Most government exams penalise wrong answers, but the amount varies: SSC CGL/CHSL Tier-1 deducts 0.50, banking (IBPS/SBI) deducts 0.25, and Railways and UPSC Prelims deduct one-third — unattempted questions are never penalised. The math matters: with four options, a blind guess is break-even at a one-third penalty, slightly positive at 0.25, and a loss at 0.50. But eliminate even one option and guessing pays off almost everywhere. The rule: eliminate one option, guess; eliminate none with a heavy penalty, skip. This guide gives the per-exam schemes and the strategy.
By Muskaan Chauhan, Senior Editor — Strategy & Prep. Published 25 June 2026. Last verified 25 June 2026.
In short
- Most government exams penalise wrong answers, but the amount varies: SSC CGL/CHSL Tier-1 deducts −0.50, banking (IBPS/SBI) −0.25, and Railways (RRB) and UPSC Prelims −1/3 per wrong answer. Unattempted questions are never penalised.
- The math of guessing depends on the penalty. With four options and a −1/3 penalty, blind guessing is exactly break-even. With −0.25, a blind guess is slightly positive. With −0.50, a blind guess loses on average.
- Educated guessing wins almost everywhere: eliminate even one option and the odds tip in your favour under nearly every scheme.
- The simple rule: eliminate at least one option → guess; eliminate none and the penalty is ≥ 1/3 → skip. Always confirm the exact scheme in the current official notification.
Negative marking is where exams are quietly won and lost. Two candidates can solve the same number of questions correctly, but the one who guesses intelligently — and skips wisely — walks away with a higher score. The trouble is that the penalty is not the same across exams, so a one-size-fits-all habit (always guess, or never guess) costs marks. This guide lays out the real schemes for the major exams and turns them into a clear guess-or-skip rule.
Why negative marking exists
In a multiple-choice exam, a candidate who blindly guesses every question would, by chance, get some right. Negative marking exists to neutralise blind guessing so that scores reflect actual knowledge, not luck. The penalty is calibrated so that random guessing does not, on average, help you. That single idea — and the exact size of the penalty — is what your strategy must be built around.
The schemes, exam by exam
Here are the negative-marking schemes for the major recruitment exams. Treat them as the current pattern, and always re-check the latest official notification, since commissions do revise schemes between cycles.
| Exam | Marks per correct | Penalty per wrong |
|---|---|---|
| SSC CGL Tier-1 | +2 | −0.50 |
| SSC CGL Tier-2 (Paper-1) | +3 | −1 |
| SSC CHSL Tier-1 | +2 | −0.50 |
| SSC CHSL Tier-2 | +3 | −1 |
| SSC GD Constable | +2 | −0.25 |
| SSC MTS Paper-1 Session-I | — | No negative marking |
| SSC MTS Paper-1 Session-II | — | −1 |
| RRB NTPC (CBT-1 & 2) | +1 | −1/3 (≈0.33) |
| RRB Group D | +1 | −1/3 (≈0.33) |
| IBPS / SBI PO & Clerk | +1 | −0.25 |
| UPSC Prelims GS (Paper-1) | +2 | −1/3 of 2 ≈ 0.667 |
| UPSC Prelims CSAT (Paper-2) | +2.5 | −1/3 of 2.5 ≈ 0.833 |
| UPSC Mains | — | No negative marking |
| UPSSSC PET | +1 | −0.25 |
A few things worth flagging:
- SSC GD is −0.25 in the current pattern. Older material sometimes shows 0.50 — use the latest notification's figure.
- UPSC CSAT still has negative marking even though it is only a qualifying paper (you need 33%). Wrong guesses there cost you.
- State CETs are moving targets. Rajasthan's CET, for instance, historically had no negative marking but has now introduced a −1/3 penalty with non-sectional scoring. Never assume a state CET's scheme — check that state board's current notice.
- Unattempted questions cost nothing in every one of these exams. A blank is always neutral.
