ISRO Scientist/Engineer SC Cut-off: Qualifying Marks and Benchmarks

The ISRO Scientist/Engineer SC cut-off has two layers. The first is a set of fixed qualifying marks printed in the advertisement. The second is the score that actually gets a candidate into the interview shortlist, which changes with every cycle and is not announced in advance.

This page separates the two, shows the official qualifying marks for the 2026 cycle (advertisement ISRO:ICRB:03(EMC):2026), lists the cut-off figures ISRO has published for the GATE-based route, and explains how to set a realistic target. No expected or estimated cut-off is presented here as official.

What Cut-off Means in ISRO Recruitment

For the written-test route, ISRO uses three kinds of cut-off:

• Qualifying marks: the minimum you need in each part of the test, in the interview and in the final aggregate. These are fixed in the advertisement.

• Shortlisting cut-off: the written test score of the last candidate called for the interview. Candidates are shortlisted in the ratio of 1:5 against vacancies, with a minimum of 10, so this score depends on how everyone in your discipline performs.

• Final selection cut-off: the combined written test and interview score of the last candidate on the merit panel. Each stage carries 50% weightage.

Official Qualifying Marks for 2026

These are the only cut-off figures in the current advertisement. Clearing them keeps you in the process but does not guarantee an interview call.

Previous Cut-off Reference

Written-test route

ISRO published written test results and cut-off details for the earlier cycle (advertisement ISRO:ICRB:02(EMC):2025) in January 2026 on its notification page. We have not been able to verify the discipline-wise and category-wise figures from the official document, so none are reproduced here. Open the official ISRO notification page for that cycle to read the published cut-off details directly. Treat any figure on unofficial sites as unconfirmed until it matches that document.

GATE-based route

For the separate GATE-based advertisement (ISRO:ICRB:02(EMC-CEPO):2026), ISRO has published a GATE score cut-off table on its website. The values below were read from that table; check the original PDF before relying on them.

These are GATE scores, not marks in the ISRO CBT, so they should not be compared with your mock test marks. They are useful only as a sign of how competitive the GATE route is.

What Affects the Cut-off

• Number of vacancies: Electronics has far more posts than Computer Science in this cycle, so the shortlisting line differs by discipline.

• Number of applicants: a discipline with many applicants per post, such as Computer Science, usually sees a higher shortlisting score.

• Paper difficulty: a harder Part A paper lowers the raw scores across the board.

• Reservation and backlog posts: separate shortlists are made for reserved vacancies, so category lines differ.

• Sectional minimums: candidates who miss the 50% line in either part are removed before ranking.

How to Set Your Target Score

1. Secure both sectional lines first: aim for at least 60% in Part A and 70% in Part B in mocks, so a bad day does not drop you below 50%.

2. Aim well above the qualifying line in Part A: because the cut-off for the interview call is not published in advance, a margin of 15 to 20 marks above 40 is a safer planning target than a bare pass.

3. Track net marks, not attempts: remember that each wrong answer in Part A costs one-third of a mark.

4. Plan for the interview too: half of the final merit comes from it. To reach 60% aggregate, a weaker interview must be balanced by a stronger written score.

Cut-offs change every year with difficulty, vacancies and the number of applicants. Treat last year's figures as a benchmark only, and aim for a clear margin above them.