The Karnataka State Eligibility Test (KSET) Life Sciences qualifying marks have witnessed fluctuations over the past three years, with the General Merit (GM) cutoff returning to its 2023 level in 2025 after a 16-mark increase in 2024.
As candidates await the KSET 2026 final result and subject-wise qualifying marks, the previous three years' data offers an insight into how cutoffs have changed.
According to official records released by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), the GM cutoff for Life Sciences stood at 166 out of 300 marks in 2023. It increased to 182 in 2024 before dropping to 166 in 2025.
The General Merit qualifying marks were:
2023: 166 out of 300
2024: 182 out of 300
2025: 166 out of 300
The highest marks recorded in the subject also fluctuated during this period. The highest score was 214 in 2023, increased to 224 in 2024 and declined to 208 in 2025.
These figures show that qualifying marks have not followed a consistent upward or downward trend.
Meanwhile, KEA's revised answer key for KSET 2026 Life Sciences, issued on October 22, includes a grace-mark decision for one question.
The question corresponds to Question 11 in booklet A1, Question 81 in B1, Question 61 in C1 and Question 31 in D1.
The revised key also accepts all four answer options for another question and specifies revised answers for five other questions.
These changes are relevant to candidates calculating their marks based on the revised answer key.
However, the grace-mark decision does not establish whether the final qualifying marks will increase or decrease.
The 2026 cutoff will depend on candidates' performance, the number of qualifying slots and the applicable category-wise selection rules.
Candidates should refer to KEA's official notification for the final result and qualifying marks.