TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) — Online Assessment pattern
TCS National Qualifier Test (NQT) - Corporate / Fresher Online Assessment
Test structure
Part A - Foundation: Numerical Ability
~20 (approx; varies by slot) Qs · 25 min- Number system, simplification, LCM/HCF
- Ratio & proportion, percentages
- Profit & loss, averages
- Time-speed-distance, time & work
- Mensuration & geometry
- Probability, permutation & combination
- Data interpretation
- Number/series problems
Part A - Foundation: Verbal Ability
~25 (20 Sentence Completion + 4 Passage/Reading Recall + 1 Email Writing) Qs · ~25-26 (incl. instruction screens) min- Sentence completion
- Grammar: prepositions, tenses, articles, subject-verb agreement
- Reading comprehension & passage recall
- Vocabulary / synonyms-antonyms
- Professional email writing (100+ words, ~9 min, from given keywords/scenario)
Part A - Foundation: Reasoning Ability
~20 (approx; varies by slot) Qs · 25 min- Number/letter series
- Coding-decoding
- Blood relations, direction sense
- Seating arrangement & puzzles
- Syllogisms, statement-conclusion
- Data sufficiency
- Visual/figure reasoning
- Analogy & classification
Part B - Advanced: Advanced Quantitative & Reasoning Ability (Advanced Aptitude)
~15 (approx) Qs · 25 min- Higher-difficulty quantitative aptitude
- Advanced / critical reasoning
- Pseudocode output & time-complexity questions
- Data interpretation
Part B - Advanced: Advanced Coding
2 problems (occasionally 1-2) Qs · 90 (increased from 75 in the 2025->2026 update) min- Data structures: arrays, strings, hashing, linked lists, stacks, queues, trees, graphs
- Algorithms: sorting/searching, greedy, basic dynamic programming, graph (BFS/DFS, Kruskal/MST)
- Full-solution problems with hidden test cases
- Allowed languages: C, C++, Java, Python, Perl (Python officially confirmed)
How the test works
TCS NQT for IT fresher/campus hiring is a single integrated, remotely-proctored online test on the TCS iON platform, ~190 minutes total, split into Part A (Foundation, ~75 min, ~65 MCQs) and Part B (Advanced, ~115 min: ~15 advanced-aptitude MCQs + 2 coding problems in ~90 min). One integrated score maps to three hiring bands entered via the SAME test: Ninja (~Rs 3.36-3.9 LPA), Digital (~Rs 7-7.5 LPA), Prime (~Rs 9-11+ LPA, usually with an extra advanced-coding/interview round). The test is strictly LINEAR: no section switching, each section is individually timed and locks when time expires, and you cannot revisit or change a question after clicking Next. NO negative marking; all sections mandatory. Recent 2025->2026 changes reported across prep portals: (1) Verbal Ability restructured to ~20 Sentence Completion + 4 Passage/Reading Recall + 1 Professional Email Writing (100+ words, ~9 min); (2) Advanced Coding time raised 75->90 min; (3) Python officially confirmed as a coding language; (4) pseudocode questions confirmed in Advanced Aptitude. PRECISION CAVEAT: exact per-section counts vary by cycle/slot and sources disagree on the total (commonly ~82 for the current format, but some still list an older ~92-question format with a separate Programming Logic section and Num/Verbal/Reasoning at 26/24/30). TCS runs multiple slots and normalises across them. Treat the counts as the current typical structure, not a fixed blueprint - the Foundation=75min / Advanced=115min / no-negative-marking / linear-navigation / Ninja-Digital-Prime banding are the stable, well-corroborated parts.
What to prep
- Speed aptitude drills under strict per-question time: percentages, ratio, TSD, time & work, P&C, probability, and data interpretation (TCS is time-pressured, not conceptually deep)
- Reasoning grind: series, coding-decoding, seating/puzzles, syllogisms, blood relations, data sufficiency, direction sense
- Verbal: sentence completion + grammar and reading comprehension; SPECIFICALLY practice the formal Email Writing task (100+ words from given keywords in ~9 min) - it is scored and often under-prepared
- Coding: be able to write 1-2 FULL working solutions with all hidden test cases passing - arrays/strings/hashing, greedy, basic DP, and graphs (BFS/DFS, Kruskal/MST); pick one strong language (Python or Java) and stick to it
- Pseudocode: practice C/C++ output-prediction and time-complexity questions for the Advanced Aptitude section
- Take full-length TIMED mocks to rehearse the no-going-back, per-section-lock, no-negative-marking format so it doesn't surprise you on exam day
- Work TCS NQT previous-year papers (PrepInsta, GeeksforGeeks, IndiaBIX, faceprep) - TCS heavily repeats question archetypes
- Clear at least one coding question completely - it strongly influences Digital/Prime band eligibility beyond just Ninja
Cut-offs & eligibility (indicative)
TCS does NOT officially publish NQT cutoffs, and scores are normalised across slots - any specific number online is community-reported and indicative only. Practical (unofficial) target: clear roughly 60-70% in each section and solve at least one coding question fully. Rough band percentiles cited by prep sites: Ninja ~50-60 percentile, Digital ~65-75 percentile, Prime ~80+ percentile (equivalently ~38-45/65, ~48-55/65, ~55+/65 on Foundation) - do not treat as authoritative. Baseline ELIGIBILITY (separate from score): typically 60% aggregate in 10th, 12th and graduation, no active backlogs at joining, age 16-26, and eligible pass-out batches (e.g. 2024/2025/2026 for a given cycle); Ninja usually needs min CGPA ~6.0, Digital/Prime often 7.0+.
Rehearse it before the real thing
Practice full-length sectional mocks modeled on this pattern, then make sure your resume clears the ATS first.