Negative Marking in UPSC Prelims: How to Calculate GS & CSAT Score?

Negative Marking in UPSC Prelims: The prestigious Civil Service Examination (CSE) is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which acts as a gateway to all the Group A and B services. The UPSC prelims exam consists of two papers, i.e., general studies I and II. The GS paper I will consist of 100 MCQ questions, while the GS paper II will consist of 80 MCQ questions. However, this round can be challenging because of negative marking. In the UPSC Preliminary Examination, for every incorrect response, 1/3rd marks will be deducted. Let's look at the negative markings in the preliminary examination for both papers.

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Negative Marking in UPSC

Negative marking is a key part of the UPSC examination, ensuring that candidates do not guess any questions and provide answers based on their understanding and expertise. Here are the key details regarding negative marking in the UPSC exam.

• No marks will be deducted for questions that will be attempted.
• If multiple options are marked, then it will be treated as a wrong answer, and marks will be deducted accordingly.

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Negative Marking in UPSC Prelims Paper 1

In the UPSC Prelims Paper 1, wrong answers will be punished with negative marks, For each incorrect answer marked, one-third of the marks will be deducted, while for paper 2, marks will also be deducted in the ratio of 1/3. So it is better to leave a question blank rather than guessing 

How to Calculate Negative Marking in UPSC Prelims for General Studies 1?

General Studies Paper 1 will contain 200 marks for 100 questions and the duration of paper will be 2 hours. As mentioned above, 1/3 of the marks will be deducted for marking wrong options, so total of 0.66 will deducted from each question for each wrong answer. Lets us understand this by an example

Let us suppose a candidate answered 75 questions correctly and 25 incorrectly out of 100 questions in General Studies 1. So to calculate the final score below, the following steps will be followed:

 For each correct answer, the candidate get 2 marks, i.e. 75 x 2 = 150 marks

For each incorrect answer, 1/3 of the total marks of question will be deducted  25 x 0.66 = 16.5 marks

Therefore, 16.5 marks will deducted from the candidate's score for marking incorrect responses

So, Final score of the candidate in GS 1 will be 150 - 16.5 = 133.5 marks

Negative Marking in UPSC CSAT

General Studies Paper 2 of CSAT will contain 200 marks for 80 questions and the duration of paper will be 2 hours. As mentioned above 1/3 of the marks will be deducted for marking wrong options so total of 0.83 will deducted from each question for each wrong answer. Lets us understand this by an example

Let us suppose a candidate answered 50 questions correctly and 30 incorrectly out of 980 questions in CSAT paper. So to calculate the final score below mentioned will be followed:

 For each correct answer, the candidate get 2.5 marks i.e. 50 x 2.5 = 125 marks

For each incorrect answer, 1/3 of the total marks of question will be deducted  30 x 0.83 = 24.9 marks

Therefore, 24.9 marks will deducted from the candidate's score for marking incorrect responses

So, Final score of the candidate in CSAT will be 125 - 24.9 = 100.1 marks

How to Calculate UPSC Prelims Marks?

To calculate your UPSC Prelims marks and get an expected UPSC Prelims Score, candidates can follow the methods mentioned above. The CSAT paper is purely for qualifying purposes. Candidates need a minimum of 33% (66 out of 200) to qualify for the next stage. UPSC does not release any official answer key, although several coaching institutes release their own answer keys following the test.

How to Avoid Negative Marking in UPSC?

Negative marks can significantly affect your final score so before marking the answers, candidates should cross check twice. Below are some of the steps that help in avoiding the marking of wrong answers

• Attempt the questions first on which you are highly confident. The more confident you are, the less chance there is of marking wrong answers or doing any guesswork.
• Do not rush in marking any answer and not do any guess work blindly, take time to understand the concept the question that is being asked.
• If you don't know the answer, avoid making a blind guess. Leaving a question blank will not result in negative marking.
• Do not get stuck to the questions, make a proper time division strategy that indicates how much time will be given to particular questions and can be revisited later if time allows.
• Try option elimination strategy if you are unsure about any answer. The strategy will allow candidates to mark the right answer 
• Concentrate on questions where you have a high possibility of being correct. Don't waste time on questions you're unclear about.
• Mark the responses very clearly in the OMR sheet using dark brown and black pen

When did Negative Marking in UPSC Start?

Negative marking in UPSC prelims exam was started in 2007. Before that, there was no penalty for incorrect answers in the preliminary stage. The UPSC used negative marking to prevent candidates from guessing at random and encourage them to focus on accurate details and well-informed responses. It seeks to promote an equal selection process by rewarding individuals who have a solid understanding of the evaluated subjects.