TCS NQT hiring process 2026: the test, Ninja, Digital and Prime pay bands, interview rounds and a prep plan

The TCS NQT hiring process has four steps: register on TCS NextStep, sit a 190-minute National Qualifier Test at a TCS iON centre, clear an interview, and receive an offer in one of three categories: Ninja, Digital or Prime. Your test performance decides which category you interview for, and the Advanced section of the test is mandatory if you want Digital or Prime (TCS, 2026).

This guide uses TCS's own NQT page for the February to March 2026 drive and dated reporting. HiringAnt has no inside knowledge of how TCS hires, and where TCS publishes nothing, such as cut-offs, we say so.

Key takeaways

• One test, three outcomes. The NQT has a Foundation section (75 minutes) and an Advanced section (115 minutes); skip Advanced and only Ninja is open to you (as of September 2026).
• Eligibility is the same for every category: 60% in 10th, 12th and graduation, no pending backlog, a gap of 24 months or less, and age 18 to 28 (2026 drive).
• For the 2026 drive, TCS listed Prime at ₹9.09 to 9.30 LPA and Digital at ₹7.09 to 7.30 LPA for undergraduates with up to a year's experience (as of September 2026). Ninja starts at ₹3.4 LPA for UG.
• TCS publishes no cut-offs, no selection ratios and no interview round structure. Anyone who claims to know them is guessing.
• The interview is weighted towards the skill you choose at registration, so choose one you can defend for 20 minutes.

What is the TCS NQT hiring process, step by step?

TCS's All India NQT drive for 2026 was open to the batches of 2024, 2025 and 2026. You log in to the TCS NextStep portal, register under the "IT" category (not "BPS"), click "Apply for Drive", choose the skill you want to be evaluated on, pick three test centres and three preferred job cities, then check that your status reads "Applied for Drive" (TCS, 2026).

If you do not click "Apply for Drive", you are not considered, and no confirmation email follows when you do. The status line is your only proof.

The Advanced section is the gate to Digital and Prime. Steps are from TCS's NQT page for the Feb–Mar 2026 drive (as of September 2026).

Here is what a finished registration should look like before you close the tab:

NextStep checklist, Feb–Mar 2026 drive

- Category: IT ✔

- Apply for Drive: clicked ✔

- Skill to be evaluated on: Java ✔

- Test mode: in-centre, 3 centres chosen ✔

- Job cities: 3 chosen ✔

- Track Your Application: Applied for Drive ✔

Test emails come from TCS iON, TCS's test partner, at [email protected]. TCS says it never sends hiring emails from Gmail, Yahoo or similar addresses, never asks you to deposit money, and uses no outside agency to interview or make offers (TCS, 2026). If an "offer" breaks any of those rules, read our guide to spotting a fake job offer.

Who is eligible for TCS NQT in 2026?

For the 2026 drive, TCS accepted B.Tech, B.E., M.Tech, M.E., MCA and M.Sc or M.S. graduates of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 batches from AICTE or UGC recognised institutions. The rules, as listed on TCS's page (TCS, 2026):

• Marks: at least 60% aggregate, all subjects counted, in 10th, 12th, diploma (if any), graduation and post-graduation (if any).
• Degree class: the offer is valid only if your degree certificate shows a first class within the normal course duration.
• Backlogs: none pending when you sit the test. Extended education is not allowed.
• Gaps: total academic gap of 24 months or less, declared and documented.
• Course type: full-time only. NIOS schooling is accepted if your degree is full-time.
• Experience and age: up to two years of work experience; age 18 to 28.

If your college uses CGPA, TCS asks you to convert it with its own formula: percentage equals 10 times CGPA.

Worked example: CGPA 7.2 × 10 = 72%. That clears the 60% bar. A CGPA of 5.8 converts to 58%, which does not.

B.Sc, BCA and B.Voc graduates have a separate route. TCS's B.Sc Ignite and Smart drive for the 2025 and 2026 batches used a 50% cut-off and a 120-minute test with an optional coding section, and it shortlisted candidates for Ignite or Smart interviews (TCS, 2026).

What is the TCS NQT exam pattern in 2026?

The NQT is one in-centre test of 190 minutes, in two parts (as of September 2026, for the Feb–Mar 2026 drive) (TCS, 2026):

TCS publishes the durations only. It does not publish the number of questions, the marking scheme, whether marks are deducted for wrong answers, or any cut-off. GeeksforGeeks, updated August 2026, reports two coding questions (GeeksforGeeks, 2026), but that is a prep site's account, not TCS's word.

