TNPSC Group 4 — Syllabus & Exam Pattern
Free preparation for TNPSC Group 4 — the official exam pattern and topic-wise syllabus are below. Start preparing from home.
See current TNPSC Group 4 vacancies & notificationsExam Pattern
TNPSC Group 4 (Combined Civil Services Examination-IV, CCSE-IV) is conducted by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission for posts including Village Administrative Officer (VAO), Junior Assistant, Junior Revenue Inspector, Typist, Steno-Typist (Grade III), Forest Guard and Forest Watcher — 3,935 vacancies in the 2025 cycle (Notification No. 07/2025; later increased by addendum). Eligibility: minimum SSLC (10th) pass for most posts, with post-specific add-ons (Typist: Govt Technical Exam in Typewriting + Computer on Office Automation certificate; Steno-Typist: Typewriting AND Shorthand; Junior Executive (Office): degree + co-operative training). Age (2025 cycle, as on 01.07.2025): minimum 18 (21 for VAO and forestry posts); maximum 32 for non-reserved; NO maximum age for BC/BCM/MBC-DC/SC/SC(A)/ST candidates with higher-than-minimum qualification (up to 60 years). Adequate knowledge of Tamil is mandatory. Single-stage exam: one objective OMR paper of SSLC standard — 200 questions, 300 marks, 3 hours: Part A Tamil Eligibility-cum-Scoring Test 100 Q/150 marks (Tamil only), Part B General Studies 75 Q, Part C Aptitude & Mental Ability 25 Q (B+C together 150 marks, set in Tamil and English). Part B and C are evaluated ONLY if you score at least 40% (60/150) in Part A — and Part A marks then COUNT in your ranking. Minimum qualifying total: 90/300 for all communities. The notification prescribes NO negative marking. No interview — merit list on written-exam total, then certificate verification and counselling. Forestry posts additionally need a Physical Standards Test and an Endurance walk (25 km men / 16 km women within 4 hours). CONFIRMED against TNPSC Notification No. 07/2025 dated 25.04.2025 for CCSE-IV (tnpsc.gov.in).
Syllabus (topic-wise)
- NOTE: From Annexure III (Syllabus Code 496) of official Notification No. 07/2025; whole paper is SSLC (10th) standard. The Part A syllabus is officially published in Tamil — summary below is a translation. Next cycle's notification (expected late 2026 per the TNPSC Annual Planner) must be re-verified on tnpsc.gov.in.
- Part A — Tamil Eligibility-cum-Scoring Test (100 Q/150 marks): Grammar (25 Q) — sandhi, word splitting/joining, kuril-nedil, letter distinctions (la/La/zha, na/Na, ra/Ra), singular-plural, verb/participle/noun derivations, antonyms, spelling; Vocabulary (15 Q) — synonyms, antonyms, one-letter words, odd word out, alphabetical order, polysemy, pure-Tamil equivalents; Writing Skill (15 Q) — sentence ordering and types, voice, agreement, traditional usage conventions, punctuation; Technical Terms (10 Q) — Tamil equivalents from science, law, IT, media; Reading Comprehension (15 Q) — passages, editorials, idioms and proverbs; Simple Translation (5 Q); Literature and Tamil scholars (15 Q) — Thirukkural (20 specified adhikarams), ethical literature (Naladiyar, Pazhamozhi Nanooru and others), Tamil service of U.Ve. Swaminatha Iyer, G.U. Pope, Bharathidasan and other scholars — school-textbook based.
- Part B — General Studies (75 Q): General Science (5) — physics, chemistry, life science, environment, latest inventions; Geography (5) — India and Tamil Nadu physical features, monsoon, rivers, minerals, agriculture, disaster management; History, Culture & National Movement (10) — Indus Valley to Mughals, South Indian history, freedom movement and its Tamil Nadu leaders (V.O. Chidambaranar, Thanthai Periyar, Kamarajar and others); Indian Polity (15) — Constitution, rights and duties, executive-legislature-judiciary, Panchayat Raj, RTI, consumer forums, anti-corruption institutions; Indian Economy & Development Administration in Tamil Nadu (20) — plans, NITI Aayog, RBI, GST, land reforms, rural welfare schemes, TN education and health systems; History, Culture, Heritage & Socio-Political Movements of Tamil Nadu (20) — Sangam literature to contemporary, Thirukkural's relevance, TN's role in the freedom struggle, social reformers and transformation.
- Part C — Aptitude & Mental Ability (25 Q): simplification, percentage, HCF-LCM, ratio and proportion, simple and compound interest, area and volume, time and work (15 Q); logical reasoning, puzzles, dice, visual and alpha-numeric reasoning, number series (10 Q).
- Strategy from the official structure: Part A is eligibility-CUM-SCORING — 150 of the 300 marks. Tamil preparation is half the exam, and failing 40% in it voids everything else.
Official source: https://tnpsc.gov.in/document/english/Grp%20IV%20English_.pdf
⚠️ Always confirm against that year's official notification — the exam pattern and syllabus can change. This page is free guidance only.