SSC CHSL Expected Cut-Off 2026: Quick Answer
The official SSC CHSL 2026 cut-off has NOT been released — the Tier 1 exam has not even started yet, so no 2026 cut-off exists anywhere. Every 2026 figure on this page is an expected cut-off, built from the official 2025-cycle cut-offs and the one hard fact that has changed since: vacancies are down. The 2026 notice lists about 2,536 tentative vacancies, against 3,131 tentative (3,522 final) in 2025 — roughly 19% fewer posts, so fewer candidates are shortlisted and the cut-off rises, all else equal. On that basis, our expected Tier 1 range for UR (LDC/JSA) is 146–154 out of 200, against the 2025 actual of 144.26; for DEO (Science stream, UR) it is 172–179, against the 2025 actual of 169.54. Treat these as planning targets, not promises: the paper's difficulty is unknown until the exam runs, and the cut-off is set by normalised marks. A safe mock target is the top of your range plus about 5 marks — 159+ for LDC/JSA (UR) and 184+ for DEO Science (UR).
Key takeaway: No 2026 cut-off is official yet. Every 2026 number below is an expected figure built from the 2025 actuals, with the vacancy cut as the main upward push. Use the ranges to set your mock targets; do not quote them as SSC figures.
Official source: CHSL 2026 notice, uploaded on ssc.gov.in on 7 September 2026 (about 2,536 tentative vacancies); SSC schedule notice of 1 October 2026 (Tier 1 window 30 November–31 December 2026). The 2025 cut-offs come from SSC's Tier-I result write-up dated 27 February 2026; the 2024 cut-offs from the write-up dated 6 September 2024. Full pattern: SSC CHSL exam pattern 2026; full 2025 tables: SSC CHSL cut-off.
Latest Changes: SSC CHSL Cut-Off 2026
| Date | What happened | What it means for the cut-off |
|---|---|---|
| 27 February 2026 | SSC released the CHSL 2025 Tier-I result write-up with the full category-wise cut-off tables | This is the base every 2026 expectation is built on — 2025 actuals, not guesses |
| 7 September 2026 | CHSL 2026 notice uploaded on ssc.gov.in — about 2,536 tentative vacancies | 595 fewer tentative vacancies than 2025 (3,131); the main reason expected cut-offs sit above the 2025 actuals |
| 7 October 2026 | CHSL 2026 application window closed; form correction window ran to 16 October 2026 | Applications are done; the applicant pool is now fixed, though SSC has not published its size |
| 1 October 2026 | SSC schedule notice fixed the Tier 1 window: 30 November–31 December 2026 | A 32-day window (2025 ran 12–30 November, 19 days) means more shifts — and more normalisation |
| 7 November 2026 | This page published | Official 2026 cut-off NOT released; all 2026 figures here are expected |
Nothing else has moved since the notice. SSC has not published a post-wise vacancy split for 2026, has not announced the number of applicants, and has not released city slip or admit card dates. If any of those appear, the expectation below should be re-checked.
SSC CHSL Expected Cut-Off 2026 (Tier 1, Out of 200)
This is the page's one complete table. Read it with the warning attached: the "Expected 2026" column is BookOfExams' expectation, not an SSC figure. The "2025 actual" column is the official figure from SSC's 27 February 2026 result write-up, and it is the only hard number in the table. Expected ranges are whole marks — decimals would fake a precision no expectation can have.