Your chosen skill does not change the test. TCS says everyone sits the same pattern, and the skill matters only once you are shortlisted for interview (TCS, 2026).

Sample plan for the 90-minute coding section: 5 minutes to read both problems; 40 minutes to fully solve the easier one, including empty and largest inputs; 40 minutes on the second; 5 minutes to re-run both.

How does TCS decide Ninja, Digital or Prime?

TCS's own words are short: "Based on the test performance, candidates will qualify for Prime, Digital or Ninja interviews," and the Advanced section is mandatory for a Digital or Prime offer (TCS, 2026). That is the whole published rule.

TCS does not publish the score or percentile needed for each category, or how many candidates land in each. Ratios quoted on prep sites are guesses.

Two more points for 2026:

• Ninja is not the focus of this drive. Asked whether a Ninja offer is possible, TCS answered that it is "focusing on Prime and Digital candidates" and that Ninja offers depend on performance in the hiring process (TCS, 2026).
• The interview can still move you. TCS's B.Sc page says the final offer category depends on interview performance (TCS, 2026). The NQT page does not say this in so many words, but its Ninja answer points the same way.

In practice: a candidate who aces Foundation but leaves Advanced Coding blank has, by TCS's own rule, ruled out Digital and Prime. Attempt Advanced even if you fully solve only one problem.

What is the salary for TCS Ninja, Digital and Prime?

TCS published a CTC table for the 2026 drive, in lakh per annum (as of September 2026) (TCS, 2026):

Prime pays more than two and a half times the Ninja minimum for a fresh UG graduate. TCS NQT page, Feb–Mar 2026 drive (as of September 2026).

Three caveats, all from TCS. The figures are CTC, not monthly in-hand pay. Actual pay depends on relevant experience and job location. And internships do not count towards salary fitment (TCS, 2026).

Reading the table: a 2025 B.E. graduate with 14 months of full-time work and a Digital offer falls in the "UG, 1–2 yrs" column: ₹7.50–7.72 LPA. A 2026 graduate with a six-month internship and no full-time job falls in "UG, 0–1 yr": ₹7.09–7.30 LPA.

What happens in the TCS interview rounds?

TCS does not publish its interview structure; what is known comes from candidate reports. GeeksforGeeks, updated August 2026, lists a technical interview, a managerial interview that some candidates get depending on the role, and an HR interview (GeeksforGeeks, 2026). It gives no durations.

The one official detail matters most: once shortlisted, "you will be evaluated predominantly on the skill chosen in addition to the usual course of interview" (TCS, 2026).

Reported coverage, round by round:

• Technical: data structures, object-oriented programming, DBMS and SQL, operating systems, computer networks, your resume and project, and some coding or debugging.
• Managerial: how well you understand your own project, how you solve problems, teamwork and communication.
• HR: self-introduction, strengths and weaknesses, career goals, "Why TCS?", and whether you will relocate or work shifts.

Your project is the question you can prepare best. A strong answer is specific about what you built yourself:

Sample answer, "Walk me through your final-year project": "We built a library seat-booking app for our college in Java with a MySQL database. There were three of us. I wrote the booking logic and the SQL schema. The hard part was two students booking the same seat at once, so I used a transaction with a row lock. If I rebuilt it, I would add a waiting list, because seats freed up and nobody knew."

TCS asks for three preferred job cities at registration (TCS, 2026), so expect a relocation question. "Yes, and I listed Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai" is a complete answer.

Bring originals. TCS says your 10th, 12th, diploma and degree marksheets are verified at the interview and again at joining (TCS, 2026).

How many freshers is TCS hiring in 2026?

TCS had made 25,000 fresher offers for FY27 by April 2026, against more than 44,000 freshers hired in FY26. In April 2026, CEO K Krithivasan said TCS had made 25,000 fresher offers for FY27 and that more hiring depended on demand. The same report said TCS hired over 44,000 freshers in FY26 (Business Today, 2026). In October 2026, Business Today reported about 14,000 freshers had joined by the end of the April to June quarter (Business Today, 2026).

TCS has not published how those offers split between Ninja, Digital and Prime.

When is the next TCS NQT?

