PO & RMS Accountant Qualifying Marks, the 60% Exemption and Chances

The PO & RMS Accountant exam is qualifying. The Directorate's letter of 11.02.2025 says so in terms: there is no merit list in the ordinary sense, and passing does not move your place in the PA/SA gradation list. What decides your future is simply whether you cross three lines — one in each paper and one on the aggregate — and, if you fall short, whether you carried a paper forward with 60%.

Letters of 18.04.2023 and 28.04.2026; PM Vol IV Rule 273(e).

The PwBD change followed representations and was examined under DoPT guidelines with the Department's reservation cell, according to the letter of 28.04.2026, which puts PwBD candidates at par with SC and ST. Odisha's notification for 01.11.2026 already prints it. Delhi's result for its March 2026 exam, issued a few days later, still printed only the UR and SC/ST rows, because that exam was held before the letter.

The marks-out-of-200 figures above are our arithmetic from the percentages. Note the aggregate trap: an SC or ST candidate can clear both papers and still fail. Rajasthan's 2021 sheet shows an ST candidate at 42 and 40, above 38 in each paper, with 82 of 200 (41%), under 43%, and marked not qualified. An OC candidate at 46 and 50 clears each paper and has 96, which is under 100.

An official who scores at least 60% in a paper is exempted from appearing in that paper in the next two subsequent examinations. The exemption is earned whether or not you qualify overall, so a failed attempt can still bank a paper. Maharashtra's 2026 memo adds the limit that matters: the exemption is valid for the next two examinations "subject to total number of chances". Rule 273(f) also says that not appearing in an exam after an exemption still counts against those chances, and an exemption can be used only while you remain eligible under Rule 273(e).

Read together, these sheets show how circles apply an exemption: with one paper exempt, only the remaining paper's 45% (or 38%) is checked, and no aggregate is computed. That is our reading of the published results; no Directorate letter we found spells it out. It makes an exemption very valuable. A candidate who banks 60 in Paper I needs only 45 in Paper II next time, instead of 45 plus an aggregate of 100.

The published results show the exemption working over years. Of the candidates Rajasthan exempted in 2023, at least three appear as qualified in 2024 with the exemption carried (our count from the two sheets), and Bihar's 2023 result has three qualifiers who used exemptions earned in 2022. The results guide has the counts circle by circle.

Circle application forms follow this. Odisha's 2026 form asks whether this is your first, second, third or fourth chance, lists the chances already used with roll numbers and years, and asks whether you ever applied for, or were granted, withdrawal of an application. MP's 2026 mark sheet has a chance column, and several candidates there were on their second chance. If you have applied and then cannot sit, the rule's wording means you should seek withdrawal in writing before the exam rather than simply stay away.

The standards reward a two-sitting plan more than most candidates realise (our reading, not an official recommendation). If Paper I is your stronger paper, aim to bank it at 60 or more; the next sitting then needs only 45 in Paper II. What the rules do not reward is a narrow miss on the aggregate with both papers in the 50s: 55 and 44 is 99 of 200, fails the aggregate and fails Paper II, and banks nothing. The practicals are where marks are won, so see the worked practicals.