KSET Cut Off: How KEA Decides Who Qualifies

What the KSET cut off really is

Think of KSET as a ranking exercise more than a simple pass mark. Many more candidates cross the minimum than the list can hold, so KEA ranks everyone who wrote both papers within each subject and fills a fixed number of qualifying slots. The aggregate of whoever takes the final slot in your subject and category sets that cycle's closing mark.

• Combined score: Paper 1 and Paper 2 are added together. There is no separate pass mark printed for each paper in recent result notices; the minimum is applied to the total.
• Subject by subject: a figure for English tells you nothing about Law or Chemical Science. Each has its own merit list.
• Category by category: Karnataka's reservation groups (GM, SC, ST, Category 1, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B) and horizontal quotas for disabled and transgender candidates each get their share of slots.

The 6 percent rule and the minimum aggregate

KEA follows the UGC formula for state eligibility tests. In practice it works in three steps:

1. Only candidates who appeared in both Paper 1 and Paper 2 are counted.
2. Anyone below 120 out of 300 (general merit) or 105 out of 300 (reserved categories) is dropped.
3. From those left, the number who can qualify is limited to 6 percent of that two paper pool, shared out across subjects and then across categories under the state reservation policy.

Because the slots are rounded and filled subject by subject, and tied scores at the boundary are usually included, the final number of qualifiers does not match a simple 6 percent sum. That is visible in the totals below.

KSET cut off trend: candidates and qualifiers in recent cycles

The jump in candidates for the 2025 cycle widened the pool of slots, since the cap grows with the number who write both papers. It did not make qualifying easier: more applicants in the same subjects also pushed scores at the boundary upward in the crowded disciplines.

For the 2023 cycle the figure reported is the number who appeared overall; the count of those who wrote both papers may be a little lower.

Example: category cut offs in commerce, KSET 2025

Commerce draws one of the largest groups of candidates, so it shows clearly how far the real cut off can rise above the 120 mark minimum. These figures were reported from KEA's KSET 2025 result for the general (non PwD) column.

The persons with disability column for GM in commerce closed at 146 in the same cycle. The highest score in the subject was 232, which gives you a sense of the spread: a general merit candidate needed roughly three quarters of the topper's mark.

Why some subjects close much lower

Smaller subjects behave differently. Where only a few hundred candidates write a paper, the number of slots is small and the toppers' marks are lower, so the cut off can sit close to the minimum. Reported top scores in the 2025 cycle ranged from about 172 in electronic science to 258 in political science, which shows how uneven difficulty is across Paper 2 subjects. A subject with a tough Paper 2 and a thin field may close only slightly above 120 for general merit, while a crowded humanities subject can need 170 or more.

Do not borrow another subject's figure when you set your target. Use the list for your own subject from at least two past cycles.

Qualifying minimum versus the cut off you must beat

• Qualifying minimum: 40 percent (120 marks) for general merit and 35 percent (105 marks) for reserved categories. Falling below this rules you out whatever your rank.
• Actual cut off: the lowest total that still made the 6 percent list in your subject and category. This is the number that decides your eligibility certificate.

Crossing the minimum without making the list does not give you partial eligibility. You would need to write KSET again; KSET sets no upper age and you may sit it as often as you like.

What will move the next KSET cut off

• Number who write both papers. More candidates mean more slots, but also more competition at the margin.
• Paper 2 difficulty. Since Paper 2 carries 200 of the 300 marks, a harder subject paper drags the whole list down.
• Answer key changes. KEA publishes provisional keys and invites objections. Dropped or corrected questions shift scores before the final list.
• Share of each category. Slots follow the reservation roster, so a category with many strong candidates and few slots closes higher.

Since a wrong option costs nothing, mark an answer for each item. A blank answer can never help you, and lists often separate in and out by just two or three marks.

How to check your KSET cut off officially

1. Open the KEA portal at cetonline.karnataka.gov.in/kea and find the KSET section.
2. Download the provisional result and the subject wise category cut off list for your cycle.
3. Find your subject, then your category row and any horizontal quota you belong to.
4. Compare your combined score with that row, not with the general figure.

Planning to sit the national test as well? The UGC NET cut off guide explains how NTA's percentile based lists differ. You can compare other state tests through our teaching exams section.