Negative Marking Calculator

Calculate your exam score after negative marking. NEET, JEE, UPSC, SSC and bank presets, or set your own +marks/-penalty. Free, instant, browser-side.

100% private - everything runs in your browser, no data is sent anywhere

100% browser-side. Your answer counts never leave this page. No signup, no tracking of your inputs.

+4 / -1. 180 questions, 720 marks. +4 for a correct answer, -1 for a wrong one, 0 if left blank. If NTA later declares more than one option correct, +4 is awarded to anyone who marked any of the correct options.

Enter your correct and wrong answer counts to see your net score after negative marking.

Should you guess? On this scheme, a single blind guess among 4 options is worth about +0.25 marks - slightly favourable, and ruling out even one option makes it clearly worth attempting.

This is your estimated raw score before any normalization, percentile, or rank the exam applies (JEE Main, for example, converts raw marks to percentiles across sessions). Marking schemes change by cycle - confirm against the exam's current official information bulletin before relying on the number.

Quick facts

What it computesNet score = (correct × marks/correct) - (wrong × penalty/wrong)
NEET / JEE Main+4 correct, -1 wrong
UPSC Prelimsone-third of the question's marks per wrong (GS -0.667, CSAT -0.833)
SSC CGL Tier 1+2 correct, -0.5 wrong
Bank (IBPS / SBI)+1 correct, -0.25 wrong
Unattempted questionsNo penalty
Raw vs finalThis is the raw score; exams may apply normalization / percentile / rank
Schemes verifiedJune 2026, vs official bulletins
Privacy100% browser-side; no data sent anywhere

What is negative marking?

Negative marking is a penalty subtracted from your total for each wrong answer, used by most Indian competitive exams to discourage blind guessing. You gain marks for correct answers, lose a fixed fraction for wrong ones, and neither gain nor lose anything for questions you leave blank. The size of the penalty differs by exam, which is why a single "negative marking calculator" has to let you pick the scheme.

Because the penalty is applied per wrong answer, accuracy matters as much as the number of questions you attempt: two students who attempt the same count can end up with very different scores if one guesses carelessly on a heavy-penalty exam like UPSC.

How to calculate your score after negative marking

The formula is: net score = (correct × marks per correct) - (wrong × marks deducted per wrong).

Worked example (NEET, +4 / -1). A student answers 130 questions correctly and 30 incorrectly, leaving 20 of the 180 blank: 130 × 4 = 520 marks gained, 30 × 1 = 30 marks lost, so the net score is 520 - 30 = 490 out of 720. The 20 unattempted questions have no effect. Switch the scheme in the calculator above for JEE, UPSC, SSC, bank, or your own custom marks-and-penalty.

Marking schemes by exam (verified June 2026)

ExamCorrect / WrongSource
NEET UG+4 / -1NTA (neet.nta.nic.in)
JEE Main (Paper 1, B.E./B.Tech)+4 / -1NTA (jeemain.nta.nic.in)
UPSC Prelims - GS Paper I+2 / -1/3 of the marksUPSC (upsc.gov.in)
UPSC Prelims - CSAT Paper II+2.5 / -1/3 of the marksUPSC (upsc.gov.in)
SSC CGL Tier 1+2 / -0.5SSC (ssc.gov.in)
Bank PO / Clerk (IBPS, SBI)+1 / -0.25IBPS (ibps.in) / SBI

Schemes were verified in June 2026 against each exam's current official information bulletin. Marking rules can change every cycle (for example, NTA extended JEE Main's -1 penalty to numerical questions from 2025), so always confirm against the latest official bulletin before acting on a number.

Should you guess? The expected-value math

Whether a guess helps is arithmetic, not luck. For one blind guess among k options, the expected gain is (1/k × marks per correct) - ((k-1)/k × penalty per wrong). On NEET (+4 / -1) with 4 options that is 1 - 0.75 = +0.25 marks, slightly favourable. On UPSC GS it works out to exactly 0 (neutral).

The key lever is elimination: ruling out even one option shrinks the wrong-answer probability and pushes the expected value up, which is why educated guessing usually pays while pure blind guessing on a heavy-penalty exam can cost you. The calculator shows the blind-guess expected value for your selected scheme so you can decide with the numbers in front of you - it is the math, not advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is negative marking in competitive exams?+
Negative marking means a fraction of a mark is deducted for every wrong answer, on top of the marks you gain for correct ones, to discourage blind guessing. The amount varies by exam: NEET and JEE Main deduct 1 mark per wrong answer (against +4 for a correct one), UPSC Prelims deducts one-third of the question's marks, SSC CGL Tier 1 deducts 0.5, and most bank exams (IBPS, SBI) deduct 0.25. Unattempted questions never carry a penalty.
How is the score calculated after negative marking?+
Net score = (correct answers x marks per correct) - (wrong answers x marks deducted per wrong). For example, in NEET at +4 / -1, a student with 130 correct and 30 wrong scores 130 x 4 - 30 x 1 = 520 - 30 = 490 out of 720. Questions left blank do not change the score. Enter your counts above and pick your exam (or a custom scheme) to see your net score, accuracy, and the marks lost to negatives.
What is the negative marking for NEET, JEE, UPSC, SSC and bank exams?+
As of the 2025-26 cycle: NEET UG = +4 correct, -1 wrong (180 questions, 720 marks). JEE Main = +4 / -1, and from 2025 the -1 also applies to the numerical (Section B) questions. UPSC Prelims = one-third of the question's marks per wrong answer (GS Paper I is +2 / -0.667; CSAT is +2.5 / -0.833). SSC CGL Tier 1 = +2 / -0.5 (Tier 2 differs). IBPS and SBI PO/Clerk = +1 / -0.25. Marking rules change by cycle, so always confirm against the exam's current official information bulletin.
Should I guess an answer if I am not sure?+
Treat it as expected value, not luck. For a blind random guess among four options, the expected gain is (1/4 x marks for a correct answer) minus (3/4 x marks deducted for a wrong one). In NEET (+4 / -1) that is +1 - 0.75 = +0.25, slightly favourable; in UPSC GS it works out to exactly zero (neutral). The moment you can confidently rule out even one option the expected value turns clearly positive, so educated guessing usually helps while pure blind guessing on a heavy-penalty exam can hurt. That is the arithmetic; your own accuracy and risk tolerance are the rest of the call.
Does JEE Main have negative marking on numerical (integer) questions?+
Yes, from the 2025 cycle. Earlier the numerical-value questions in Section B carried no negative marking, but NTA made all five numerical questions per subject compulsory and extended the -1 penalty to them, so Section B now matches the MCQ section. Because this changed recently and some sources still quote the old rule, verify it against the current JEE Main information bulletin on jeemain.nta.nic.in before relying on it.
Is my data saved anywhere?+
No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser. Your answer counts and any custom marking scheme you enter are never sent to a server, stored, or tracked. Refreshing the page clears everything.

Preparing for the same exam? Make sure you stay exam-eligible with the Attendance Calculator (the 75% rule and how many classes you can safely miss), and find your exam's official portal, dates, and admit card in the Exam Directory.

Already have your result? Convert your marks and grades with the CGPA to Percentage & SGPA Calculator.

A raw-score estimate, not your official result
This calculator estimates your raw score from your own answer counts and the selected marking scheme. It does not produce ranks, percentiles, or normalized scores - several exams (JEE Main across multiple sessions, for instance) convert raw marks into percentiles, and cut-offs are set separately each year. Marking schemes are verified against official information bulletins as of June 2026 but can change every cycle; the official answer key and scorecard from the conducting body are the authoritative record. Last reviewed: June 2026.
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