No competitive exam in India is a cakewalk for candidates. UPSC, NDA, SSC, and other examinations are tough nuts to crack. However, few candidates get the desired outcome but many dreams are also broken in the same examination. Lakhs of aspirants appear for the examination and try their luck on thousands of vacancies. Apart from the competition, one more factor that troubles several aspirants are the cut-off. Every year the SSC CGL cut-off rises with the tremendous level that breaks the dreams of many. But has anyone wondered why every year it increases? In this post, we will decipher certain factors that raise the cut-off criteria of the SSC CGL.
Responsible factors or increasing cut-off criteria in the SSC CGL
Increased number of candidates
As far as the numbers of candidates are concerned, every year it is increasing. In 2020, there were millions of candidates out of which 1, 25,279 cleared the Tier 1 phase of the SSC CGL examination, whereas, in 2019 the data was 1, 50,396. If more candidates are selected the cut-off criteria will be less or vice versa. Also, if more candidates are applying for the examination, the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) is obliged to maintain the competency level of the examination. It is because the commission requires the best talent to serve the governmental department.
Reduced number of vacancies and more candidates
It is a fact there is cutthroat competition amongst candidates. There are many aspirants who want to serve in the SSC CGL. However, the commission retains only the talented cadres who have the ability. Having said that, one more point that needs to be considered is the reduced number of vacancies in the SSC CGL. As per the data, in 2019 the apex commission notified only 8582 vacancies in comparison to 11,271 vacancies in the year 2018. Due to fewer vacancies also, SSC has to increase the cut-off criteria for candidates.
Normalization factor in the exam
In simpler words, normalization is the equalizing process of scores obtained of the candidates in multiple shifts. Because of normalization, there is more probability of 40-50 marks extra for the candidates. There are certain cases where candidates score 100% marks in Tier 1 of the SSC CGL. Hence, the SSC has to maintain the quality level of the examination and increase the cut-off level to select the valuable candidates for the next level.
Difficulty Level
It is the general phenomenon of every exam that if the difficulty level is high, the cut-off will be less. But, if the difficulty level is reduced, the cut-off will be higher. There are certain sections in the examination like Aptitude and reasoning which is the challenging job to crack and score 100 percent. However, not all time SSC set the tough question paper. Along with the year, the complexity level of the paper is decreasing, due to which the cut-off increases. Besides waiting for SSC CGL Exam dates, candidates must be able to tackle the difficulty level of the examination also to ace it.
Fewer job chances in the Private sector
Many candidates pick the government job because it is safe and secure. It gives social security like HRA, Medical and other kinds of facilities. Whereas, in the private sector there is a huge workload and competitive environment. Also, many of them do not meet the high-quality parameters of the private employer. Thus, they opt for Government exams like SSC CGL. However, the commission also can’t accommodate all candidates in the department. As a result, we witness the high cut-off criteria in the exam.