CUET Normalization Process 2026: How to calculate Percentile Score, Marks

CUET Normalisation Process 2026 Based on Percentile Score?

The NTA will opt for the CUET UG method or equipercentile method for every session across multiple days for the same subject, which will include the percentile for each candidate which is calculated using the raw marks of the candidate as compared to the raw marks of others in the same session. These percentiles are then equated and converted into normalised marks. For sessions with smaller numbers of candidates, these are clubbed with bigger sessions.

The CUET percentile score indicates the percentage of candidates that have secured equal or lower scores to a particular percentile in that examination. Thus, the topper (with highest score) of each session will get the same percentile of 200 which is desirable. The marks scored in between the highest and lowest scores are also converted to appropriate percentiles. Then, percentile score (instead of the raw marks of the candidate) will be used while preparing the merit lists. The CUET percentile scores will be calculated up to 7 decimal places to avoid the bunching effect and reduce ties.

CUET Marks VS Percentile

The CUET 2026 results will be calculated in the form of percentile. The raw scores secured by the candidates are required to calculate the marks and percentile scored in the CUET entrance examination 2026. To understand the difference between CUET marks vs percentile, candidates are advised to refer to the table below.

Also Read,

• CUET UG Syllabus

• CUET Exam Pattern

What is CUET Normalisation 2026?

To get clarity on what is the normalization score in CUET, students are required to understand that normalization is a process of measuring and converting raw scores into a single scale and each value to be on the same scale. The Normalisation of marks in CUET means that the process is to measure the scores of all candidates on the same scale, i.e each student is given a percentage based on his shift score whether it is difficult or easy. It is introduced to answer all the questions in the mind of the students about level of questions, types of questions and other doubts. Candidates should work on their concepts and not think about difficulty level. This makes the CUET process clean and efficient.

How Normalised Marks are Calculated?

The CUET UG normalised marks for the corresponding percentile of each candidate will be calculated using the following process.

Step 1. Convert raw scores into percentile scores

To calculate the CUET normalised marks across different sessions in a given subject, the percentile of each group of these students for each shift is calculated using the raw marks they have scored.

Let's say 100 students appeared for the test in a given shift. Their marks are sorted in decreasing order. Assume that one of these 100 students scored 87%. Imagine 80 out of 100 students scored less than or equal to 87%. The percentile of this student with 87% marks would be 80/100=0⋅8. The percentile so calculated will always be between 0 and 1 and it is usually rounded off to the requisite number of decimal places.

In the event of a more number of days or less number of shifts, the candidates will be divided accordingly. This will ensure that there is no bias in the distribution of candidates who appear for the examination. Further, with a large population of examinees spread over the entire country the possibility of such bias is very low.

Step-2: Arranging CUET percentiles

The examination results for each session would be prepared in the form of

• Raw Scores

• Percentiles Scores of Total raw scores

The Percentiles would be calculated for each candidate in the Session as follows:

Let TP1 be the Percentile Score of Total Raw Score of that candidate.

Note: The percentile of the total shall not be an aggregate or average of the percentile of the individual subject. The percentile score is not the same as the percentage of marks obtained.

Step 3: Calculation of the Normalised Score using interpolation

Now for each subject there is a score assigned to each percentile value and each session. The Normalised score, Z, corresponding to a percentile value P.

The percentile scores for the total raw score for all the sessions (Session 1: Day-1 Shift-1, Session-2: Day-1 Shift-2) as calculated in Step-2 above would be merged and shall be called the NTA scores which will then be used for the compilation of results and further processing for deciding the allocation.

Example - Suppose a test was held in 4 sessions of examinees as per details given below:

The distribution of candidates were as follows:

Session 1: Day 1, Shift 1

Session 2: Day 1, Shift 2

Session 3: Day 2, Shift 1

Session 4: Day 2, Shift 2

In this method of scoring the HIGHEST RAW SCORE in each paper (irrespective of the raw scores) will be the 100 Percentile indicating that 100% of candidates have scored equal to or lesser than the highest scorer/ topper for that session.

Highest Raw Score and Percentile Score: All the highest raw scores will have a normalised Percentile Score of 100 for their respective session.

Lowest Raw Score and Percentile Score: The percentile Score of all the lowest raw scores will depend on the total number of candidates who have taken the examination for their respective sessions.

The following is a further explanation of the interpretation of the raw scores and Percentile Score in Session-3 (Day-2 and Shift-1) with 41326 candidates who have taken the examination.

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Why is normalization needed in CUET?

This normalization process is introduced by the exam conducting bodies to reduce the discord in the students against the authorities. With such a large number of candidates participating in the exam. Some may get challenging shifts with a good level of questions and some may get easy questions in their shifts. With a large number of candidates/shifts, it is difficult to maintain the same level of questions.

CUET Result 2026

The NTA will declare the CUET 2026 result in July. Candidates appearing in the entrance exam can check the CUET 2026 result by using their login credentials. The result of CUET 2026 will be prepared based on the candidate’s entrance exam performance. The CUET UG result contains various credentials such as the name of the candidate, roll number, opted programme, marks obtained and total marks, etc.

Also Read,

CUET UG College Predictor