TNPSC Group 4 Notification 2026: 6,574 Posts, Apply by 5 Nov

TNPSC Group 4 notification 2026 is out for 6,574 posts, and you can apply till 5 November 2026 (11:59 PM). The exam is on Sunday, 10 January 2027. For Village Administrative Officer, Junior Assistant and most other posts, a 10th pass (SSLC) is enough.

It’s one exam, one paper, no interview. Below are the facts from the official notification (No. 11/2026, dated 6 October 2026), and then the part most pages skip: where the marks actually come from.

Detail	Information
Exam	Combined Civil Services Examination IV (Group IV Services)
Conducted by	Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC)
Notification	No. 11/2026, dated 6 October 2026
Vacancies	6,574 across 46 posts (tentative)
Apply online	6 October to 5 November 2026, 11:59 PM
Correction window	9 to 11 November 2026
Exam date	10 January 2027 (Sunday), 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Qualification	SSLC (10th) for most posts
Exam fee	₹100 (plus ₹150 one-time registration if you’re new)
Selection	Written exam, then certificate verification and counselling
Apply at	tnpscexams.in

TNPSC Group 4 vacancies 2026: post-wise

The notification lists 46 separate posts. I’ve added up the same-name posts across departments so you can see the real picture.

Post	Vacancies
Junior Assistant (ministerial, judicial, municipal and corporations)	3,315
Typist	1,572
Junior Assistant (Accounts), TN Power Distribution Corporation	422
Steno Typist, Grade III	376
Village Administrative Officer (VAO)	291
Tax Collector, Greater Chennai Corporation	107
Bill Collector	97
Revenue Assistant, Municipal Council Service	96
Personal Clerk, Municipal Corporation Service	60
Junior Administrative Assistant, State Legal Services Authority	55
Executive Officer, Grade IV (HR&CE)	46
Forest Watcher	40
Shorthand Typist, Grade III, Greater Chennai Corporation	28
Laboratory Assistant, Forensic Science	23
Record Clerk, Grade III	19
Sales Assistant, Handicrafts Development Corporation	10
Junior Inspector of Co-operative Societies	8
Junior Assistant cum Typist, ELCOT	6
Telephone Operator, Senior Laboratory Assistant, Forest Guard with Driving Licence	1 each
Total	6,574

Three things to note. The number is tentative and can change before counselling. District-wise and department-wise vacancies will come later. And about half of all posts are Junior Assistant, so that’s where most selections happen.

Eligibility: qualification

Post	What you need
VAO, Junior Assistant (most), Bill Collector, Tax Collector, Revenue Assistant	A pass in SSLC (10th)
Typist	SSLC, plus Government Technical Examination in typewriting (Tamil and English, in the grade combinations listed in the notification)
Steno Typist, Grade III	SSLC, plus Government Technical Examination in both typewriting and shorthand
Junior Assistant in some corporations (SIDCO, Police Housing, Co-optex and others)	A degree. The power corporations ask for B.Com.
Forest Guard with Driving Licence	Higher Secondary pass, plus the licence and experience conditions in the notification

For most Typist and Steno Typist posts you also need the Certificate Course in Computer on Office Automation. If you don’t have it, you can still apply and finish it within your probation period.

You must know Tamil. If you studied Tamil as a language in SSLC, HSC or degree, or studied in Tamil medium, you’re covered. Otherwise you have to pass TNPSC’s Second Class Language Test in Tamil within two years of joining.

Eligibility: age limit (as on 1 July 2026)

Category	Most posts	VAO
Others (general)	18 to 30	21 to 30
BC, BCM, MBC/DC	18 to 32	21 to 40
SC, SC(A), ST	18 to 35	21 to 40
Persons with benchmark disability (general)	Up to 40	Up to 40
Ex-servicemen (general)	Up to 48	Up to 48

The upper limit means you should not have completed that age on 1 July 2026.

A rule many people miss: for most posts, BC, BCM, MBC/DC, SC, SC(A) and ST candidates who have a qualification higher than SSLC (HSC, diploma or degree) have no maximum age limit. In practice that means up to 60. This relaxation does not apply to VAO or the forest posts.

One restriction for general-category candidates: if you already have five years or more of service in a central or state government job, you can’t apply, even if you’re within the age limit.

Executive Officer, Grade IV is different: the age is 25 to 35 for general candidates, and only candidates professing the Hindu religion can apply. The two Waqf Board posts are open only to Muslim candidates.

Can candidates from other states apply?

Reservation and community-based age relaxation are only for people who belong to Tamil Nadu. The notification says candidates from other states are not treated as SC, ST or BC even if their community is on the list. So you’d be counted under “Others”, with the 30-year limit.

The bigger hurdle is the exam itself. Half the paper is Tamil, set only in Tamil. If you can’t read and write Tamil well, this isn’t the exam for you.

The Madras High Court, Chennai. This recruitment has 774 posts in the Tamil Nadu Judicial Ministerial Service. Photo: Yercaud-elango / Wikimedia, CC BY 4.0

Exam pattern

One paper, three hours, OMR sheet, all questions objective and of SSLC standard.

Part	Subject	Questions	Marks
A	Tamil Eligibility-cum-Scoring Test	100	150
B	General Studies	75	150 (B and C together)
C	Aptitude and Mental Ability	25
	Total	200	300

• Part A is a gate. You need at least 60 out of 150 (40%) in Tamil. If you don’t, Parts B and C are not even evaluated.
• Overall minimum is 90 out of 300, the same for all communities.
• Part A questions are in Tamil only. Parts B and C are in both Tamil and English.
• Your rank is based on the total of all three parts.
• The notification doesn’t mention negative marking.

