UPSC Prelims Negative Marking Scheme 2026, How to Calculate GS & CSAT Score

The UPSC Prelims Negative Marking Scheme 2026 has been officially defined in the Civil Services Examination notification released by Union Public Service Commission. Under this system, one-third of the marks assigned to a question are deducted for every incorrect answer in both General Studies Paper 1 and CSAT Paper 2. The rule is designed to reduce random guessing and improve answer accuracy in the preliminary examination.

In UPSC Prelims 2026, GS Paper 1 carries 100 questions for 200 marks, where each wrong answer leads to a deduction of 0.66 marks. CSAT Paper 2 contains 80 questions for 200 marks, with 0.83 marks deducted per incorrect response. No marks are deducted for unanswered questions. Understanding the official negative marking scheme is essential for improving attempt strategy, balancing risk during elimination, and avoiding unnecessary score loss in the upcoming UPSC Prelims exam.

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UPSC Prelims Negative Marking Scheme 2026

The UPSC CSE is conducted in three stages: Prelims, Mains, and Interview. In the preliminary stage, candidates must qualify General Studies Paper 1 and CSAT Paper 2 to clear the cutoff. As per the UPSC Prelims Negative Marking Scheme 2026, one-third of the marks assigned to a question are deducted for every incorrect answer in both papers, including cases where more than one option is marked.

Negative Marking in UPSC Prelims Paper 1

• If you have marked 80 questions out of a total of 100, then only those 80 questions will be considered for marking.
• Out of those 80 questions, if 60 are marked correctly, then you will get 2 marks for each right answer, i.e., 60 x 2 = 120 marks.
• However, if the remaining 20 questions are wrong, then 0.66 marks for each incorrect answer will be deducted, i.e., 20 x 0.66 = 13.2 marks.

Negative Marking in UPSC Prelims Paper 2

• If you attempt 50 questions out of 80, the remaining 30 will neither attract negative marking nor reward any marks.
• Out of 50 marked questions, if 40 are correct, then 2.5 marks for each right answer will be rewarded, i.e., 40 x 2.5 = 100 marks.
• For the remaining 10 wrong answers, 0.83 marks will be deducted for each, i.e., 10 x 0.83 = 8.3 marks.

Steps to Calculate UPSC Prelims Marks

1. Add the total marks in the preliminary paper as per the assigned weightage, i.e., 2 marks per correct in GS and 2.5 in CSAT, respectively.
2. Now add the total number of incorrect answers and multiply by 1/3 the marks explained above.
3. Deduct the sum of negative marks from the total marks on each paper.
4. For example, for 65 correct and 25 incorrect answers in Paper 1, the formula is (65 x 2 = 130) - (20 x 0.66 = 13.2) = 116.8 marks.
5. Apply the same rule to Paper 2, i.e., the CSAT paper, with 2.5 marks for correct answers and 0.83 for incorrect answers.

Tips to Avoid UPSC Prelims Negative Marking

• Attempt only those questions which are familiar to you.
• Avoid taking unnecessary risks in prelims exam.
• Do not overthink the known questions.
• Do not mark more than one answer to any question, as it will also attract negative marks.
• Solve as many questions as possible through PYQs and mock tests.