What Is Negative Marking and How Should You Handle It?

Negative marking means every wrong answer costs you marks, not just zero. It changes guessing from a free shot into a risk decision — and the best students treat it that way.

The concept

In a typical scheme, a correct answer earns marks and a wrong answer deducts a fraction of them. Unattempted questions simply earn nothing.

Attempting vs skipping

Never guess blindly. A good rule: attempt only when you can eliminate at least two options, or when you genuinely know the answer. Otherwise, skipping is the mathematically safer choice.

Risk and reward

The harsher the negative marking, the more selective you should be. Before the exam, know the exact scheme and practise with it — many tests on TestMint let institutes set their own negative marking.

Protect accuracy

Your accuracy is your margin of safety. Track it after every mock and use it to decide how aggressively to attempt. See how to analyse your results.

Practise the strategy

Negative marking is a habit, not a theory. Apply your attempt-vs-skip rule in every mock test — including UPSC mock tests — so it becomes automatic on exam day.