What do you mean by cut off in any competitive exam?

A cut off in a competitive exam is the minimum score a candidate must achieve to qualify for the next stage whether that is an interview, a merit list, or final selection.

It acts as a filter: when thousands apply for limited positions (government jobs, university seats, military roles), the examining body sets a minimum below which no candidate is considered further.

Cut offs are announced after results and vary based on:

• Total number of candidates
• Difficulty level of the paper that year
• Number of seats or vacancies available
• Category of the candidate (many exams have different cut offs for general, OBC, SC, ST categories as part of reservation policy)

Types of cut offs:

• Qualifying cut off: minimum score to be considered eligible
• Merit cut off: score needed to actually be selected or called for the next stage (usually higher)
• Category-specific cut off: reserved category candidates often have lower cut offs

Example: in an exam with 100,000 candidates and 1,000 seats, if the 1,000th-ranked candidate scored 142 then 142 is the effective merit cut off. Anyone below 142 is not selected.