off, the total of the last candidate recommended. In CSE 2025 that was 963 for General, against rank 1's 1,071. Every category's cut-off is on the mains and final cut-off page.

Using these marks in your preparation

Treat a topper's total as a reference point, not a target. What it does show is where the weight lies: 1,750 of the 2,025 marks are in the seven written papers, and rank 1's written total in these years was between 843 and 950.

Our advice: spread your effort across the papers that count, practise complete answers under time, and give the Essay and GS IV the same care as your optional. The 10% rule in each paper is a reminder that one neglected paper can cost you the whole attempt.

When marks come out, and your own marks

UPSC's final-result notice says marks will be on the website within 15 days of the result. For CSE 2025 the final result was declared on 6 March 2026 and the marks of recommended candidates were uploaded on 10 March 2026. For CSE 2024 the dates were 22 April 2025 and 25 April 2025.

You can also see your own marks. UPSC's notice on the CSE 2025 mains result says the marks sheets of all the candidates will be uploaded within 15 days of the final result and will stay on the website for 30 days.

The years missing from the table are CSE 2015, 2016 and 2018: we could not find their marks lists on UPSC's website. For the names of each year's toppers, including their optional subjects where UPSC named them, see the UPSC toppers list.