The UPSC determines the cut-off marks based on the examination’s overall difficulty, the number of candidates, and the specified number of vacancies. Normalization process may also be employed, particularly when different sets of question papers are used. Marks scored by candidates in the objective tests and personal interviews are aggregated, and a threshold is set to ensure that only the most capable candidates progress to the next phases of the Civil Services Examination, maintaining a merit-based selection process.