Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission Group 1

TNPSC Group 1, officially the Combined Civil Services Examination I (Group I Services), is the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission's route into senior state administrative posts such as Deputy Collector and District Registrar. Candidates move through three stages: a Preliminary examination, a descriptive Main Written examination and an interview.

This page gives you the full picture of the 2026 cycle in one place: posts, vacancies, dates, eligibility, fee, exam pattern, syllabus, selection process, salary and a preparation plan. Year-specific details are kept in labelled tables so that the strategy sections stay useful for the next cycle too. As on 22 October 2026, the Preliminary exam has been held and candidates are waiting for the result and the Main exam schedule.

Table of Contents

• TNPSC Group 1 at a glance

• Notification overview for the 2026 cycle

• Important dates

• Posts and vacancies

• Eligibility criteria

• Application fee and how to apply

• Exam pattern

• Syllabus summary

• Selection process

• Salary and career growth

• How to prepare for TNPSC Group 1

• Cut-off reference

TNPSC Group 1 at a glance

Notification overview for the 2026 cycle

TNPSC released the Group 1 notification on 23 June 2026 and opened online applications on 30 June 2026. The first notification listed 26 vacancies across five services. A later addendum added 20 posts, taking the reported total to 46. The Preliminary exam was originally planned for 6 September 2026 and was moved to 27 September 2026 through an addendum dated 16 July 2026.

Notices like this are common in state recruitment, so always read the latest addendum before you plan. Some posts that appeared in earlier years, such as Deputy Superintendent of Police, are not part of the vacancy list reported for this cycle. Confirm the final post list on the official notification page.

Important dates

Dates after the Preliminary exam are reported by third-party sources and can change. Track the announcements section of the official website and your registered email and mobile number.

Posts and vacancies

The five posts below were listed in the original notification. The extra 20 vacancies added by the addendum were reported as executive, administrative and gazetted posts without a post-wise split in the sources we checked, so treat the post-wise numbers as indicative.

Eligibility criteria

The full rules are on the TNPSC Group 1 eligibility page. Here is the summary.

Educational qualification

A degree from a university or institution recognised by law is the base requirement. Some posts state preferences. For Assistant Commissioner (Commercial Taxes), commerce and law degrees, with or without a diploma in taxation laws, are preferred. Final-year students are reported to be allowed to apply for the Preliminary exam but must show proof of the degree before the Main stage.

Language and age

Adequate knowledge of Tamil is required, and candidates without a valid proof such as an SSLC pass with Tamil must clear the Commission's Tamil test within the time the notification allows. The minimum age is 21 years. Maximum age is reported as follows.

Persons with benchmark disabilities and ex-servicemen get further relaxation, and one post has a different limit for law graduates. These figures differ between sources, so check the age reference date and the exact limits in the official notification before you apply.

Application fee and how to apply

SC, SC(A), ST, persons with benchmark disabilities and destitute widows are exempt. BC, MBC/DC and BCM candidates get a limited number of free chances, and ex-servicemen get fewer. Check the notification for the exact count.

1. Complete the one-time registration on the Commission's portal if you are a new user.

2. Log in and fill in the application for the Combined Civil Services Examination I.

3. Upload the photograph, signature and other documents in the prescribed format.

4. Pay the fee online and submit before the deadline.

5. Download and save the application copy for later stages.

Applications are most often rejected because of mismatched details in the one-time registration, wrong category selection and unreadable uploads. Use the correction window only for allowed fields.

Exam pattern

The detailed breakdown is on the TNPSC Group 1 exam pattern page. In short, the structure is as follows.

Preliminary examination

The Preliminary exam only screens candidates. Its marks do not count towards the final merit. Reported qualifying marks are 120 out of 300 for general candidates and 90 for the reserved categories listed in the notification.

Main Written examination and interview

Final merit is based on Papers II, III and IV plus the interview, which makes 850 marks. Paper I only has to be cleared. Older articles may still describe an earlier pattern, so follow the current notification.

Syllabus summary

The Preliminary General Studies paper is organised into units: General Science, Geography of India, History and Culture of India with the National Movement, Indian Polity, Indian Economy with development administration in Tamil Nadu, and the history, culture and socio-political movements of Tamil Nadu. The Aptitude part covers arithmetic topics such as percentages, ratio, time and work, and reasoning topics such as series, puzzles and dice.

The Main papers go deeper into the same broad areas, with an analytical and current-affairs approach. The official paper-wise topic list is only available in the syllabus document on the TNPSC website, so use our TNPSC Group 1 syllabus guide as a working checklist and confirm against the official PDF.

Selection process

1. Preliminary examination: An objective screening test. Roughly 20 times the number of vacancies are reported to be called for the Main exam, based on rank and category.

2. Main Written examination: Four descriptive papers. Papers II to IV are evaluated only if you clear the Tamil Eligibility Test.

3. Interview and document verification: A 100-mark personality test for candidates who clear the Main stage.

4. Final ranking: Based on the combined Main (Papers II to IV) and interview marks, with community reservation and post preference applied when posts are allotted.

Salary and career growth

The posts carry pay level 22, with a pay range of Rs. 56,100 to Rs. 2,05,700 per month as reported. Allowances such as dearness allowance, house rent allowance and travel allowance come on top. The take-home amount depends on the post and posting location, and it is not an official figure here. Over a career, officers rise through the service, and Deputy Collectors can progress towards Revenue Divisional Officer and District Revenue Officer roles and further.

How to prepare for TNPSC Group 1

Group 1 rewards candidates who prepare for a long, layered exam rather than a single paper. Here is a stage-wise way to plan.

• Start with the Tamil Nadu portion: Tamil Nadu history, culture, economy and schemes carry heavy weight in the Preliminary exam and set this exam apart from other civil services tests.

• Build the base from standard textbooks: Use state board and NCERT books for history, geography, polity and science, then add one reliable economy source.

• Practise answer writing early: The Main papers are descriptive. Write short answers every week and get them reviewed.

• Do not ignore Tamil: Paper I is qualifying, but failing it means Papers II to IV are not evaluated.

• Keep monthly current affairs notes: Focus on Tamil Nadu government schemes, budgets and policy changes along with national events.

For timed practice in the current pattern, you can attempt TNPSC Group 1 online tests on Testkart and use the section-wise analysis to plan your revision.

Cut-off reference

The Commission publishes category-wise cut-offs after each stage. For the 2024 cycle, the Preliminary cut-off for admission to the Main exam was 219 marks for the general category (G) and 214.5 for BC (G), as listed in the Commission's result disclosure. Cut-offs change every year with difficulty, vacancies and the number of applicants, so use them as a benchmark only and aim for a clear margin above them. See the TNPSC Group 1 cut-off page for the category-wise table.

Official updates and notifications are available on https://www.tnpsc.gov.in.