Is the railway cut-off the same for every RRB?

No. Cut-offs are set separately for each RRB, each community and often each post category. A score that clears one board can fall short at another, which is why you should always compare your marks with the cut-off of the RRB you applied to.

Are railway cut-offs given in raw or normalised marks?

Official RRB cut-off notices give normalised marks, usually out of 100 and often to several decimal places. Because exams run across many shifts, normalisation adjusts scores for differences in difficulty, so compare your normalised score with the published cut-off.

Where can I check the official railway cut-off?

Each RRB posts cut-off PDFs under the Exam Results section of its page on the unified RRB website, next to the result for each stage. Select your RRB and the CEN number of your exam to find the right notice for your community and post.

What score should I target to clear the railway cut-off?

Aim for at least 5 to 8 marks above the last cut-off for your RRB, community and stage. Cut-offs move with vacancies and applicants each year, so a margin protects you in a tougher cycle. Track whether your mock scores reach that level consistently.

Railway Exams

Railway Exams Cut-off: Previous Year Marks

Railway exams cut-off marks are set separately for each Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), each community and, in many exams, each post category. They are published as normalised marks at each shortlisting stage: the first CBT, the second CBT, and the final panel. So there is no single railway cut-off. A Group D score that clears one RRB can fall short at another.

The figures below are previous cut-offs taken from official RRB result notices for the 2024 recruitment cycle. Most are from RRB Chandigarh to keep the comparison on one board. Cut-offs change every year with difficulty, vacancies and the number of applicants, so treat these as benchmarks only and aim for a clear margin above them.

Previous Railway Cut-offs by Exam (2024 Cycle)

Exam, stage and board	UR	EWS	OBC	SC	ST
Group D CEN 08/2024, shortlist for PET, RRB Chandigarh	72.21	66.69	70.30	65.86	60.70
NTPC Graduate CEN 05/2024, CBT 1 to CBT 2, Post category 1, RRB Chandigarh	84.16	81.81	81.01	78.16	76.43
NTPC Undergraduate CEN 06/2024, CBT 1 to CBT 2, Post category 1, RRB Chandigarh	80.52	78.24	78.60	75.84	73.98
ALP CEN 01/2024, shortlist for DV, RRB Chandigarh (NR)	78.00	66.81	74.16	73.11	39.57
RPF Constable CEN RPF 02/2024, final panel, male, all RRBs	77.71	72.99	75.62	72.16	68.98
RPF Constable CEN RPF 02/2024, final panel, female, all RRBs	77.33	72.99	74.93	70.96	68.98

All figures are normalised scores out of 100, rounded to two decimals from the official notices; the NTPC Graduate notice calls its figure a cut-off merit index. The ALP figure is the cut-off for document verification, set on combined CBT 2 and CBAT merit. The RPF ex-servicemen cut-off in the final Constable panel was 47.34. For JE CEN 03/2024 at RRB Chandigarh, the CBT 1 cut-off for UR ranged from 59.65 to 81.25 across post categories, which shows how much the post you opt for matters.

What the Numbers Tell You

Graduate posts run highest: The NTPC Graduate CBT 1 cut-off for UR at RRB Chandigarh was above 84 out of 100 for post category 1.
Level 1 is not easy: Group D needed over 72 for UR at the same board, because the competition is enormous. The Level 1 CEN 09/2025 drew a tentative 52,39,760 applications across all RRBs.
Category gaps vary: The UR to ST gap was about 11 marks in Group D but over 38 marks in the ALP final list at the same board.
Screening cut-offs are not final: A CBT 1 cut-off only moves you to CBT 2. The final panel depends on the later stage.

How to Read an Official Cut-off Notice

Each RRB posts its own cut-off PDF next to the result list for every stage. The notice names the CEN, the stage (for example, shortlisting for CBT 2 or for document verification), and a row for each post category. Columns cover UR, SC, ST, OBC and EWS, then ex-servicemen and PwBD sub-categories. Some community cut-offs sit above the UR figure because a reserved candidate was selected on a community point earlier, which the notices explain in a footnote.

What Affects the Railway Cut-off

Factor	Effect on cut-off
Vacancies at your chosen RRB	More posts usually lower the cut-off
Number of applicants at that RRB	Boards with more applicants per post tend to run higher
Paper difficulty across shifts	Normalisation adjusts, but tougher cycles bring all cut-offs down
Shortlisting ratio	About 15 times vacancies for CBT 2 in NTPC and ALP, 3 times for the Group D PET, 1:1 for document verification
Post preference	Different post categories in the same CEN carry different cut-offs

How to Set Your Target Score

Pick the right reference: Use your own RRB, your community and the stage that decides selection. Download the cut-off PDF from your board's results page.
Add a margin: Aim for at least 5 to 8 marks above the last cut-off, since a bare pass is risky in a year with fewer posts.
Respect qualifying minimums: In NTPC, JE and ALP, UR and EWS must still reach 40%, OBC-NCL and SC 30%, and ST 25%, whatever the merit cut-off.
Translate it into mocks: If your target is 80 out of 100, you need about 85 correct answers with no more than 10 to 15 wrong ones, because each wrong answer costs a third of a mark. A timed full mock on Testkart is a practical way to check whether you are there yet.

Cut-off PDFs for every CEN are posted under Exam Results on the unified RRB website.

Frequently Asked Questions

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