| Category | Post | Expected 2026 (Tier 1) | 2025 actual (Tier 1) | Safe mock target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UR | LDC / JSA | 146–154 | 144.26 | 159+ |
| OBC | LDC / JSA | 146–154 | 143.83 | 159+ |
| EWS | LDC / JSA | 143–151 | 141.42 | 156+ |
| SC | LDC / JSA | 127–135 | 125.40 | 140+ |
| ST | LDC / JSA | 117–125 | 115.25 | 130+ |
| UR | DEO (Science stream) | 172–179 | 169.54 | 184+ |
| OBC | DEO (Science stream) | 172–179 | 169.50 | 184+ |
| EWS | DEO (Science stream) | 172–179 | 169.54 | 184+ |
| SC | DEO (Science stream) | 160–168 | 157.72 | 173+ |
| ST | DEO (Science stream) | 155–163 | 152.79 | 168+ |
| UR | DEO (Other than Science) | 167–175 | 165.27 | 180+ |
| OBC | DEO (Other than Science) | 167–175 | 165.27 | 180+ |
| EWS | DEO (Other than Science) | 166–174 | 163.77 | 179+ |
| SC | DEO (Other than Science) | 161–169 | 158.63 | 174+ |
| ST | DEO (Other than Science) | 152–160 | 150.43 | 165+ |
Two things to notice. First, UR and OBC sit almost on top of each other for LDC/JSA — in 2025 they were separated by just 0.43 marks (144.26 vs 143.83) — so an OBC candidate should prepare to the same standard as a UR candidate. Second, the DEO lines are far above the LDC/JSA lines: DEO Science (UR) closed at 169.54 in 2025, about 25 marks above LDC/JSA. That gap exists because DEO shortlists are tiny — only 614 candidates cleared Tier 1 for DEO Science in 2025 and 1,767 for DEO (Other than Science), against 37,520 for LDC/JSA. If you applied for DEO, the LDC/JSA range is roughly 25 marks too low for you.
PwBD and ESM figures are held from this table: the 2025 write-up does publish them, but they were not fully verified across sources in this pass, so they are marked not verified here.
How the Expectation Was Built
The method is simple, and it is worth stating plainly so you can judge it. Step one: take the official 2025 Tier 1 cut-off for each category and post as the base. Step two: adjust for what has verifiably changed. Only one thing has — vacancies. The 2026 notice lists about 2,536 tentative vacancies against 3,131 tentative in 2025 (final 2025 count: 3,522), a fall of 595 posts, about 19%. Fewer posts means a smaller shortlist, and the last candidate shortlisted sits higher up the score distribution. That is why every expected range starts a couple of marks above its 2025 actual. Step three: widen the range for what is unknown — paper difficulty, the unpublished applicant count, and more normalisation across a longer 32-day window. So each expected range is the 2025 actual plus 2 to 10 marks, and the safe mock target sits about 5 marks above the top of the range.
What the method does not do is extrapolate the 2024-to-2025 fall as if it were a trend. The UR LDC/JSA cut-off fell by 13.10 marks from 2024 (157.36) to 2025 (144.26), but that fall was driven by that year's paper and applicant pool, neither of which repeats. It also does not borrow other sites' single-number 2026 predictions.
The 2025 vs 2024 comparison sits here rather than in a second full table: LDC/JSA UR 157.36 → 144.26 (−13.10); OBC 156.62 → 143.83 (−12.79); EWS 150.52 → 141.42 (−9.10); SC 139.68 → 125.40 (−14.28); ST 129.45 → 115.25 (−14.20). For DEO, one footnote: in 2024 SSC published a single combined DEO list (UR 176.27), while in 2025 it split DEO into Science stream (UR 169.54) and Other than Science (UR 165.27) — so the two years' DEO figures are not like-for-like, and the drop partly reflects the split. The lesson is the same either way: the cut-off moves by double-digit marks between cycles, which is why this page gives ranges, not single numbers.
One more fact: Tier 1 marks do not count in final merit. Tier 1 only shortlists you for Tier 2; final merit comes from Tier 2 (360 marks). The cut-off is a gate, not a score to maximise — but the gate is high (about 72% of the paper for LDC/JSA, about 85% for DEO Science), so "just clearing it" still means a strong paper. And the cut-off is on normalised marks: a hard shift can help you as much as an easy one hurts you, which is another reason to aim at the safe target rather than the expected line.
What Moves the Cut-Off Up or Down
Five forces decide where the real 2026 cut-off lands; only the first is known today.
Vacancies — pushes up. The confirmed one. About 2,536 tentative posts against 3,131 tentative (3,522 final) in 2025. If SSC revises the 2026 figure upward before the final result, as it did in 2025, the upward pressure eases.
Number of applicants — unknown. SSC has not published the 2026 applicant count.
Paper difficulty — unknown until 30 November. An easier paper lifts everyone's scores and the cut-off with them; a harder paper drops it. This is the largest single unknown and the main reason the ranges above are 8 marks wide.
