NISM Series VII Negative Marking and Guessing Strategy
0.25 marks come off for every wrong answer on a 100-mark paper. That changes when guessing pays and when it does not.
NISM Series VII deducts 25% of a question's marks for a wrong answer. Every question carries 1 mark, so a wrong answer costs 0.25. A blank costs nothing. A correct answer earns 1.
So a wrong answer sits 1.25 marks below a right one: the mark you did not earn plus the 0.25 taken off. That gap is what the strategy below is built on.
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What one question is worth
Expected marks from one question, by your chance of picking the right option. 1 mark if right, 0.25 deducted if wrong.
Leave it blank
Chance of being right
None
Expected marks
0.00
Blind guess on a four-option question
Chance of being right
1 in 4
Expected marks
+0.0625
One option ruled out of four
Chance of being right
1 in 3
Expected marks
+0.17
Two options ruled out of four
Chance of being right
1 in 2
Expected marks
+0.375
You know it
Chance of being right
Certain
Expected marks
+1.00
| Your position | Chance of being right | Expected marks |
|---|---|---|
| Leave it blank | None | 0.00 |
| Blind guess on a four-option question | 1 in 4 | +0.0625 |
| One option ruled out of four | 1 in 3 | +0.17 |
| Two options ruled out of four | 1 in 2 | +0.375 |
| You know it | Certain | +1.00 |
The arithmetic, worked through
- 1
A blind guess on a four-option question
One time in four you gain 1 mark; three times in four you lose 0.25. Over four such guesses: +1.00 minus 0.75 = +0.25, or +0.0625 per question. Positive, but small.
- 2
The break-even point
A guess beats a blank when your chance of being right, p, satisfies p minus 0.25 x (1 minus p) above zero. That gives p above 1 in 5, or 20%. A blind guess among four options is just above that line.
- 3
Ruling out one option changes a lot
With one option eliminated the chance rises to 1 in 3 and the expected value to about +0.17, almost three times the blind guess. With two eliminated it is +0.375. Partial knowledge is worth using.
How many you need right if you attempt everything
Score = correct answers minus 0.25 x wrong answers, with all 100 attempted. The pass mark is 50.
70
Wrong
30
Score
62.50
Result
Pass
65
Wrong
35
Score
56.25
Result
Pass
62
Wrong
38
Score
52.50
Result
Pass
60
Wrong
40
Score
50.00
Result
Pass, exactly
59
Wrong
41
Score
48.75
Result
Short by 1.25
| Correct | Wrong | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | 30 | 62.50 | Pass |
| 65 | 35 | 56.25 | Pass |
| 62 | 38 | 52.50 | Pass |
| 60 | 40 | 50.00 | Pass, exactly |
| 59 | 41 | 48.75 | Short by 1.25 |
Free questions, scored the way the exam scores them.
Blanks or guesses?
If you attempt every question, you need 60 right to reach 50. Leaving questions blank lowers the number you need right, because blanks cost nothing. Say you are confident on 56 and leave 44 blank. If all 56 are right you score 56 and pass. If 5 of them are wrong, you score 51 minus 1.25, which is 49.75, and fail.
Guessing on the 44 blind would add about 44 x 0.0625, or 2.75 marks on average. That is a thin cushion, and it can go either way. Ruling out even one option on each first raises it to about 7.3 marks. The useful rule is: never guess on a question you have not read properly, but do answer any question where you can eliminate at least one option.
A three-pass approach
First pass: answer everything you are sure of. Second pass: return to marked questions and answer those where you can rule out at least one option. Third pass, in the last few minutes: decide on the rest. At 0.25 a wrong answer, a blind guess is worth very little either way, so spend the time on questions you can narrow down.
Where the penalty really bites on Series VII
The costly errors are confident ones. Settlement timings, margin types and the order of the grievance route are all detail that older notes may describe differently from the July 2026 workbook. Each confident wrong answer costs 1.25 against the right one. Revising those rules from the current workbook saves more marks than any guessing plan.
Practise with negative marking switched on. A practice paper or mock scored without the deduction will show a higher score than the real exam would, and hides the habit of answering too quickly.
FAQs
Is there negative marking in NISM Series VII?expand_more
Yes. 25% of the marks assigned to a question is deducted for a wrong answer. Each question carries 1 mark, so that is 0.25 per wrong answer.
Should I guess in NISM Series VII if I don't know the answer?expand_more
A guess beats a blank when your chance of being right is above 1 in 5. A blind guess among four options is worth about +0.06 marks; ruling out one option raises that to about +0.17.
How many correct answers do I need to pass Series VII?expand_more
The pass mark is 50 out of 100. If you attempt every question, 60 correct and 40 wrong gives exactly 50. 59 correct gives 48.75, which is short.
Is there negative marking for unanswered questions?expand_more
No. Only wrong answers are penalised. A blank scores 0.
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