With CUET 2025 becoming the central gateway for undergraduate admissions in top Indian universities, understanding the difference between CUET marks and percentile is crucial. Many students find the conversion between raw scores, percentiles, and cutoff marks confusing. This blog aims to simplify the process and help you plan your admission strategy effectively.
What is the CUET Score?
Your CUET score refers to the raw marks you obtain in each subject. The exam typically consists of multiple-choice questions (MCQs), each carrying a specific mark. For instance, if a section has 50 questions worth 5 marks each, the maximum score is 250. Negative marking is also applicable, with 1 mark usually deducted for each wrong answer.
So, if you attempted 40 questions and got 35 correct and 5 wrong:
- Correct answers: 35 × 5 = 175
- Negative marking: 5 × 1 = 5
- Total Score = 175 – 5 = 170
What is CUET Percentile?
CUET percentile reflects your relative performance compared to other test takers. It does not represent your percentage score but indicates the percentage of candidates who scored less than you.
CUET 2025 Expected Cut-Off Marks
CUET cut-offs differ by university, course, and category. For example:
- Delhi University (BA Hons): 98–100 percentile
- Banaras Hindu University (BSc): 85–95 percentile
- Jamia Millia Islamia (BCom): 90–96 percentile
Highly competitive programs may require above 99 percentile, especially for general category candidates.
Understanding CUET marks vs percentile helps you evaluate your chances realistically. Focus on maximizing your accuracy, attempting high-weightage questions, and analyzing past trends. Keep an eye on individual university cut-offs, and aim for a percentile that aligns with your dream course.
How is CUET Normalization Done?
CUET is conducted in multiple shifts and days, and since the difficulty level of the question paper may vary between shifts, a normalization method is used by NTA (National Testing Agency) to ensure fairness.
This is where your normalized score and percentile score come into play.
Why is Normalization Important?
If a student in Shift 1 faces a tougher paper than a student in Shift 2, comparing their raw scores would be unfair. Normalization helps in adjusting the marks so that students across different shifts are evaluated on an equal footing.
NTA uses a statistical formula based on equipercentile method and interpolation, taking into account:
- Raw marks
- Shift-wise difficulty level
- Performance of all candidates in each shift
The normalized percentile score is what colleges use during counseling and cut-off declaration not the raw marks.
CUET Percentile vs Rank
Your percentile shows how well you performed in comparison to others. But your rank is more direct, it tells you your position among all test-takers.
For example:
- If you get a 99 percentile, and 1,00,000 students appeared for that subject, your approximate rank would be around 1,000.
- A lower percentile means a higher rank number and fewer chances for top courses/universities.
Keep in mind, admission is usually based on ranks derived from percentile scores, especially when competition is high.
