ICAR AIEEA Cut Off 2026: How Closing Ranks Work

The ICAR AIEEA cut-off works differently from most entrance exams. ICAR does not announce a single pass mark for the AIEEA (PG) exam. Instead, your all-India rank within your Major Subject Group decides which seat you get in ICAR's online counselling. The real cut-off is the closing rank at which the last seat in a subject, university and category is filled. The 2026 exam was held on 4 July 2026, and round 1 counselling began on 29 September 2026.

Cut-offs change every year with difficulty, vacancies and the number of applicants. Treat past figures as a benchmark only, and aim for a clear margin above them rather than a bare pass.

How the ICAR AIEEA Cut-Off Works

• No published qualifying mark: The 2026-27 bulletin sets no minimum exam score. The only marks condition is degree eligibility: an OGPA of 6.60 out of 10 (or 60%) for General, OBC (NCL), EWS and UPS candidates, and 5.60 (or 50%) for SC, ST, PwBD and Third Gender candidates.

• Rank-based admission: Seats and ICAR-PG scholarships are allotted by merit rank in the group you appeared in.

• Many cut-offs, not one: Each sub-subject, university, category and counselling round has its own closing rank. A rank that misses Agronomy at one university may secure it at another.

ICAR AIEEA 2026 Competition at a Glance

NTA's 2026 figures show how many candidates competed. They help you judge the pressure on ranks.

For comparison, the bulletin puts total all-India quota PG seats for 2025-26 at 4,883. So only a fraction of PG candidates can expect a seat through this route. Closing ranks for each round appear on the ICAR counselling portal and in university allotment lists.

What Affects the Cut-Off

• Paper difficulty: A tougher paper lowers the marks behind each rank.

• Seats in your sub-subject: Subjects and institutes with few seats close at much better ranks.

• Category and reservation: Separate closing ranks apply for each reserved category.

• Round of counselling: Closing ranks often relax in later rounds as candidates withdraw or upgrade.

How to Set Your Target

Because no official mark guarantees a seat, set your target by rank and accuracy. Aim to score well above the average in your group in full-length practice. Keep wrong answers low, since each one costs 5 marks of swing under +4/-1 marking. Track your score across mocks and keep pushing it up. A steady rise matters more than one good test.