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TNPSC Group 2 fills the higher of the two tiers notified in the Combined Civil Services Examination-II: Sub-Registrar, Probation Officer, Deputy Commercial Tax Officer, Jailor, Assistant Inspector, the Assistant Section Officers of the Secretariat and the special assistants of the police. They sit at pay levels 16 to 18, and they are decided on one descriptive general studies paper of 300 marks, written by hand.
The 2026 cycle was live when this page was checked. Notification No. 07/2026 closed on 9 September 2026 for 43 Group II posts alongside 803 Group IIA posts, and the common preliminary examination is on 1 November 2026. One correction to most material about this examination: there is no interview. The oral test that once distinguished Group II from Group IIA was dropped in 2024, and the distinction is now the mains — descriptive for Group II, objective for Group IIA.
TNPSC Group 2 · checked 19 September 2026
The dates, vacancies and rules below are read on the conducting body’s own site and rewritten as each notice appears. The guide beneath carries the full pattern, syllabus, cut-offs and free mock tests.
Checked 19 September 2026
Notification 07/2026 — 43 Group II posts; applications closed 9 September; prelims 1 November 2026
Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission
A bachelor’s degree; law, commerce or criminology degrees for specific posts
Common objective prelims at 1:10 → Tamil paper plus one descriptive general studies paper of 300 marks
Notification
Checked 11 September 2026. The current cycle, Notification No. 07/2026 of 11 August 2026, took applications to 9 September 2026 with a correction window from 13 to 15 September. The common preliminary examination is on 1 November 2026, 9.30 to 12.30 — a week later than the commission’s planner projected. The main examination dates will be announced later. Addendum 7A of 3 September added two Probation Officer posts and raised the Group II total to 43.
| Post | Vacancies |
|---|---|
| Assistant Inspector | 7 |
| Probation Officer | 5, plus 2 added by addendum in Social Defence |
| Special Branch Assistant | 6, plus 3 at level 18 |
| Assistant Section Officer, Secretariat (Law) | 5 |
| Sub-Registrar Grade-II | 3 |
| Jailor (Men) | 3 |
| Special Assistant | 2 |
| Assistant Section Officer, Legislative Assembly Secretariat | 2 |
| Deputy Commercial Tax Officer; Junior Employment Officer; Jailor (women’s prison); ASO TNPSC; ASO cum Programmer | 1 each |
| Total | 43 |
| Stage | When |
|---|---|
| Notification | 15 July 2025 |
| Preliminary examination | 28 September 2025 |
| Group II mains — General Studies | 22 February 2026 |
| Tamil eligibility test | 15 March 2026 |
| Marks and rank | 29 June 2026 |
| Onscreen verification list | 13 July 2026 |
| Physical verification and counselling list | 9 September 2026 |
Notification No. 07/2026 Addendum 7A — posts added TNPSC examination dashboard TNPSC Group 2A — the other half of the notification
Overview
Group II and Group IIA are one notification. The 2026 notification lists fourteen Group II post codes — 43 posts after the September addendum — and forty-seven Group IIA post codes for 803. Every candidate sits the same preliminary examination on 1 November 2026, and is then shortlisted separately for each mains at ten candidates per vacancy. A candidate selected for a Group II post is not considered for Group IIA.
The Group II mains is two papers. Paper I is the Tamil eligibility test at SSLC standard, qualifying at 40 out of 100 for every community, and Paper II is evaluated only for those who pass it. Paper II is a single descriptive general studies paper of 300 marks in three hours — nine ten-mark answers, three of five ten-mark language answers in Tamil or English, and twelve fifteen-mark answers across six sections — with a minimum of 90 for every community. Paper II alone builds the rank list.
Up to Notification 03/2022, Group II was defined as the interview posts and Group IIA as the non-interview posts, and Group II carried an oral test of 40 marks. From Notification 08/2024 onwards the words interview and oral test do not appear in the CCSE-II notifications at all. The 2026 scheme is written examination only, for both groups. Material that describes a Group II interview is describing the examination as it was before 2024.
Eligibility
| Requirement | What the notification sets |
|---|---|
| Qualification | A degree of a UGC-recognised university for nearly every post. Deputy Commercial Tax Officer takes B.A., B.Sc. or B.Com; Assistant Section Officer (Law) a law degree; Jailor gets a higher age ceiling with a master’s in criminology, criminal justice or social work; Sub-Registrar prefers a law degree. |
| Minimum age | 18 for most posts; 20 for Sub-Registrar; 22 for Probation Officer in the Prisons department; 26 for the Probation Officer posts added in Social Defence. |
| Maximum age — general | 32 for most posts; 34 for Deputy Commercial Tax Officer with a law degree; 37 for Jailor with the relevant master’s; 42 for the Social Defence Probation Officer. |
| Maximum age — SC, SC(A), ST, MBC, DC, BC and BC(M) | No maximum for every post except Deputy Commercial Tax Officer, at 37 or 39 with a law degree. No maximum means not having completed 60. |
| Concessions | Persons with benchmark disability ten years more; ex-servicemen to 50, or 52 and 55 for the two posts above; destitute widows no maximum, or 37 and 39 for Deputy Commercial Tax Officer. |
| Government service | Candidates outside the reserved communities with five or more years of state service are not eligible. |
| Tamil | Adequate knowledge as for Group 1; otherwise the Second Class Language Test within two years of appointment. |
| Fees | One-time registration ₹150; prelims ₹100; mains ₹150, or ₹300 if shortlisted for both Group II and IIA. Exemptions as for Group 1. |
Selection process
Each stage in order, and what it actually tests.