For the 2026 drive, registration ran from 18 February to 20 March 2026, and tests began on 10 March 2026 (TCS, 2026). An archived copy of TCS's page from 30 September 2026 still showed that drive as closed, with no newer date. Some job sites list later dates that we could not find on TCS's page, so check the TCS NextStep portal yourself.

TCS does not publish how long it takes from test to offer to joining. Only shortlisted candidates hear back, by email.

One common mix-up: TCS iON NQT is a different product. It is a paid test sold by TCS iON (₹399 to ₹2,298 for the products listed in October 2026), with a scorecard valid for two years that other employers can use (TCS iON, 2026). TCS's own NQT hiring page lists no fee and states that TCS never asks candidates to deposit money (TCS, 2026).

How to prepare for TCS NQT, section by section

Start before a drive opens: the 2026 window lasted about four weeks. This plan is our suggestion, not a TCS requirement.

Rehearse the 90-minute coding block hardest. Section timings from TCS's NQT page (as of September 2026); the plan is HiringAnt's suggestion.

1. Check your 10th, 12th and degree marks against the 60% rule.
2. Create your NextStep profile under "IT" before the deadline week.
3. Choose an evaluation skill you can discuss in depth.
4. Weeks 1–2: solve 30 numerical questions a day, untimed.
5. Weeks 1–2: do one reading passage a day for verbal ability.
6. Weeks 1–2: practise series, arrangements and puzzles.
7. Weeks 3–4: time harder quant and reasoning sets at 25 minutes.
8. Weeks 3–4: solve easy array and string problems daily in one language.
9. Weeks 5–6: sit a 90-minute, two-problem coding session every other day.
10. Week 7: take two full 190-minute mocks and rework every mistake.
11. Week 8: say your project walkthrough aloud in under two minutes.
12. Week 8: revise OOP, DBMS and SQL, operating systems and networks.
13. Week 8: prepare "Why TCS?", relocation and strengths answers.
14. Test week: put your original marksheets and certificates in one folder.

For the wider campus process, see our campus placement preparation guide.

Practise the interview rounds

Saying answers under pressure takes practice. HiringAnt Career Pro includes unlimited AI mock interviews that score your answers on four skills and tell you what to fix, including fresher-level technical and HR rounds and TCS NQT (Ninja) and (Prime) style practice. They are practice rounds, not TCS's interview, and TCS has no part in them. Anyone can try two free mock interviews without a plan.

Frequently asked questions

Is the TCS NQT free?

TCS's NQT hiring page for the 2026 drive lists no fee and says TCS does not ask candidates to deposit money at any stage (TCS, 2026). The separate TCS iON NQT, sold to job seekers for use with many employers, is paid (TCS iON, 2026).

Can I apply for TCS NQT with a backlog?

Not for the 2026 engineering drive. TCS allowed no pending backlog when you sit the test (TCS, 2026). The B.Sc Ignite and Smart drive allowed the 2026 batch up to one active backlog at the test, cleared before joining (TCS, 2026).

I already have a Ninja offer. Can I sit the NQT again for Digital or Prime?

Not through the off-campus drive. TCS says candidates who already hold a TCS offer cannot apply, and that it will inform offer holders when an upgrade opportunity is scheduled (TCS, 2026).

Does my internship count as experience for TCS salary?

No. TCS says internship experience is not considered for salary fitment (TCS, 2026).

Is there a bond or service agreement for TCS freshers?

TCS's NQT hiring page does not mention one, and bond amounts quoted online are not from TCS. Read your own offer letter before you accept.

Sources

1. TCS, "TCS All India NQT Hiring, Batch of 2026, 2025 & 2024", Feb–Mar 2026 drive. TCS blocks automated fetching; read via the Wayback Machine copy of 30 September 2026
2. TCS, "TCS B.Sc Ignite and Smart Hiring, Batch of 2025 and 2026", read via the Wayback Machine copy of 11 July 2026
3. TCS NextStep portal
4. TCS iON, "TCS iON National Qualifier Test", accessed October 2026
5. GeeksforGeeks, "TCS Recruitment Process", updated 8 August 2026
6. Business Today, "TCS fresher hiring hits 25,000 in FY27, more depends on demand", 13 April 2026
7. Business Today, "TCS adds 4,258 employees in Q2", 8 October 2026
8. HiringAnt Career Pro