Previous year paper analysis · TNPSC

TNPSC Group 1 prelims 2025 paper analysis

By the PrepMatic team · Updated 9 Oct 2026 · 4 min read

The TNPSC Group 1 preliminary paper of 15 June 2025 had 200 questions in three hours, and it was set on the six-unit General Studies syllabus that replaced the ten-unit one used in 2024. By our count Tamil Nadu history, culture and movements was the largest unit with 46 of 174 General Studies questions, and about 70% of General Studies questions used a statement, match or assertion-reason format. This page lists the counts from TNPSC's tentative-key booklet.

Paper facts

The prelims only screens: the notification draws the main-examination list at 20 times the vacancies in each reservation group, which for 70 posts means roughly 1,400 candidates before ties. The Group 1 exam pattern explains the stages.

Unit-wise tally

The syllabus (code 497) has six General Studies units totalling 175 questions and an aptitude part of 25. By content we count 174 and 26, one off because a single reasoning-style question could belong to either side.

These are our classifications. The indicative column is TNPSC's own, and the paper drifted from it by up to six questions in a unit.

What stood out

• The Dravidian-movement strand was long. Tamil Nadu content included the first communal order, the foundation of the Justice Party and its stand on Home Rule, the 1938 Tamil Nadu Women's Conference, the anti-Hindi campaign, Anna's career, Periyar's books and Self-Respect marriages, and the Vaikam protest.
• Thirukkural again: about ten questions across Unit VI, including the commentators, the gratitude chapter and the line about "four ills" to avoid.
• Format mix. Of 174 General Studies questions, roughly 29 were assertion-reason, 40 match-the-following, 42 statement or incorrect-pair and 11 chronological, about 70% together.
• Science leaned recent: the Gaganyaan crew-selection process, PFAS, the 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine (microRNA), and a rote-versus-conceptual-learning question from the syllabus's own wording.
• Recent-affairs topics also included the four "engines of development" in Budget 2025-26, Tamil Nadu replacing the rupee symbol with a Tamil letter in its 2025-26 budget, the Tamil Nadu safe and ethical AI policy, the Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme, Tamil Pudhalvan and a WHO study on Jal Jeevan Mission.
• A stamped question. The PFAS question carries a note that it goes to the expert committee for a final decision.
• Aptitude covered work and time, ratio, polynomial LCM, percentages, simple against compound interest and circle geometry, with reasoning on ages, dice, seating and odd-one-out series.

Difficulty (our reading)

Demanding: degree-level facts, frequent combination options and a long Tamil Nadu section make this a paper where depth beats breadth. The aptitude half was approachable if you had practised, though a few items such as polynomial LCM and the machines-and-parts problem needed care.

What this means for your preparation

1. Plan Unit VI as the heaviest single unit. Build timelines for the Justice Party, Self-Respect Movement and Dravidian parties from Tamil Nadu history, culture and heritage.
2. Do not treat science as an afterthought. Thirteen questions is more than the notified 10, and several were current-affairs science.
3. Read the notification's unit list for polity, then drill. Polity rose from 25 questions in the 2024 analysis to 37 here, and reached 40 in the 2026 analysis. Revise with the Group 1 syllabus.
4. Fit it into a long plan. The Group 1 preparation strategy shows how to move from prelims to mains, and the Group 4 previous year questions guide gives a method for using any TNPSC paper.

Practising with PrepMatic

PrepMatic's results show a predicted score and readiness that update as you take more Group 1 prelims mocks, alongside subject-wise accuracy, so you can see whether Tamil Nadu units or polity are holding you back. The free assessment of about 15 untimed questions is a quick first check. Practice questions are AI-generated, so use the official booklet below for the real paper.

Official sources

• Group 1 2025 prelims booklet with tentative key (General Studies with Aptitude and Mental Ability Test)
• Group 1 2025 prelims final answer key
• Group 1 2025 notification (No. 04/2025)
• TNPSC objective-type answer keys and previous papers

Counts are our reading of TNPSC's booklet, not an official classification. Check tnpsc.gov.in for the latest rules, and use the TNPSC guide for related pages.

← All previous year paper analysis