UP APO Cut Off 2026: Expected & Previous Year Category-Wise Cut Off Marks

UPPSC has not released the UP APO cut off 2026 for prelims, mains or the final merit list. The commission publishes category-wise cut off marks for all three stages together, and only after the final selection list is out.

The UP APO cut off is the score of the last candidate shortlisted in each category at a stage. 

• UPPSC uses it three times in the Assistant Prosecution Officer recruitment: prelims to mains, mains to interview, and mains plus interview to the final merit list.
• The prelims result came out on 30 April 2026 as a list of qualified roll numbers. 
• Mains was held from 28 to 30 June 2026 in Prayagraj. The mains result is still awaited.
• Mains is now worth 500 marks and the interview 50, so the final merit is calculated out of 550. Prelims marks do not count.
• The 40% (General, OBC, EWS) and 35% (SC, ST) figures are minimum qualifying marks. They decide eligibility. They are not the cut off.

UP APO Cut Off 2026 Overview

The table below summarises the recruitment details and cut-off status for the UP APO notification 2026.

Particulars	Details
Conducting Body	Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC), Prayagraj
Advertisement	A-8/E-1/2025, issued on 12 September 2025
Posts	182 Assistant Prosecution Officer posts
Applications Received	93,419
Prelims Exam	22 March 2026
Candidates Who Appeared	50,795
Prelims Result	30 April 2026
Candidates Qualified for Mains	2,856
Mains Exam	28–30 June 2026, Prayagraj
Mains Result	Awaited
Official Cut Off	Not released for any stage

Stage-wise cut off 

UPPSC sets a separate cut off at each of the three stages of the UP APO selection process, and each one decides who moves to the next round. For the 2025–26 cycle, none of these has been published yet. 

The commission will release all three together in a single notice after the final result, as the table below shows. 

Stage	Maximum Marks	Official Cut Off 2026
Prelims (Screening)	150	Not released
Mains (Interview Shortlist)	500	Not released
Final Merit (Mains + Interview)	550	Not released

UP APO Prelims Cut Off 2026

The UP APO prelims cut off is the lowest score in each category that still made the mains list. Prelims is a screening test, so its marks are dropped once you reach mains. 

The paper’s structure shapes that cut off, so it helps to know how the 150 marks divide between General Knowledge and Law. The UP APO exam pattern page has the full section-wise breakdown.

Prelims	Details
Questions and Marks	150 questions, 150 marks
Sections	General Knowledge (50 marks), Law (100 marks)
Duration	2 hours
Negative Marking	0.33 marks per wrong answer
Role in Selection	Qualifying only; not counted in final merit

How to calculate your UP APO prelims score

Take the official answer key and apply this formula:

Score = correct answers − (wrong answers × 0.33)

Blank questions cost nothing. Marking two options on one question counts as a wrong answer.

Say you got 102 right and 18 wrong. Your score is 102 − (18 × 0.33) = 102 − 5.94 = 96.06. Be strict with yourself here. Counting only your correct answers and skipping the deduction is the most common way candidates overestimate where they stand.

UP APO Mains Cut Off 2026

The UP APO mains cut off decides who gets an interview call. In the current pattern, mains has six descriptive papers worth 500 marks in total.

Subject	Marks
General Hindi	100
General English	50
General Knowledge	50
Criminal Law and Procedure	100
Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (Law of Evidence)	100
Anya Adhiniyam (Other Acts)	100
Total	500

Law covers 300 marks out of the 500. But General Hindi carries 100 marks on its own, as much as any single law paper. 

Candidates who treat it as a formality often lose the margin that separates an interview call from a near miss. The UP APO syllabus lists the topics under each paper.

UP APO previous year mains cut off

The most recent published mains cut off comes from the APO Examination 2022, whose marks and cut off notice UPPSC released in October 2024. 

In that cycle the written exam carried 400 marks, not 500.

Category	Mains Cut Off (Out of 400)	Percentage
General	212	53.0%
OBC	212	53.0%
Female	210	52.5%
Dependants of Freedom Fighters (DFF)	204	51.0%
SC	197	49.3%

UP APO Previous Year Cut Off (Final Merit)

The final cut off is the combined mains and interview score of the last candidate selected in each category. 

In the UP APO 2022 cycle that total was out of 450 (400 mains + 50 interview).

Category	Final Cut Off (Out of 450)	Percentage
General	255	56.7%
Female	253	56.2%
OBC	244	54.2%
DFF	243	54.0%
SC	234	52.0%

For 2025–26, the final list will be built out of 550 marks (500 mains + 50 interview). 

Candidates practising through UP APO previous year question papers alongside those figures gives a sharper sense of the standard UPPSC expects.

UP APO 2026 Cut Off Marks vs Minimum Qualifying Marks

Candidates are mostly confused between these two things. Minimum qualifying marks are 40% for General, OBC and EWS and 35% for SC and ST. The cut off is different, it is wherever the last shortlisted candidate in your category is selected.

Minimum Qualifying Marks	Cut Off Marks
Lowest score to stay eligible	Score of the last shortlisted candidate in a category
Fixed by the commission's rules	Determined by that recruitment cycle's results

Factors That Decide the UPPSC APO Cut Off 2026

The cut off moves every cycle. These are the forces behind it this time:

• Each category’s cut off depends on how many of the 182 posts fall in it. Fewer seats mean a higher bar.
• A tougher paper drags scores down across the board. With 0.33 negative marking in prelims, candidates also attempt more carefully.
• This is the first APO cycle testing the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam instead of the IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act. Unfamiliar questions tend to spread scores out.
• The cut off is set by the strongest scorers in each category, not by a fixed target.

Candidates planning for the next cycle can check the UP APO eligibility criteria.

How to Check the UPPSC APO Cut Off 2026

The sequence from here is the mains result, then interviews, then the final selection list, and only after that the cut off PDF. 

1. Go to the official UPPSC website, uppsc.up.nic.in.
2. Open the notice or results section on the home page.
3. Click the cut off/marks notice for the Assistant Prosecution Officer Examination (Advt. No. A-8/E-1/2025).
4. Download the PDF and find your category.
5. Use the separate marks link on the same site to see your own scores, and save a copy.

Common Mistakes Candidates Make With the UP APO Cut Off

A structured plan on how to prepare for the UP APO exam helps you avoid most of these.

• Treating 40% as the cut off - It is the minimum qualifying mark. Last cycle’s General mains cut off was 53%.
• Comparing raw marks across cycles - The final merit was out of 450 before and is out of 550 now. Compare percentages.
• Forgetting negative marking - Every wrong prelims answer costs 0.33. Subtract them before judging your score.
• Underrating General Hindi - It is worth 100 mains marks, the same as a law paper.
• Waiting for the cut off to start preparing - It arrives months after mains. If you are in the interview pool, use that time.

Key Takeaways

Here is a quick summary of the UP APO Cut Off 2026 and how the exam works: 

• All three stage-wise cut offs will be published together in one notice, after the final selection list.
• 2,856 of 50,795 candidates qualified for mains, about 5.6%. That is roughly 15.7 candidates per post across 182 posts.
• The final merit is now calculated out of 550 marks (500 mains + 50 interview). Prelims marks are not counted.
• In the last published cycle, the cut off was 212/400 (53%) in mains and 255/450 (56.7%) in the final merit for General candidates.
• The 40% and 35% figures are minimum qualifying marks, not the cut off. Scoring 40% alone would not have earned an interview call last time.

If you want a structured guidance, take a free demo online class or talk to a Judiciary Gold counsellor about the Judiciary APO Coaching 2026.