| Stage | Format | What it involves |
|---|---|---|
| Common preliminary examination | Objective, OMR — screening only | One paper of 200 questions and 300 marks in three hours: general studies 75 at degree standard, aptitude 25 at SSLC standard, and a language paper of 100 in general Tamil or general English at SSLC standard. Minimum 90 for every community. Ten candidates per vacancy proceed to each mains; the marks are then discarded. |
| Group II main examination | Descriptive, two papers of three hours | Paper I, the Tamil eligibility test at SSLC standard, is qualifying at 40 out of 100 for every community. Paper II is general studies at degree standard, 300 marks, minimum 90, in Tamil or English — and alone builds the rank list. |
| Onscreen and physical certificate verification | Documents, then counselling | Onscreen verification at three candidates per vacancy for general candidates and two for reserved communities; physical verification and counselling at three and one and a half. Posts are allotted by rank and preference under the communal roster. |
Exam pattern
| Stage or paper | Content | Format | Duration | Marks | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common preliminary | General studies 75; aptitude 25; general Tamil or general English 100 | Objective, OMR | 3 hours | 300, not counted | 90 for every community |
| Mains — Paper I | Tamil eligibility test at SSLC standard | Descriptive, in Tamil | 3 hours | 100, not counted | 40 for every community |
| Mains — Paper II | General studies at degree standard | Descriptive, Tamil or English | 3 hours | 300 | 90 for every community |
| Part | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Part A | Nine answers of 100 words, 10 marks each | 90 |
| Part B | Three of five answers of 10 marks on the language unit, in Tamil or English | 30 |
| Part C | Six sections; two of three answers of 200 words in each, 15 marks each | 180 |
Paper II is evaluated only for candidates who score 40 in the Tamil eligibility test; a differently-abled candidate may claim exemption. Nothing follows Paper II but certificate verification and counselling. The commission’s generic scheme page still shows older figures — a different prelims minimum and a different mains structure — and should not be relied on against the notification.
TNPSC revises paper structure, marks, syllabus detail and eligibility between recruitment cycles, and has done so more than once in recent years — the Tamil eligibility component itself is a recent addition. Everything here describes the shape the recruitment has held; the notification for the cycle you are sitting is the document that decides it. Read it end to end before you plan around any figure.
Study plan
Sources
Checked 11 September 2026. Vacancies, eligibility, fees, the scheme of examination, the absence of an interview and the blank-answer deduction are quoted from Notification No. 07/2026 and Addendum 7A; the 2025 timetable from the commission’s examination dashboard; the earlier interview from Notification 03/2022. The commission publishes the Group II descriptive papers — General Studies for February 2026 and February 2025, the Tamil eligibility test for March 2026 and February 2025, and earlier cycles — and the prelims papers with final keys.
Notification No. 07/2026 with scheme and syllabus Addendum 7A, 3 September 2026 Notification No. 11/2025 — the previous cycle Notification No. 08/2024 — the first cycle without an interview Prelims syllabus with unit weights Tamil eligibility test syllabus Descriptive question papers — Group II mains Objective papers with final keys — prelims TNPSC annual planner
Exam resources
Six resource pages, each kept in step with the latest official notification.
Questions
No. The oral test that once defined Group II was dropped from Notification 08/2024 onwards, and the words interview and oral test do not appear in Notification 07/2026. Selection is on the descriptive mains paper alone, followed by certificate verification and counselling. Material describing a Group II interview describes the scheme before 2024.
1 November 2026, 9.30 to 12.30, under Notification No. 07/2026 — common to Group II and Group IIA. Applications closed on 9 September 2026. The main examination dates will be announced later.
They are one notification with a common prelims and separate mains. Group II is the higher posts at pay levels 16 to 18, decided on a descriptive general studies paper of 300 marks. Group IIA is the ministerial posts at levels 10 to 12, decided on an objective computer-based paper of 300 marks. Neither has an interview. A candidate selected for Group II is not considered for Group IIA.
A common preliminary examination of 200 objective questions for 300 marks in three hours — general studies 75, aptitude 25 and general Tamil or English 100 — at a minimum of 90, screening ten candidates per vacancy. Then a mains of two descriptive papers: Paper I, the Tamil eligibility test, 100 marks and qualifying at 40; and Paper II, general studies, 300 marks in three parts with a minimum of 90. Paper II alone builds the rank.
Not for a wrong answer. Half a mark is deducted for each prelims question left entirely blank — the notification requires a candidate who does not know the answer to darken option E — and two marks for a wrong register number on a non-personalised sheet.
43 after Addendum 7A of 3 September 2026: Assistant Inspector 7, Probation Officer 7, Special Branch Assistant 9, Assistant Section Officer in the Law and Legislative Assembly Secretariats 7, Sub-Registrar 3, Jailor 4, Special Assistant 2, and single posts of Deputy Commercial Tax Officer, Junior Employment Officer, ASO TNPSC and ASO cum Programmer. Group IIA has 803 in the same notification.
Reckoned as on 1 July 2026: a minimum of 18 for most posts, 20 for Sub-Registrar and 22 or 26 for the Probation Officer posts; a maximum of 32 for general candidates in most posts, with 34, 37 and 42 for specific posts. SC, SC(A), ST, MBC, DC, BC and BC(M) candidates have no maximum for every post except Deputy Commercial Tax Officer.
One-time registration ₹150 valid five years; preliminary examination ₹100; main examination ₹150, or ₹300 for a candidate shortlisted for both Group II and Group IIA. SC, SC(A), ST, disabled and destitute-widow candidates are exempt from examination fees; BC, BC(M), MBC and DC candidates have three free chances and ex-servicemen two.
Yes, including the descriptive mains — the General Studies paper for February 2026 and February 2025, the Tamil eligibility test for March 2026 and February 2025, and earlier cycles — on its descriptive-papers page, and the common prelims with final keys from 2013 to 2025 on its answer-keys page.
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