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TCS NQT syllabus

The TCS NQT syllabus has three cognitive sections, numerical ability, verbal ability and reasoning ability, and the IT version adds advanced programming. TCS iON runs the test in English with no negative marking, and your score stays valid for two years. TCS uses NQT performance to decide which fresher interviews you are called for.

  • Updated
  • 27 questions with answers
  • Pattern checked 3 Nov 2026

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The pattern and topics below are restated from the official pages, with the date we read them. Sample questions are ours, written in the style of each section.

Questions with answers27in 5 groups

What is the TCS NQT pattern?

TCS iON offers the NQT in variants. Check which one your registration names, then prepare for its sections.

As published on 3 Nov 2026
Round or sectionWhat it testsFormat and what to check
NQT CognitiveNumerical ability, verbal ability and reasoning abilityTaken by every candidate. In English only, with no negative marking. The number of questions and the timing are set for each cycle: check your admit card.
NQT IT (advanced)The cognitive sections plus advanced IT programming and a psychometric assessmentFor IT roles. TCS says one integrated test decides whether you are interviewed for Ninja, Digital or Prime roles; its hiring page calls the second part the Advanced section and requires it for Digital and Prime offers.
NQT Non-TechGeneral quantitative, verbal and general mental abilityFor non-IT roles and streams.
NQT BFSIFinancial markets and services, basic aptitude and a psychometric assessmentFor banking, financial services and insurance roles.
Your NQT scoreNo cut-off and no pass or failValid for two years from the result date. There is no limit on attempts and your highest score counts. Other companies that accept NQT scores need a separate application on their own portals.
InterviewYour fundamentals, your project and your fit for TCSOnly for shortlisted candidates. The invite gives the format and date; candidates commonly report technical, managerial and HR questions, sometimes in one sitting.

Who can take the NQT, as TCS iON lists it: pre-final and final-year UG, PG and diploma students of any stream, 2022 to 2028 pass-outs who are looking for a job, and professionals with up to two years of experience, aged 17 to 30. TCS sets its own eligibility for each hiring drive (degree, marks, backlogs, batch), so read the drive notice on TCS’s NQT hiring page before you register.

Official sources, read 3 Nov 2026TCS iON: National Qualifier Test (NQT)TCS All India NQT Hiring (batches of 2024, 2025 and 2026)

What is the TCS NQT syllabus for 2026, section by section?

The section topics are the ones TCS iON lists, as we read them on 2 Nov 2026. The words in brackets are what each topic usually covers in aptitude tests like this one.

Numerical ability

  • Number system (divisibility, remainders, HCF and LCM)
  • Arithmetic (percentages, ratios, averages, profit and loss, time and work, speed and distance, interest)
  • Elementary statistics (mean, median, mode)
  • Data interpretation (tables, bar and pie charts)

Verbal ability

  • English grammar (tenses, subject-verb agreement, articles, prepositions)
  • Usage (sentence correction, sentence completion, word choice)
  • Reading comprehension

Reasoning ability

  • Word and numeric patterns (series, coding and decoding)
  • Problem-solving (arrangements, blood relations, directions)
  • Figural and factual analysis (pattern completion, odd figure out)
  • Propositional reasoning (if-then statements)
  • Visual-spatial reasoning (rotations, mirror images, paper folding)
  • Decision-making (statements and conclusions, syllogisms)

Advanced IT programming (IT variant)

  • Programming logic and output prediction
  • Coding problems: arrays, strings, loops and basic algorithms
  • Check the languages allowed in your test instructions

TCS NQT numerical ability sample questions

Written by us in the style of the section. Work them with a timer: speed matters as much as accuracy.

6 questions

  1. An item is marked 25% above its cost price and sold at a 10% discount. What is the profit percentage?

    Basic

    Take cost price as 100. Marked price is 125, and after a 10% discount the selling price is 112.5. Profit is 12.5%.

  2. A can finish a job in 12 days and B in 18 days. How long will they take together?

    Basic

    A does 1/12 of the job a day and B does 1/18. Together: 3/36 + 2/36 = 5/36 a day, so the job takes 36/5 = 7.2 days.

  3. The average of five numbers is 24. When one number is removed, the average of the rest is 22. Which number was removed?

