CSIR SO Cut Off: Category-wise Previous Year Marks and Trends
The CSIR SO cut off is the minimum score a candidate needs to be selected as Section Officer in the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. In the Combined Administrative Services Examination (CASE), there are two kinds of cut-off: a Stage I threshold (Paper I and Paper II, out of 350) and the final cut-off for empanelment (out of 600, including Paper III and the interview).
The final and 2026 figures below come from official CSIR result notices; the Stage I figures are marked indicative. Cut-offs change every cycle with difficulty, vacancies and the number of applicants, so treat them as a benchmark only and aim for a clear margin above them.
CSIR SO Final Cut Off: CASE-2023
CSIR declared the final CASE-2023 result on 2 January 2025. The notice listed these minimum marks for empanelment. ASO figures are shown for comparison.
Category | SO cut-off (out of 600) | ASO cut-off (out of 500) |
|---|---|---|
UR | 430.34 | 348.05 |
EWS | 428.06 | 332.18 |
OBC | 417.39 | 331.25 |
SC | 415.53 | 311.00 |
ST | 403.41 | 316.21 |
PwBD Category I (blindness, low vision) | 374.08 | 288.43 |
PwBD Category II (deaf, hard of hearing) | 404.73 | 261.60 |
PwBD Category III (locomotor and related) | 433.71 | 327.09 |
PwBD Category IV (SLD, MI and MD) | Not applicable | 270.76 |
Figures are rounded to two decimals from the official notice. The UR Section Officer cut-off works out to about 72 percent of the 600-mark total. The gap between UR and ST was only about 27 marks, which shows how competitive every category was for 76 SO posts.
Stage I Cut Off: CASE-2023
The Stage I result for CASE-2023 was released in June 2024, and 8,880 candidates were shortlisted for Stage II. The commonly reported category-wise thresholds (out of 350, combined for SO and ASO) are below. They were published on the CSIR exam portal, which we could not open directly, so treat them as indicative until you check the official result PDF.
Category | Stage I cut-off, CASE-2023 (out of 350, indicative) |
|---|---|
UR | 259.84 |
EWS | 233.74 |
OBC | 233.37 |
SC | 221.51 |
ST | 215.59 |
A UR threshold near 260 out of 350 means about 74 percent in Paper I and Paper II combined, after negative marking.
2026 SO Drive: Shortlisting Cut Off
For the 8 Section Officer posts filled from non-recommended UPSC CSE-2024 candidates (Advt. No. E-I/RC/2026/1), CSIR shortlisted candidates for interview on their CSE-2024 total marks (Mains plus Personality Test). The official screening notice of 19 February 2026 gave these last-shortlisted marks:
Category | Posts | Shortlisted | CSE-2024 marks of last shortlisted candidate |
|---|---|---|---|
UR | 4 | 10 | 937 |
EWS | 1 | 4 | 915 |
OBC | 2 | 5 | 909 |
SC | 1 | 3 | 877 |
These marks are on the UPSC CSE scale and cannot be compared with CASE scores. The final result on 20 March 2026 combined CSE marks with a 350-mark CSIR interview and did not state a separate cut-off.
What Affects the CSIR SO Cut Off
Factor | How it affects the cut-off |
|---|---|
Vacancies | CASE-2023 had 76 SO posts against 4,75,688 applications for all 444 posts. Fewer SO seats in the next cycle would push the cut-off up. |
Paper difficulty | A tougher Paper II lowers the Stage I threshold, and scores are normalised across shifts. |
Paper III and interview scores | These 250 marks decide the final order among candidates who cleared Stage I with similar scores. |
Post preference | Strong candidates choosing SO over ASO raise the SO cut-off relative to ASO. |
How to Set Your Target Score
The targets below are indicative planning benchmarks for UR candidates, set a little above the CASE-2023 figures. They are not official cut-offs.
Target | Indicative benchmark (UR) | Basis |
|---|---|---|
Stage I (Paper I and Paper II) | 270 or more out of 350 | About 10 marks above the indicative CASE-2023 threshold of 259.84 |
Paper III | About 100 out of 150 | Part of the suggested final split |
Interview | About 70 out of 100 | Part of the suggested final split |
Final total | 440 or more out of 600 | About 10 marks above the official CASE-2023 UR cut-off of 430.34 |
Accuracy in objective papers | Above 85 percent | 0.33 marks are deducted for each wrong answer |
Official website: https://www.csir.res.in/
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