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How many candidates are shortlisted for TNPSC Group 1 mains?

By the PrepMatic team · Updated 9 Oct 2026 · 2 min read

TNPSC Group 1 shortlists candidates for the mains in a ratio of 1:20 per reservation group, meaning 20 candidates for every vacancy. For the interview it shortlists 1:2 where a group has five or more vacancies, and 1:3 where it has four or fewer. These ratios are from Notification No. 04/2025 (Advt No. 706), para 5.

The ratios

The prelims must also be cleared at the minimum qualifying mark: 90 for reserved categories and 120 for Others. See the prelims minimum answer.

A worked example

Suppose a reservation group has 5 vacancies in a given cycle. The calculation is:

• Mains: 5 × 20 = 100 candidates.
• Interview: 5 vacancies is five or more, so 1:2, which is 5 × 2 = 10 candidates.

For a group with 4 vacancies, the numbers are 80 for the mains and 4 × 3 = 12 for the interview. These are illustrations of the ratio and not figures from any cycle. The true numbers depend on the vacancies in each group.

What else happens before the mains

Onscreen certificate verification takes place before the mains, so your documents are checked early. The mains itself has four papers: a Tamil Eligibility Test (100 marks, qualifying at 40) and three General Studies papers of 250 marks each. Papers II to IV are evaluated only if you pass Paper I, and you need a minimum aggregate in them of 225 marks for reserved categories and 300 for Others, out of 750.

What this means for you

If fewer candidates clear the minimum marks in a group, fewer can be called. And because shortlisting is done within each reservation group, what matters is where you stand among the candidates in your own group. See the Group 1 exam pattern for the whole sequence and how the final rank is formed.

Source

• TNPSC Group 1 Notification No. 04/2025 (Advt No. 706), paras 5 and 6

Ratios can change in later notifications, so check the current one.

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