CUET UG 2025 Marks vs Percentile: Calculation, Normalization & Cutoff Explained

CUET (Common University Entrance Test) 2025 is an important exam for admission to undergraduate courses in top universities of India. Admission to the colleges and courses that students dream of after 12th is based on CUET scores. But not only raw marks, but percentile scores matter the most in final admission.

👉Read Also - CUET UG 2025: Do Class 12 Marks Important for Admission? Explained

There are two types of scores in CUET exam – raw marks and percentile score.

CUET Marks: These are the actual marks obtained by the candidate in the exam, such as 200/250 in a subject.

CUET Percentile: This score shows how you performed compared to all the other candidates. It ranges from 0 to 100 and is decided by the normalization process.

For example, if you have scored 230 marks, and this score falls in the top 1% compared to the rest of the students, then your percentile will be 99 or more.

👉Read Also - CUET UG 2025: Counselling & Admission Process, Step-by-Step Guide After Result Declaration

Why is Percentile Important in CUET?

CUET is conducted in multiple shifts and the difficulty level of each shift may vary. In such a situation, to maintain fairness, NTA (National Testing Agency) measures all the candidates on a uniform scale with the help of percentile score.

Percentile score is used for the final merit list and admission to the university. Raw marks are used only for deciding the percentile.

CUET Marks VS Percentile

What is Normalization in CUET?

CUET Normalization is a process in which the raw marks of each shift are transformed in such a way that they become comparable on a common scale. The aim is to ensure that differences in the difficulty of the exam or the shift do not benefit or disadvantage a student.

In this process, the score of any student is determined not on the basis of his raw marks but on the basis of the percentile of that score, which gives a clear idea of ​​how he performed in comparison to other examinees.

Why is CUET normalization score important?

• The exam is held in multiple shifts and the difficulty of each shift may vary.
• The normalization process makes every student’s score fair.
• This gives students relief from the fact that they have appeared in which shift – easy or difficult.
• This process ensures that the CUET result is transparent and fair.

How are CUET Normalised Marks Calculated?

The NTA determines the normalised marks of CUET in three steps:

Step 1: Calculating Percentile Score from Raw Marks

The number of students who appeared in a shift are arranged in descending order according to their scores.

Each student is then ranked according to how many students scored less than or equal to him.

This ratio is multiplied by 100 to determine the percentile score.

Example:

If there are 100 students in a shift and a student scores 87% marks, and 80 students score less than or equal to him, then the percentile of that student will be:

(80/100) × 100 = 80%

Step 2: Preparing Score Sheet for Each Session

The raw marks, percentile, and normalised scores of students are calculated for each session.

This makes it clear which raw score is equivalent to which percentile.

Step 3: Final normalized score using interpolation technique

All the percentile scores of different shifts of the same subject are combined together to bring them on a common scale.

Then the final NTA score is generated, which is used for the merit list, rank and admission process.

CUET Normalization Example

Let’s say CUET was conducted in 4 shifts. Here’s a summary:

Percentile Score Interpretation

Important Points to Remember

• Percentile ≠ Percentage: Percentile reflects your relative position, not actual marks.

• Top scorer in each shift gets 100 percentile.

• Normalization removes shift bias and ensures merit-based evaluation.

• Final CUET merit list and admission offers are based on NTA normalized scores, not raw scores.

--

CUET UG Study Material 2025