Normalisation across shifts — moves individual candidates, not the list much. With a 32-day window, your normalised score can sit a few marks either side of your raw score depending on your shift's difficulty. You cannot control it, so the only response is margin.
Minimum qualifying marks — the floor, not the cut-off. SSC fixes minimum qualifying marks of 30% for UR (60 out of 200), 25% for OBC/EWS (50) and 20% for other categories (40). These are floors below which nobody is shortlisted, whatever the cut-off. They sit far below the expected ranges, so they never decide anything for a serious candidate — but they are the reason a "cut-off" of 60 or 50 quoted on some sites is meaningless.
Common Mistakes About the CHSL Cut-Off
- Treating an expected cut-off as official. Until SSC publishes the Tier 1 result write-up — expected in February to March 2027 — any 2026 cut-off figure you see, including every number on this page, is an estimate. If a site or a video presents a 2026 cut-off without the word "expected", it is misleading you.
- Comparing cut-offs across posts. The LDC/JSA cut-off and the DEO cut-off are different lists drawn from different candidate pools. Quoting the LDC/JSA figure (144.26 in 2025) as "the CHSL cut-off" understates what a DEO candidate needs by about 25 marks.
- Comparing across years without the context. The 2024 UR LDC/JSA cut-off (157.36) looks like a target, but it came from a different paper, a different vacancy count and a different applicant pool. The 2025 figure is the better anchor — and even it is only an anchor.
- Ignoring normalisation. Raw mock scores and normalised cut-offs are not the same thing. A mock score of 150 does not guarantee clearing an expected cut-off of 146–154, because your shift's normalisation could shave marks off.
- Aiming at the cut-off instead of above it. The cut-off is the last candidate shortlisted. Aiming at it means aiming to be the last person in.
Memory Tricks: CHSL Cut-Off Numbers
- "144 and 170" — the two 2025 UR anchors: 144.26 for LDC/JSA, 169.54 for DEO Science. Both are 2025 actuals, not 2026 figures.
- "2,536, down 595" — the 2026 tentative vacancies, 595 fewer than 2025's 3,131. One number explains why every expected range sits above its 2025 base.
- "30–25–20" — minimum qualifying percentages: 30% UR, 25% OBC/EWS, 20% others. The floor, not the cut-off.
- "13 down, then up?" — the UR LDC/JSA cut-off fell 13.10 marks from 2024 to 2025, then vacancies fell for 2026. Direction is not destiny.
Practice Questions: SSC CHSL Cut-Off 2026 (10 Questions)
1. What was the official SSC CHSL 2025 Tier 1 cut-off for UR (LDC/JSA)? (a) 157.36 (b) 144.26 (c) 169.54 (d) 150.52 — Answer: (b) 144.26. From SSC's Tier-I result write-up dated 27 February 2026.
2. If vacancies fall sharply while applicants stay the same, what happens to the cut-off? (a) It falls (b) It stays the same (c) It rises (d) It is cancelled — Answer: (c) It rises. Fewer posts means fewer candidates shortlisted, so the last one shortlisted sits higher up the score distribution.
3. A candidate scores 76 correct and 8 wrong in Tier 1. What is the raw score? (a) 144 (b) 148 (c) 152 (d) 140 — Answer: (b) 148. 76 × 2 = 152, minus 8 × 0.50 = 4, gives 148.
4. What was the 2025 Tier 1 cut-off for DEO (Science stream, UR)? (a) 144.26 (b) 165.27 (c) 169.54 (d) 176.27 — Answer: (c) 169.54. Option (b) is DEO (Other than Science, UR); (d) is the 2024 figure.
5. Do Tier 1 marks count in the final merit list? (a) Yes, fully (b) Yes, half (c) No — Tier 1 only shortlists for Tier 2 (d) Only for DEO — Answer: (c) No. Final merit comes from Tier 2 (360 marks).
6. What are the minimum qualifying marks for UR in Tier 1? (a) 20% (b) 25% (c) 30% (d) 40% — Answer: (c) 30%, i.e. 60 out of 200. OBC/EWS need 25% and other categories 20%.
7. What was the UR LDC/JSA Tier 1 cut-off in 2024? (a) 144.26 (b) 150.52 (c) 157.36 (d) 176.27 — Answer: (c) 157.36. It fell 13.10 marks to 144.26 in 2025.