The math of when guessing pays off
Here is the part that turns the schemes into a decision. Take a typical question with four options and +1 for a correct answer. If you guess purely at random, you have a 1/4 chance of being right and 3/4 of being wrong. The expected value (EV) of that guess is:
- Penalty −1/3 (RRB, UPSC-style): EV = (¼ × +1) + (¾ × −⅓) = 0.25 − 0.25 = 0 → break-even. Blind guessing neither helps nor hurts.
- Penalty −0.25 (banking): EV = (¼ × +1) + (¾ × −0.25) = 0.25 − 0.1875 = +0.0625 → slightly positive. Blind guessing very marginally helps.
- Penalty −0.50 (SSC Tier-1, normalised per mark): EV = (¼ × +1) + (¾ × −0.50) = 0.25 − 0.375 = −0.125 → negative. Blind guessing loses.
The general rule behind these numbers: random guessing is exactly break-even when penalty = (marks per correct) ÷ (number of options − 1). With four options and +1 per correct, that break-even penalty is 1/3. Lighter penalties favour guessing; heavier ones favour skipping.
Educated guessing changes everything
The calculations above assume a blind guess. In reality, you can usually eliminate one or two options. The moment you rule out even one of four options, your chance of being right jumps from 1/4 to 1/3, and from there to 1/2 if you eliminate two. Re-run the EV with those better odds and almost every scheme turns positive — even the −0.50 SSC penalty becomes worth attempting once you are down to two or three plausible options.
This is why elimination is the single most valuable exam skill. Recognising a definitely-wrong option is often easier than knowing the right one, and it converts a coin-flip into a profitable bet.
A simple guess-or-skip rule
Putting it together:
- You can eliminate at least one option → guess. The odds are now in your favour under virtually every scheme.
- You can eliminate none, and the penalty is light (≤ 1/4 of the correct mark, e.g. banking) → a blind guess is roughly neutral-to-slightly-positive; guess if you have spare attempts to make.
- You can eliminate none, and the penalty is heavy (≥ 1/3, e.g. SSC −0.50, RRB/UPSC −1/3) → skip. A pure blind guess loses or breaks even, so the question is not worth the risk.
- Never leave a question you actually know. And never guess on no-negative sections (like SSC MTS Session-I) — there, attempt everything.
Beyond guessing: accuracy and time
Negative marking also disciplines how you spend time. Chasing a hard question you cannot eliminate options on risks both a wrong-answer penalty and lost minutes. A clean approach — solve what you know first, mark-and-return the maybes, and apply the guess-or-skip rule on the second pass — protects your score on both fronts. If you are building a study plan around this, our SSC CGL preparation plan and guide to preparing without coaching put accuracy and mock-test discipline at the centre. Note that normalisation (used in multi-shift exams) is a separate adjustment from negative marking — see our normalisation explainer.
Why this matters
A smart negative-marking strategy can lift your score by several marks without any extra studying — purely by guessing where the odds favour it and skipping where they do not. Learn your target exam's exact scheme from its official notification, master option elimination, and apply the guess-or-skip rule consistently. To choose which exam to target in the first place, compare them in SSC vs banking vs railway, and browse current openings at the jobs board.
Negative Marking: हिंदी सारांश
ज्यादातर सरकारी परीक्षाओं में गलत उत्तर पर अंक कटते हैं, पर राशि अलग-अलग होती है: SSC CGL/CHSL Tier-1 में −0.50, बैंकिंग (IBPS/SBI) में −0.25, रेलवे (RRB) व UPSC प्रीलिम्स में −1/3। खाली छोड़े गए प्रश्न पर कोई अंक नहीं कटता। गणित: 4 विकल्प व +1 अंक पर — −1/3 पर अंधा अनुमान बराबरी (break-even), −0.25 पर थोड़ा फायदेमंद, −0.50 पर नुकसानदेह। लेकिन यदि आप एक विकल्प भी हटा दें, तो लगभग हर स्थिति में अनुमान लगाना फायदेमंद हो जाता है। सरल नियम: कम-से-कम एक विकल्प हटा सकें → अनुमान लगाएँ; कोई न हटा सकें और दंड ≥1/3 हो → छोड़ें। अपनी परीक्षा की सटीक स्कीम आधिकारिक अधिसूचना में जाँचें।