FCI recruits zone-wise and post-wise, which means there is no single cut off for this exam. There is a cut off for AG-III (General) in North Zone, a different one for AG-III (Depot) in South Zone, and so on. Reading the wrong one will give you completely the wrong target.
Two more things to hold on to before the tables. Phase 1 marks do not count towards final selection — that stage only decides who sits Phase 2, at a calling ratio of about 1:15. And the final cut off is out of 120 marks for General and Depot (Paper 1 only) but out of 240 for Accounts and Technical (Paper 1 + Paper 2), so those numbers are not comparable with each other.
2022 final cut off
North Zone — AG-III (General), out of 120
| Category | Cut off |
|---|---|
| UR / General | 72.00 |
| EWS | 67.50 |
| OBC | 64.25 |
| SC | 58.50 |
| ST | 58.50 |
North Zone — AG-III (Depot), out of 120
| Category | Cut off |
|---|---|
| UR / General | 68.25 |
| EWS | 64.75 |
| OBC | 63.00 |
| SC | 54.00 |
| ST | 54.25 |
South Zone — all four posts
| Post | Cut off | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| AG-III General | 68.00 | 120 |
| AG-III Depot | 67.25 | 120 |
| AG-III Accounts | 110.75 | 240 |
| AG-III Technical | 117.00 | 240 |
Read those last two rows carefully. 110.75 out of 240 is about 46%; 117 out of 240 is about 49%. The General cut off of 68 out of 120 is 57%. In percentage terms the specialist posts cleared at a noticeably lower bar — because far fewer people can apply for them.
2019 cut off
Phase 1, out of 100
| Category | General / Accounts / Technical |
|---|---|
| UR / General | 65 |
| OBC | 63 |
| SC | 56 |
| ST | 49 |
| Ex-servicemen | 45 |
Note that the 2019 Phase 1 was the old three-section paper — English, Reasoning, Numerical Aptitude, with no General Studies. Treat 65 as a rough indicator of the standard, not as a target for the current pattern.
Phase 2, 2019
| Category | General / Depot out of 120 | Accounts / Technical out of 240 |
|---|---|---|
| UR / General | 73 | 206 |
| OBC | 65 | 192 |
| SC | 63 | 172 |
| ST | 62 | 166 |
| Ex-servicemen | 72 | 134 |
| PwD | 60 | 136 |
The 2019 Accounts and Technical cut off of 206 out of 240 is 86% — against 46–49% in 2022. That is not a change in competition; it is a change in the paper. It is the clearest warning on this page against treating any single year’s cut off as a target.
A clean PDF of this page with the C4S header — it opens right away, and the link comes to your WhatsApp too.
What the numbers actually tell you
In 3 daysNABARD Sprint 60: the 2025 cut-offs and your 60-day Phase I planRegister free →- General is the hardest post to get into. Anyone with any degree can apply, so the pool is enormous. In 2022 North Zone it cleared at 72 of 120 — 60% — while Depot in the same zone went at 68.25.
- Technical and Accounts are the openings. They demand a specific degree, which thins the field dramatically. If you hold a B.Sc in Agriculture or a B.Com, applying to General instead of your own post is usually the more difficult route, not the safer one.
- Zone choice is a real decision. South Zone General cleared at 68.00 in 2022 while North Zone General needed 72.00 — four marks, for the same paper, in the same cycle.
- Cut offs move with the paper. Compare 2019 and 2022 and you see swings that have nothing to do with how hard candidates worked. Treat the numbers as a band, not a finish line, and aim comfortably above the highest one that applies to you.
Turning this into a target
For General and Depot, everything rests on Phase 2 Paper 1, where General Studies is 45 of the 120 marks. Moving that section from half-marks to three-quarters is worth roughly eleven marks — more than the entire gap between the UR and OBC cut offs in 2022. For Accounts and Technical, Paper 2 is half the total and carries double negative marking, so accuracy there matters more than volume.
Full detail on the syllabus and exam pattern page, and the current advertisement position on the notification page.
Cut off figures are compiled from FCI’s published result documents for the cycles named. Zones other than those listed followed the same pattern but with their own marks. Always confirm against the official result PDF on fci.gov.in for the cycle you are appearing in.
