Many aspirants get confused between percentage and percentile — especially during result time. Here’s a simple explanation that clears all your doubts!

TermDefinitionFormulaUsed In
PercentageMarks obtained out of total, shown in 100 scale.(Your Marks / Total Marks) × 100Most traditional exams (SSC, UPSC, etc.)
PercentileYour position relative to other candidates. Tells what % of people scored less than you.[(Total Candidates – Rank) / Total Candidates] × 100CUET, JEE, CAT, NEET, etc.

🏛️ How Government Exams Use These:

✅ 1. Percentage-Based Exams
Used in exams like:
SSC CHSL / CGL
Bank Exams (IBPS, SBI)
State PSC Exams
UPSC (IAS)

👉 Here, cut-off is based on marks/percentage. For example:
Cut-off for General Category is 120/200 = 60%

✅ 2. Percentile-Based Exams
Used in exams with normalization or different shifts, like:
CUET (UG/PG)
JEE Main
NEET (UG)
CAT (MBA Entrance)

👉 Here, percentile ensures fairness, especially when:
Paper difficulty varies shift-wise

Students write on different days
Example: If your percentile is 98, it means you scored better than 98% of total candidates.

🎯 Why Percentile is Used?
To normalize marks across multiple exam sessions/shifts.
To ensure merit fairness for all candidates.
Helps in centralized ranking (like in CUET for BHU, DU, etc.)

💡 Key Points:
Percentage is about how much you scored.
Percentile is about how well you did compared to others.
Government uses percentile when exams are held in multiple shifts or national-level entrance tests.

a month later

Agar do candidates ke 80% marks hain par shifts alag hain, to normalization ke baad unka percentile same rahega ya alag?

    Ravindra Agar dono candidates ke raw marks same hain (80%), lekin shifts alag hain, to unke normalised marks alag ho sakte hain. Percentile score candidate ke apne shift ke comparison me nikala jaata hai, na ki directly marks ke basis par.

      Percentile system me kya negative marking ka effect padta hai?

      @Monukumar999

      Negative Marking ka Effect Percentile par

      1. Direct Marks pe Effect:

        • Negative marking se aapke total marks kam ho jaate hain.
        • Marks kam hone ka matlab hai ki aapka raw score neeche chala gaya.

      2. Relative Performance par Effect:

        • Percentile system mein ranking marks ke hisaab se hoti hai.
        • Agar aap negative marking ki wajah se marks lose karte ho, toh aap un candidates se peeche ho jaate ho jinhone carefully attempt kiya aur zyada sahi answers kiye.

      3. Impact Zyada Competitive Exams mein:

        • Jitna competition tough hota hai (UPSC prelims, CAT, SSC, Banking), utna hi chhoti si negative marking aapke percentile ko zyada gira sakti hai.
        • Example: Agar exam tough hai aur average score low hai, toh ek chhoti galti bhi percentile bahut neeche le jaa sakti hai.

      Example

      • Suppose 100 students’ exam dete hain:
        • Aapke sahi answers = 60, galat = 10, negative = –2.5 marks.
        • Dusre candidate ke sahi = 58, galat = 2, negative = –0.5 marks.
        • Raw score mein aap peeche jaa sakte ho, aur percentile neeche aa jaata hai.

      If many candidates score the same, how would the percentile be calculated?

        NehaM When multiple candidates achieve the same score, their percentile is calculated by including all candidates with scores equal to or less than theirs in the numerator, effectively giving them the same percentile ranking, according to the National Testing Agency (NTA). This ensures that candidates with identical scores are treated equally in the ranking system.

        nta.pdf
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