Last verified: 13 October 2026. The mechanics below are CONFIRMED — they come from the AISSAC counselling SOP of the Sainik Schools Society and the AISSEE 2026 information bulletin. The state-wise patterns are observed trends (EXPECTED) drawn from applicant-density logic and past counselling behaviour, not an official ranking. No cutoff numbers appear in this article, because NTA publishes no consolidated state-wise cutoff list — and any article that prints one without naming the round, category and quota is guessing.
Every October, the same question floods parent groups: “Which state has the toughest cutoff — UP, Bihar or Rajasthan?” And every October, coaching channels answer with confident numbers, state-wise tables, and “expected cutoff 2027” thumbnails.
Here is the honest answer: there is no single state-wise cutoff. Anyone who gives you one number per state is either oversimplifying or inventing. Let me show you how cutoffs actually get drawn — and then which states genuinely are tougher, and why.
AISSEE does not work like a board exam with a fixed pass mark per state. It works in layers:
Read that again: school × class × category × quota pool × round. That is five dimensions. A single “UP cutoff” cannot exist.
With the mechanics clear, the pattern becomes obvious. Competition intensity depends on a simple ratio: serious applicants ÷ available seats in that pool. States differ on both sides of that fraction:
| Factor | Pushes cutoff UP | Pushes cutoff DOWN |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant volume | Populous states with a strong defence-aspiration culture (UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana) | Smaller-population states, the Northeast |
| Seats per applicant | States with one old school and lakhs of aspirants | States with multiple schools (old + new + PPP partners) |
| Home-state pool | 67% quota concentrates local competition in high-demand states | Low local demand states see home-state seats fill in later rounds |
| School vintage | Decades-old schools (Chittorgarh, Nalanda, Ghorakhal) with alumni legend | New schools’ first cycles — fewer applicants know them |
| Category | General home-state boys’ seats — the deepest, most crowded pool | Reserved categories and girls’ quota pools, which are thinner |
So the honest state ranking reads like this (observed pattern, EXPECTED — not an official list):
Notice what this analysis doesn’t do: it doesn’t print “UP cutoff = 247/300.” Those numbers move every year with applicant volume, paper difficulty and seat changes — and they differ between round 1 and round 4 anyway.
Before you act on any cutoff number — from YouTube, a coaching PDF, or a neighbour — run it through this five-question checklist. If the source can’t answer all five, treat the number as entertainment:
The toughest cutoff in the country is not in any particular state. It is the cutoff for the seat you didn’t apply for because someone on YouTube told you it was “too high.”
Does NTA publish official AISSEE cutoffs state by state?
No. NTA does not release a consolidated state-wise cutoff list. Cutoffs emerge school by school, class by class, and category by category through the e-counselling rounds, and the last admitted candidate’s score in each round is what parents call the cutoff.
Which state has the highest Sainik School cutoff?
Populous states with heavy applicant volume and few seats — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh — consistently see the highest competition, especially for home-state general-category seats. This is an observed pattern, not an official ranking.
Do cutoffs differ for home-state and other-state candidates?
Yes, sharply. 67 per cent of seats in the 33 established schools are reserved for domicile holders of the state where the school sits, and 33 per cent go to other states. Each pool has its own merit list, so the same school can have two very different cutoffs.
Is the cutoff the same for Class 6 and Class 9?
No. Class 6 and Class 9 are separate papers with separate seat matrices and separate merit lists, so their cutoffs are never comparable or interchangeable.
How many marks above the qualifying score should my child target?
Aim well above the qualifying bar of 25 per cent per section and 40 per cent aggregate. Qualifying only makes a child eligible for the merit list; actual admission cutoffs in high-demand schools sit far above it.
Are new Sainik Schools easier to get into than old ones?
In their first counselling cycles, usually yes — new and newly-partnered schools attract fewer applicants and their seats often fill in later rounds. Established schools with decades of demand, like Chittorgarh or Nalanda, see the fiercest competition.
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