Previous year paper analysis · TNPSC

TNPSC Group 4 2024 question paper analysis

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

The TNPSC Group 4 paper of 9 June 2024 was 200 questions in three hours, and it leaned on Tamil literature: by our count 58 of the 100 Part A questions were about literature, literary history, Tamil scholars and culture, against 29 on grammar. In the General Studies half, Tamil Nadu history was the single largest unit, and most questions were short, direct recall. This page gives the counts we made from TNPSC's tentative-key booklet.

Paper facts

As in the 2022 and 2025 notifications, Part B was evaluated only for candidates who scored at least 60 of 150 in Part A.

Part A: Tamil

The 2024 notification described Part A as grammar plus literature topics and gave no unit-wise counts, so we grouped questions by what they test. The lines between groups are blurry, so treat the numbers as approximate.

Grammar and word-skill questions were packed into the first stretch of the paper. From about the middle the paper turned to authors and works of Sangam and later literature, Siddhars, the translators of Purananuru, Tamil scholars such as Devaneya Pavanar and U.Ve. Saminathaiyar, folk arts, and the history of Tamil libraries and journalism.

Parts B and C: General Studies and aptitude

The notification lists ten General Studies units, with no indicative counts. TNPSC's blocks run 75 General Studies and 25 aptitude questions; by content we count 74 and 26, because two arithmetic questions sit inside the General Studies stretches and one geography question (great circles) sits among the aptitude block.

What stood out

• Tamil Nadu units made about a quarter of General Studies. Units 8 and 9 together were 20 of 74 questions (27%). Unit 8 alone, at 13, was the biggest single unit, covering Thirukkural, Iyothee Thass, Rettaimalai Srinivasan, Theeran Chinnamalai and early Tamil newspapers.
• Mostly short questions. Only about a third of General Studies used assertion-reason, match, statement or ordering formats. The rest were one-line facts, which makes this the most recall-driven of the Group 4 papers we read.
• Five Thirukkural questions in Part B, asking what Valluvar says on a theme or who praised the Kural, plus several more in Part A.
• Science was spread wide: biology, chemistry, physics and astronomy (moons of Jupiter and Saturn) each appeared, nine questions in all.
• Current-affairs items: Samagra Shiksha, Anemia Mukt Bharat, the 2023 G7 summit, an AI-based system to prevent elephant accidents on railway tracks, and the Tamil Nadu scheme Thiranari Thervu Thittam.
• Aptitude covered simple and compound interest, HCF and LCM, ratio, time and work, number series, coding and dice.

Difficulty (our reading)

Part A was fair for anyone who had read Tamil literary history, but it rewarded breadth over depth: a single missed author or work cost a mark with no reasoning route to recover it. General Studies was easier to attempt than the 2025 paper because options were rarely combinations. A few aptitude questions (remainder-and-HCF problems, a multi-step interest question) were slower than the rest.

What this means for your preparation

1. Do not treat Tamil as grammar only. If the next paper tests literature the way 2024 did, General Tamil needs timelines of authors, works and scholars, not just rules.
2. Learn Unit 8 as a list. Make one-line cards for movements, leaders and works from Tamil Nadu history, culture and heritage, because direct questions repay recall.
3. Compare formats across years. The 2025 paper was far more statement-heavy, and the 2022 paper sits between the two. Practise both styles.
4. Use the paper properly. Attempt it timed, then follow the method in the Group 4 previous year questions guide; the Group 4 syllabus shows today's unit structure, which differs from the ten units used in 2024. For how objections to a tentative key work, see the Group 4 answer key guide.

Practising with PrepMatic

After a timed mock, PrepMatic's result screen names the subject that cost you the most marks, which is exactly the question this paper raises: is it Tamil literature or General Studies? You can then run a short topic test (about 15 questions, 30 minutes) on that subject, with Tamil as the exam language if you choose it. PrepMatic's practice questions are AI-generated rather than past papers, so pair them with the official PDFs listed below.

Official sources

• Group 4 2024 question booklet with tentative key (Tamil Eligibility Test with General Studies)
• Group 4 2024 final answer key
• Group 4 2024 notification (No. 01/2024)
• TNPSC objective-type answer keys and previous papers

Counts are our reading of TNPSC's booklet, not an official classification. Confirm details on tnpsc.gov.in and the TNPSC guide.

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