8. How many candidates were shortlisted for Tier 2 from the LDC/JSA list in 2025? (a) 1,767 (b) 37,520 (c) 614 (d) 39,835 — Answer: (b) 37,520. Options (a) and (c) are the DEO shortlists; (d) is the 2024 LDC/JSA shortlist.
9. A candidate scores 88 correct and 6 wrong in Tier 1. What is the raw score? (a) 170 (b) 173 (c) 176 (d) 179 — Answer: (b) 173. 88 × 2 = 176, minus 6 × 0.50 = 3, gives 173.
10. Why are CHSL Tier 1 cut-offs based on normalised marks? (a) To reward early shifts (b) Because the exam runs in many shifts of differing difficulty (c) To add grace marks (d) Because of negative marking — Answer: (b) Because the exam runs in many shifts of differing difficulty. Normalisation adjusts scores so a hard shift does not punish its candidates.
SSC CHSL Expected Cut-Off 2026 FAQs
Has the official SSC CHSL cut-off 2026 been released?
No. The Tier 1 exam runs from 30 November to 31 December 2026, and the cut-off is released only with the Tier 1 result, expected in February to March 2027. Every 2026 figure here is an expectation built from the 2025 actuals, not an official figure.
What is the expected SSC CHSL cut-off 2026 for UR (LDC/JSA)?
Expected 146–154 out of 200, built on the 2025 actual of 144.26. The range sits above 2025 mainly because tentative vacancies fell from 3,131 to 2,536. A safe mock target is 159+. This is BookOfExams' expectation, not an SSC figure.
What is the expected cut-off for DEO in CHSL 2026?
Expected 172–179 for DEO (Science stream, UR) and 167–175 for DEO (Other than Science, UR), built on the 2025 actuals of 169.54 and 165.27.
Why is the expected cut-off higher than 2025?
One verified reason: vacancies. The 2026 notice lists about 2,536 tentative vacancies, 595 fewer than 2025's 3,131 tentative (3,522 final). Fewer posts means a smaller shortlist and a higher last-shortlisted score.
What was the SSC CHSL cut-off in 2025?
Tier 1, LDC/JSA: UR 144.26, OBC 143.83, EWS 141.42, SC 125.40, ST 115.25 (normalised, out of 200). DEO Science: UR 169.54; DEO (Other than Science): UR 165.27.
How many marks do I need to be safe in CHSL Tier 1 2026?
Aim for the safe mock target in the table: 159+ for LDC/JSA (UR), 184+ for DEO Science (UR) — the top of the expected range plus about 5 marks of margin. In raw terms, 159 marks means roughly 82 correct with 5 wrong (82 × 2 − 5 × 0.50 = 161.5).
When will the official CHSL 2026 Tier 1 cut-off be declared?
With the Tier 1 result, expected in February to March 2027 (the 2025 result came on 27 February 2026, about three months after its Tier 1). Until then, check ssc.gov.in.
Practice Next for SSC CHSL
- Cut-off, pattern and syllabus: SSC CHSL cut-off, SSC CHSL exam pattern 2026, SSC CHSL syllabus 2026, SSC CHSL preparation strategy 2026
- Admit card, result and skill test: SSC CHSL admit card 2026, SSC CHSL result 2026, SSC CHSL skill test 2026
- Salary and eligibility: SSC CHSL salary 2026, SSC CHSL eligibility and age limit 2026
- Mocks: CHSL Tier 1 new-pattern mock 01, CHSL Tier 1 new-pattern mock 02, CHSL Tier 2 English sectional mock 01
- Also read: SSC CHSL previous year question papers; hub: SSC CHSL exam page and free SSC CHSL mock tests.
Sources: CHSL 2026 notice (ssc.gov.in, 7 September 2026, about 2,536 tentative vacancies); SSC schedule notice of 1 October 2026 (Tier 1 window 30 November–31 December 2026); CHSL 2025 Tier-I result write-up dated 27 February 2026; CHSL 2024 Tier-I result write-up dated 6 September 2024; vacancy comparison via Testbook and PracticeMock. All 2026 cut-off figures here are BookOfExams expectations built from the 2025 actuals — the official 2026 cut-off is NOT released. As of 7 November 2026.