CSIR NET December cut off: JRF, lectureship and PhD marks by subject

How the CSIR NET cut off is fixed

Unlike a recruitment exam, CSIR NET is not filling posts. It is deciding how many fellowships to award in each subject and how many candidates are fit to teach or join a PhD. The bar is therefore drawn from the merit list in a set order.

1. JRF: the number of fellowships available in each subject and category decides how far down the merit list the JRF cut off goes. JRF qualifiers are then divided between CSIR and UGC in the ratio of fellowships each funds.
2. Assistant Professor: in the December 2025 notice this bar sat at exactly 90 percent of the JRF bar for each subject and category, never below the minimum benchmark.
3. PhD only: a third, lower line for candidates who are eligible for PhD admission but not for JRF or teaching.

All three lines are applied to your combined score from the three parts. No separate minimum exists for any one part, so a weak Part A can be made up in Part C.

CSIR NET December cut off for the latest cycle: JRF

The December 2025 session was held on 18 December 2025, and the cut off was published with the result in February of the following year.

Earth Sciences had the highest unreserved bar and Mathematical Sciences the lowest. In every subject the PwD bar settled on the 25 percent floor.

Assistant Professor and PhD cut offs

The PhD only line in the same cycle stayed close to the minimum benchmark in most subjects. For unreserved candidates it was 35 percent in Chemical Sciences, 42.9 in Earth Sciences, 39 in Life Sciences and 33 in both Mathematical and Physical Sciences. For SC and PwD candidates it was 25 percent in nearly every subject.

How December sessions compare

Two cautions apply. First, Life Sciences in the December 2023 and December 2024 sessions was declared on a percentile basis after normalisation across shifts, so those numbers cannot be lined up with the 54 percent of December 2025. Second, the Dec 2023 row shows only unreserved figures because that is all we could confirm; the Dec 2024 PDF on the CSIR HRDG site has every category.

The Chemical Sciences JRF bar dropping from 59 to 48.5 shows how much one paper's difficulty can move the line. Physical Sciences moved the other way between 2023 and 2024.

The minimum benchmark and why it matters

Below every subject cut off sits a floor: a third of total marks for general, EWS and OBC candidates, and a quarter for reserved SC, ST and disabled candidates. No category's cut off can go beneath it, which is why you see 25.000 and 33.000 repeated so often in the PhD only line.

The marks per question and attempt limits for every subject are on our CSIR NET syllabus page.

Why the bar shifts between sessions

• Paper difficulty: a tougher Part C pulls the whole merit list down, and the bar with it.
• Fellowships on offer: more JRF slots in a subject lower the JRF line.
• Number of candidates: Life Sciences, with the largest pool, often shows the sharpest movements.
• Normalisation: when a subject runs in several shifts, the result may be declared on percentiles, changing how the bar reads.

Rather than chase an expected number, aim for a score that would have cleared the JRF bar for your category in each of the recent sessions listed above.

Where to find official CSIR NET cut offs

CSIR HRDG posts a cut off PDF for every session on its website, and NTA releases scorecards on the CSIR NET portal. Check that the session name on the PDF matches yours, since June and December sessions are listed side by side.

Eligibility and age rules for JRF are covered on CSIR NET eligibility, subject syllabi on the life science and chemistry pages, and the humanities counterpart on UGC NET cut off.