Free tools · Any exam
Negative Marking Calculator for Any Exam
One calculator for every exam that deducts marks for wrong answers. Tell it your exam's pattern, feed in your attempts from a mock or the real paper, and get your score after the deduction.
Set your exam's totals, enter your attempted and wrong counts, and see your score after negative marking.
How the calculation works
Every negative marking scheme does the same three things. It finds the marks carried by each question (maximum marks divided by total questions), pays you that much for every correct answer, and takes back a fixed share of it for every wrong one. Your final score is the raw score from correct answers minus the total penalty.
Take a 100 question paper worth 100 marks with one fourth negative marking. If you attempt 70 questions, get 50 right and 20 wrong, your correct answers earn 50 marks and the wrong ones deduct 20 × 0.25 = 5 marks, leaving 45. The calculator above runs exactly this arithmetic for whatever pattern your exam follows.
Choosing the right scheme
Pick the fraction your notification prescribes: one fourth for most SSC papers, one third for UPSC Prelims and CDS. If your exam deducts a flat amount per wrong answer, as banking exams do with 0.25 marks, switch to the fixed marks option and type the amount. If none of the presets match, use the custom fraction and enter the share directly, for example 0.2 for one fifth.
Frequently asked questions
How do I use this calculator for my exam?
Set the total questions and maximum marks from your exam pattern, pick the negative marking scheme your exam uses, then enter how many questions you attempted and how many you got wrong. The calculator works out the marks per question itself, deducts the penalty for wrong answers, and shows your final score with accuracy and attempt percentage.
What negative marking do common exams use?
It varies. UPSC Prelims and CDS deduct one third of the marks allotted to the question. SSC exams such as CGL deduct one fourth in effect (0.5 marks on a 2 mark question). Many banking exams deduct a fixed 0.25 marks per wrong answer, whatever the question is worth; use the fixed marks option for those. State PSC rules differ from state to state, so always check your exam notification.
My exam deducts a fixed amount per wrong answer. How do I enter that?
Choose "Fixed marks deducted per wrong answer" in the scheme dropdown and type the amount, for example 0.25. The calculator then subtracts exactly that amount for every wrong answer, instead of a fraction of the question marks.
Is there a penalty for questions I leave blank?
In almost every exam with negative marking, no. The deduction applies only to answers marked wrong. An unattempted question neither earns nor loses marks, which is why a blank is safer than a blind guess when the penalty is steep.
Why does my score fall when I attempt more?
Because each wrong answer subtracts from what your correct answers earned. If your accuracy is low, extra attempts add more penalty than marks. Try two attempt counts in the calculator with your mock test numbers: the better strategy is the one with the higher final score, not the higher attempt count.
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