New Delhi, Jun 21 (IANS): The cutoff for the four-year undergraduate economics (with commerce background) programme in Delhi University's St. Stephen's College this year is a staggering 98 percent, according to the figures college released here Friday.

On an average, there is a minimum one percent rise in the cutoff percentage to 95 percent for almost all the courses offered by the college.

"The cutoff is determined on the basis of the marks of the applicants. This time, the board results have been good. Thus, the cutoff is also high," St. Stephen's spokesperson Karen Gabriel told IANS.

At 94 percent, the cutoff for the four-year undergraduate mathematics course for general category students is almost three percent higher than last year.

For undergraduate programmes in english and history, the rise in the cutoff is 0.5-1 percent higher than last year at 95.25 percent and 94.5 percent.

Similarly, the cutoff for subjects like physics and chemistry is at 96 percent for general category students.

The only subject for which there has been no change in the cutoff is Sanskrit, which remains at 65 percent.

The college gives 85 percent weightage to the marks scored by aspirants in their Class 12 exams. Those who make it to the cutoff list are then called for an interview, which carries 15 percent weightage in the admission process.

St. Stephen's reserves 50 percent of its seats for Christian candidates, 8.5 percent for students belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, 1.5 percent for differently-abled candidates, while the remaining 40 percent of seats are for general category students.

The college has received around 25,700 applications this year for 410 seats.