Where the marks come from (syllabus weightage)

This is from the unit-wise syllabus in Annexure III of the notification. TNPSC says the split is indicative and can shift slightly.

Part	Unit	Questions
A	Tamil grammar	25
A	Tamil vocabulary	15
A	Writing skills	15
A	Reading and comprehension	15
A	Literature, Tamil scholars and service to Tamil (including Thirukkural)	15
A	Technical and official terms	10
A	Simple translation	5
B	Indian Economy and Development Administration in Tamil Nadu	20
B	History, Culture, Heritage and Socio-Political Movements of Tamil Nadu	20
B	Indian Polity	15
B	History, Culture of India and Indian National Movement	10
B	General Science	5
B	Geography	5
C	Aptitude (simplification, percentage, HCF/LCM, ratio, interest, area, volume, time and work)	15
C	Reasoning (puzzles, dice, visual reasoning, number series)	10

What this tells you:

• Tamil is half the exam. 100 of 200 questions. No other subject comes close, and it also decides whether the rest of your paper is read at all.
• 40 of the 75 General Studies questions are about Tamil Nadu: its economy and welfare schemes, and its history, literature and social movements, including Thirukkural. Your school Samacheer Kalvi textbooks are the base for this.
• General Science and Geography together are only 10 questions. Don’t spend a month on them.
• Aptitude is 25 questions of SSLC-level maths. These are the most “fixed” marks in the paper if you practise daily.

Selection process

1. Written exam on 10 January 2027.
2. Onscreen certificate verification, for about 3 times the vacancies in general and 2 times in reserved categories. You upload your certificates.
3. Physical certificate verification and counselling, where you choose a post and department by rank.

There’s no interview.

Forest Watcher and Forest Guard candidates also face a physical standards test and an endurance test in Chennai: a walk of 25 km in four hours for men, and 16 km in four hours for women and third gender candidates.

If marks are tied, the candidate with the higher qualification ranks first, then the older candidate, then whoever applied earlier. For Typist and Steno Typist posts, the higher typewriting or shorthand grade is looked at first. So applying early can count, in a small way.

Fee and concessions

What	Amount
One-Time Registration (OTR), valid 5 years	₹150
Examination fee	₹100

Who doesn’t pay the ₹100 exam fee:

• SC, SC(A), ST: full exemption
• Persons with benchmark disability, destitute widows: full exemption
• MBC/DC, BC, BCM: three free chances
• Ex-servicemen: two free chances

Free chances are counted across all your TNPSC applications, not only Group 4. If you’ve used them up, choose “No” for fee concession and pay. A wrong claim can get your application rejected and you debarred for a year.

Payment is online only: net banking, credit or debit card, or UPI.

How to apply for TNPSC Group 4 2026

1. Go to tnpscexams.in.
2. New user? Complete One-Time Registration first (₹150). Linking Aadhaar to your OTR is mandatory.
3. Log in and open the application for Combined Civil Services Examination IV (Group IV Services).
4. Fill in your details and choose your post option: “All the Posts”, or “Posts other than Forest Guard with Driving Licence / Forest Watcher”.
5. Choose two exam centres. You’ll get one of them. (Candidates with benchmark disability choose one.)
6. Upload your photo and signature.
7. Pay the fee, or claim your concession, and submit. Note your application number.

Mistakes that get applications into trouble:

• Old photo. The photo must be taken on or after 6 October 2026, in a studio, on a white background, with your name and the date printed at the bottom.
• Wrong post option. Pick “All the Posts” only if you’re ready for the forest posts’ 25 km or 16 km walk.
• Pressing Back or Refresh during payment. If payment fails, check the transaction status before paying again.
• Leaving it to a browsing centre. TNPSC says you are responsible for errors, not the centre. Check the preview yourself.

You can edit everything till 5 November, and again in the correction window from 9 to 11 November. After that, nothing can be changed.

Help: toll-free 1800 419 0958 (10 AM to 5:45 PM, working days). For registration and application problems, write to helpdesk@tnpscexams.in.

TNPSC also warns about agents who promise jobs. Selection is purely on marks. Don’t pay anyone.

How to use the 92 days

From today, 10 October, to exam day is 92 days. A simple split that follows the weightage:

• Every day: 1.5 to 2 hours of Tamil. Grammar is the largest Tamil unit (25 questions), so start there.
• Every day: 30 minutes of aptitude. Ten sums a day adds up to more than 900 by January.
• Weeks 1 to 6: Tamil Nadu units (economy and administration, history and culture) and Indian Polity. That’s 55 of the 75 General Studies questions.
• Weeks 7 to 9: Indian history, then science and geography.
• Last 3 to 4 weeks: one full 200-question paper every two or three days, on an OMR sheet, in three hours.

Should you apply?

Apply if you’re 10th pass or above, comfortable in Tamil, and want a permanent state government job without an interview. For ₹100, or free if you’re eligible, it’s the best-value exam in Tamil Nadu.

Think twice if you can’t write Tamil comfortably. Without 60 marks in Part A, nothing else you score is counted.

Be realistic about the odds. Lakhs of people write this exam for a few thousand posts, and the paper is 10th standard level, so cut-offs run high. What separates people is Tamil accuracy and not losing marks in aptitude.

If you’re applying to other exams too, RRB NTPC Graduate is open till 6 November and C-DAC’s 858 posts till 26 October. For 10th, 12th and diploma holders, Coast Guard Navik and Yantrik 2026 (365 posts) closes on 21 October.

Read the official notification PDF once before you fill the form. I’ll update this page when the hall ticket, answer key and results come out.