    Basic

    Total of five numbers = 5 × 24 = 120. Total of four = 4 × 22 = 88. The removed number is 32.

  4. A 240 m long train passes a pole in 12 seconds. What is its speed in km/h?

    Basic

    Speed = 240 ÷ 12 = 20 m/s. Multiply by 18/5 to convert: 72 km/h.

  5. A number is increased by 20% and then decreased by 20%. What is the net change?

    Intermediate

    1.2 × 0.8 = 0.96, so the number falls by 4%. Equal percentage rises and falls never cancel out.

  6. Boys and girls in a class are in the ratio 3:2, and there are 40 students. If 4 more girls join, what is the new ratio?

    Intermediate

    Boys = 24 and girls = 16. With 4 more girls there are 20 girls, so the ratio is 24:20 = 6:5.

TCS NQT verbal ability sample questions

5 questions

  1. Fill in the blank: "Neither the manager nor the employees ___ ready for the audit." (is / are)

    Basic

    are. With "neither… nor", the verb agrees with the nearer subject, "employees", which is plural.

  2. Find the error: "He did not knew the answer to the last question."

    Basic

    After "did not", use the base form of the verb: "He did not know the answer."

  3. Choose the word closest in meaning to "candid": cautious, frank, clever, quiet.

    Basic

    Frank. Candid means open and honest.

  4. Arrange into a sentence: (P) the report (Q) submitted (R) she (S) on time.

    Basic

    R Q P S: "She submitted the report on time."

  5. Choose the word opposite in meaning to "scarce": rare, plentiful, costly, small.

    Basic

    Plentiful.

TCS NQT reasoning ability sample questions

5 questions

  1. Find the next number: 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, ?

    Basic

    The differences are 4, 6, 8, 10, so the next difference is 12: 42.

  2. If CAT is coded as DBU, how is DOG coded?

    Basic

    Each letter moves one place forward in the alphabet: D→E, O→P, G→H. EPH.

  3. Pointing to a man, Riya says, "He is the son of my grandfather's only son." How is the man related to Riya?

    Intermediate

    Her grandfather's only son is her father, and her father's son is her brother.

  4. You walk 5 km north, turn right and walk 3 km, then turn right and walk 5 km. How far are you from the start?

    Basic

    North 5, east 3, south 5: the north and south cancel, so you are 3 km east of the start.

  5. All pens are books. Some books are bags. Does it follow that some pens are bags?

    Intermediate

    No. The bags may be among the books that are not pens, so the conclusion does not necessarily follow.

TCS programming and coding sample questions

4 questions

  1. What does this loop print?

    Basic

    i starts at 0 and goes up by 2 while it is less than 5, so it prints 0 2 4.

    for (int i = 0; i < 5; i += 2)
  printf("%d ", i);

  2. Write a function that returns the sum of the digits of a number.

    Basic

    Take the last digit with % 10, add it, and drop it with / 10 until the number is 0.

    int digit_sum(int n) {
  int s = 0;
  while (n > 0) {
    s += n % 10;
    n /= 10;
  }
  return s;
}

  3. What is the time complexity of binary search, and when can you use it?

    Intermediate

    O(log n), because each step halves the search range. It only works on sorted data.

  4. Which data structure works on last in, first out?

    Basic

    A stack. A queue works on first in, first out.

TCS interview questions for freshers

Technical questions follow your degree and project; HR questions check fit, relocation and shifts.

7 questions

  1. Tell me about your final-year project.

    Basic

    Cover the problem, your role, the technology, one difficulty you solved and the result, in about two minutes. Expect follow-up questions on any tool you name, so mention only what you used yourself.

  2. What are the four pillars of object-oriented programming?

    Basic

    Encapsulation (keeping data and methods together and hiding internals), abstraction (showing only what is needed), inheritance (a class reusing another's features) and polymorphism (one interface, many behaviours, through overloading and overriding).

  3. What is the difference between an array and a linked list?

    Basic

    An array stores elements next to each other in memory, so access by index is fast, but inserting in the middle is slow. A linked list stores nodes connected by pointers, so inserting and deleting are easy, but finding an element means walking the list.

  4. What is normalisation in a database?

    Intermediate

    Organising tables to reduce duplicate data and avoid update errors, by splitting data into related tables. The first three normal forms (1NF, 2NF, 3NF) are what freshers are usually asked about.

