Bihar APO Cut Off 2026: Complete Category‑wise, Year‑wise Guide (Prelims & Mains)

Overview: Whether you appeared for the Bihar APO prelims 2026 or you're preparing for the future cycles, you must be eager to know the Bihar APO cut-off.  

• BPSC has not yet released the Bihar APO 2026 cut-off for the prelims.  
• Under Advertisement No. 13/2026, BPSC notified 300 Assistant Prosecution Officer posts and conducted the Prelims on 15 July 2026, so the 2026 Prelims cut-off is now awaited.  

Here we give you all the details about Bihar APO cut-off 2026, how it's decided, and how it affects aspirants.  

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What is the Bihar APO Cut-Off 2026?  

BPSC has not released the official 2026 cut-off. The band below is an estimate based on previous trends and the reduced vacancy count (300 in 2026 vs 553 in the 2020 cycle).  

Because 2026 has far fewer seats, the effective competition is tighter, which can push cut-offs upward if the paper is not unusually difficult.  

Category	Expected Prelims Cut-Off (Estimate)
General (Unreserved)	~50%-60%
OBC / BC / EBC	~45%-55%
SC	~40%-50%
ST	~35%-45%

Note: These ranges are indicative only. The official category-wise 2026 cut-off will be published with the Prelims result on bpsc.bih.nic.in, after which this table will be replaced with confirmed marks.  

Meanwhile you can refer to the Bihar APO 2026 exam analysis to get an idea yourself.  

Bihar APO Cut-Off for the Previous Year (2020)  

The last completed Bihar APO cycle was conducted under Advertisement No. 01/2020. Its Prelims was held on 7 February 2021, with about 19,201 candidates appearing for 553 vacancies.  

There were considerably more seats than the 300 notified in 2026. BPSC later issued a revised Bihar APO result dated 15 September 2022 for this cycle.  

Here is the Bihar APO cut-off for prelims, Advt No. 01/2020 (Revised Result, 15.09.2022):  

Category	Prelims Cut-Off Marks
Unreserved (General)	138.750
Unreserved (Female)	125.000

How Does BPSC Decide the Bihar APO Cut-Off? 

BPSC sets category-wise cut-offs using four inputs:  

• The number of notified vacancies  
• Category-wise reservation rosters  
• The difficulty of that year's papers, and  
• The number of serious candidates who appear  

More vacancies generally lower the cut-off; a tougher paper lowers the raw marks needed; a smaller category pool can push a specific line up or down.  

Official Factors 

• Total Vacancies Notified: More seats tend to mean marginally lower cut-offs, other things being equal. For 2026, BPSC notified 300 posts, down from 553 in the previous Advt 01/2020 cycle, which tightens competition. 
• Category-wise Distribution (UR, EWS, OBC/BC, EBC, SC, ST, PwD) changes the effective competition pool and each category line. 
• Horizontal Reservation (women, PwD, ex-servicemen) shifts specific category lines. For 2026, women receive 35% horizontal reservation that's 99 of the 300 posts.  

Exam Factors  

• Tougher papers generally lead to lower raw cut-offs; easier papers do the opposite. 
• The number of serious candidates affects how much the cut-off moves. 
• If multiple shifts are used, normalisation may apply. 
• Stage weightage matters: Prelims only screens; Mains carries the higher weight for final merit; the Interview adds the final layer.  

Marks can vary after the objections raised through the Bihar APO Answer Key 2026. That's why final cut-offs are confirmed only in the official result PDF.  

How Vacancies Change the Bihar APO Cut-Off?  

Do more vacancies lower the Bihar APO cut-off? Usually, yes. When notified vacancies rise and difficulty stays the same, the selection ratio loosens and cut-offs tend to soften.  

When vacancies shrink, the cut-off typically increases. However, paper difficulty can offset this: an easy paper can raise cut-offs even in a high-vacancy year.  

A few directional rules of thumb:  

• If UR seats fall sharply while applicant strength and difficulty stay similar, the UR cut-off often climbs. 
• If SC/ST seats rise while difficulty stays high, those cut-offs may hold steady or drop slightly. 
• Horizontal reservation (women, PwD) redistributes within categories.  

The direction of movement can be summarised as:  

Vacancies	Difficulty Level	Likely Cut-Off Direction
High	Tough	Down or stable
High	Easy	Slightly up
Low	Tough	Mixed
Low	Easy	Up

For the exact 2026 category-wise split that will shape these lines, check the Bihar APO vacancy 2026.  

How to Estimate Your Bihar APO 2026 Target Score 

You cannot know the Bihar APO cut-off 2026 before the result, but you can set a disciplined target.  

• Start from the median of your category's last two published cut-offs (Prelims, Mains) from official BPSC PDFs. 
• Adjust for vacancies. Fewer 2026 seats than last cycle → nudge your target up. More seats → nudge it down. 
• Adjust for difficulty. An easier expected paper → nudge up; a tougher paper → nudge down. 
• Add a safety buffer. Roughly 10-12 marks for Prelims and 15-20 for Mains, since Mains drives final merit.  

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Bihar APO Cut-Off 2026: Prelims, Mains & Final -What's Important?  

Is the Prelims cut-off or the Mains cut-off more important? The Prelims cut-off only screens candidates for Mains and does not count toward final merit.  

The Mains cut-off, combined with Interview marks, determines final selection. That is why you should build a larger safety margin above the Mains cut-off than the Prelims cut-off.  

Prelims Cut-Off 

• Purpose: shortlist candidates for Mains (usually a multiple of total posts). 
• Pattern: objective paper(s) with negative marking. Check the current Bihar APO exam pattern for more details. 
• Planning tip: a common approach is to target 10-12 marks above your category's last published Prelims cut-off, adjusted for vacancies and difficulty.  

Mains Cut-Off  

• Purpose: decide who qualifies for the Interview (the merit backbone). 
• Pattern: descriptive, law-heavy papers. 
• Planning tip: aim 15-20 marks above your category's last published Mains cut-off.  

Final / Aggregate Cut-Off 

• Calculated post-Interview, aggregating Mains + Interview marks as per the selection scheme. 
• Reservation and horizontal adjustments apply at this stage; category-wise final lists are published if released. 
• In some years BPSC publishes only the last selected candidate's score per category; in others, detailed breakups appear.  

Understand the Bihar APO exam and selection process to get this better.  

Here are the key takeaways:  

• Study past cut-offs by category and stage, using only official BPSC PDFs. 
• The 2026 cycle is live: Advt 13/2026, 300 posts, Prelims held on 15 July 2026, cut-off now awaited. 
• Prefer revised PDFs over originals whenever both exist. 
• Set a disciplined target: last cut-off + a 10–20-mark safety buffer, adjusted for vacancies and difficulty. 
• Verify every number against the official file before you rely on it.