  5. Write a SQL query to list employees who earn more than the average salary.

    Intermediate

    Use a subquery for the average.

    SELECT name, salary
FROM employees
WHERE salary > (SELECT AVG(salary) FROM employees);

  6. Why do you want to join TCS?

    Basic

    Be specific: TCS's training for freshers, the range of domains and clients you could work on, or a technology area you want to grow in. Connect one of them to your skills, and keep it to a minute. See our guide to why do you want to join our company.

  7. Are you willing to relocate and work in shifts?

    Basic

    IT services companies place freshers where projects need them, so interviewers ask this to check you will accept. Answer honestly; if you have a real constraint, say it clearly and briefly.

How to prepare for the TCS NQT

  1. Register through the link on TCS’s NQT hiring page and read the drive notice: eligibility, test variant and dates. Prepare for the variant you will actually take.

  2. Learn the formulas for arithmetic topics (percentages, ratios, profit and loss, time and work, speed and distance) and practise ten timed questions a day.

  3. Practise reasoning sets daily: series, coding and decoding, arrangements and syllogisms reward practice more than theory.

  4. For verbal, revise grammar rules and read one editorial a day to build reading speed for comprehension.

  5. If you are taking the IT variant, solve two coding problems a day on arrays and strings in the language you will use, and practise predicting the output of short programs.

  6. Before the interview, revise OOP, DBMS, one programming language and your project. Our aptitude test for placement guide has more practice questions.

A six-week TCS NQT preparation timeline

  1. Week 1

    Read the drive notice, register, and take one full practice test to find your weak sections.

  2. Weeks 2–3

    Numerical and reasoning topics one by one, with ten timed questions per topic each day.

  3. Week 4

    Verbal ability and reading comprehension; coding practice daily if you are taking the IT variant.

  4. Week 5

    Mixed timed sets and full-length practice tests; review every wrong answer.

  5. Week 6

    Interview preparation: OOP, DBMS, your project, and answers to the common HR questions.

What is the TCS NQT?

The TCS National Qualifier Test (NQT) is the hiring test TCS uses for freshers, run by TCS iON, TCS's assessment business. TCS uses your NQT performance to decide which interviews you are called for. TCS iON also shares NQT scores with other companies that accept them, but you apply to each company separately on its own portal.

TCS Ninja salary: what to check

Ninja is the TCS fresher role for the main hiring track; Digital and Prime are the higher-paid roles for candidates who do better in the NQT and interviews. TCS states the salary for each role in its hiring notice and offer letter, and the figure is a CTC, not your in-hand pay. Our TCS fresher salary guide lists the published figures with their sources and dates.

Are TCS NQT previous year question papers available?

TCS's NQT pages, as we read them on 2 Nov 2026, do not publish past papers. Papers labelled "previous year" on prep sites are reconstructed from candidates' memory, so use them for practice, not to predict questions. Practising each section's topics with a timer prepares you better than memorising old questions. TCS iON does offer an official sample test, and a free practice test comes with the test you book: start with those.

How to get a job in TCS: steps for freshers

  • Register through the link on TCS’s NQT hiring page and apply for the NQT drive for your batch.
  • Take the NQT and aim high in every section, because your performance decides the role you are considered for.
  • If shortlisted, clear the interview: fundamentals, your project and HR questions.
  • Accept the offer and complete the joining formalities TCS sends you.

Keep your resume to one page with your projects and skills up front; our fresher resume format shows how.

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Questions freshers ask

No. TCS iON says there is no negative marking, so attempt every question, but do not rush: accuracy still decides your score.

Two years from the date the result is published, according to TCS iON. You can take the test again to improve, and your highest score counts.

TCS iON says the NQT has no cut-off and no pass or fail. Companies decide whom to shortlist, so a higher score improves your chances.

Yes. TCS iON lists students of any stream as eligible, and there is a Non-Tech variant. Each TCS drive sets its own degree requirements, so check the notice for the role you want.

One page with your degree, your marks from class 10 onwards, your skills, and your projects and internships. TCS checks marks, backlogs and batch against each drive’s eligibility, so write them clearly and make them match the details you enter when you register.

The difficulty is moderate, but time is tight. Candidates who practise each section with a timer for four to six weeks usually do much better than those who only read theory.