TCS NQT Aptitude Test: Pattern, Sections and Practice

The TCS National Qualifier Test (NQT) is the single test TCS uses to shortlist engineering freshers for its Ninja, Digital and Prime roles, and other employers also accept the NQT score. In the most recent engineering pattern TCS published (for its 2025 drive), the test has a Foundation section (numerical, verbal and reasoning ability) and an Advanced section (advanced quant and reasoning plus coding), and your score decides which interview track you are called for. Below you will find the official pattern, what it means for your preparation and nine solved questions at NQT level.

What the TCS NQT is and who takes it

There are two faces of the NQT, and many freshers mix them up.

TCS iON NQT is the open, paid version run by TCS iON. The current NQT page describes it as an ability test that gives each candidate an "NQT Score". It is open to pre-final and final-year students of any stream, to graduates from the 2022 to 2028 passing years, and to working professionals with up to two years of experience. The score is valid for two years, you can retake the test, and your highest score counts. Other employers also accept the score, but you apply to each on its own portal.

TCS fresher hiring through NQT is the drive TCS runs for its own campus and off-campus engineering hiring. Here you register on the TCS NextStep portal, choose an in-centre test slot and take the integrated test. For the 2025 engineering drive, TCS stated plainly that the NQT "follows an Integrated Test Pattern for Prime, Digital and Ninja fresher hiring": one test, and based on performance you qualify for Prime, Digital or Ninja interviews.

At the time of writing, the engineering hiring page for the next batch was not live on tcs.com; only the BPS (science, arts and commerce graduates) drive and other programmes were listed. So treat the pattern below as the latest one TCS published, and confirm it against the notice for your own drive.

TCS NQT pattern: Foundation and Advanced sections

This is the pattern TCS published for its 2025 engineering drive:

Part Section Duration
Part A: Foundation Numerical Ability 25 minutes
Verbal Ability 25 minutes
Reasoning Ability 25 minutes
Part B: Advanced Advanced Quantitative and Reasoning Ability 25 minutes
Advanced Coding 90 minutes
Total 190 minutes

TCS did not publish the number of questions per section. Prep sites quote counts that disagree with each other, so plan around the section timers and your on-screen instructions.

A few rules from TCS iON matter on test day:

  • The test is in English only.
  • There is no negative marking.
  • There is no pass or fail cut-off for the iON NQT score itself, and a score does not guarantee a job. For TCS's own hiring, the company uses your performance to decide which interviews you are shortlisted for.
  • The iON NQT runs only in-centre at authorised TCS iON exam centres.

How Ninja, Digital and Prime fit in

The three tracks differ in role and pay, and the Advanced section is what separates them. TCS's wording for the 2025 drive: all candidates are encouraged to attempt both sections, but the Advanced section is mandatory if you want a Digital or Prime offer.

Track Advanced section Published CTC (2025 drive, UG / PG)
Ninja Not mandatory 3.36 LPA / 3.53 LPA
Digital Mandatory 7.0 LPA / 7.3 LPA
Prime Mandatory 9.0 LPA / 11.5 LPA

Those CTC figures come from TCS's own page for that drive. Offers for later batches may differ, so check the figures in the notice for your batch.

Eligibility in the last published drive

For 2025, TCS listed B.Tech/B.E., M.Tech/M.E., MCA and M.Sc/M.S. candidates from AICTE/UGC-recognised institutions; a minimum of 60% or 6 CGPA throughout academics; no pending backlogs at the time of the test; an overall academic gap of no more than 24 months; full-time courses only; and an age range of 18 to 28. Eligibility is checked at several stages, so fill your NextStep form exactly as your documents read.

What each section actually tests

Numerical Ability is classic placement maths: percentages, profit and loss, ratios, time and work, speed and distance, interest, number systems and some data interpretation.

Verbal Ability covers grammar, sentence completion, error spotting, reading comprehension and vocabulary in context.

Reasoning Ability includes number and letter series, coding-decoding, blood relations, directions, seating arrangements, syllogisms and statement-conclusion questions. Our logical reasoning practice questions cover most of these formats.

Advanced Quantitative and Reasoning uses the same topics at a higher level: permutations and combinations, probability, harder arrangements, and multi-step word problems.

Advanced Coding asks you to write working programs in the test editor, with clean input handling, arrays, strings and some algorithmic thinking.

TCS NQT practice questions

Work these under a timer: about one minute each for Foundation-style questions, two for Advanced ones.

Question 1

A shopkeeper marks a product 40% above its cost price and then gives a 15% discount on the marked price. What is his profit percentage?

  • A) 19%
  • B) 21%
  • C) 25%
  • D) 17%

Answer: A. Take cost as 100. Marked price = 140. After a 15% discount: 140 × 0.85 = 119. Profit = 19 on 100, so 19%.

Question 2

Pipe A fills a tank in 12 hours and pipe B fills it in 18 hours. Pipe C empties the full tank in 36 hours. If all three are opened together on an empty tank, how long will it take to fill?

  • A) 8 hours
  • B) 9 hours
  • C) 10 hours
  • D) 12 hours

Answer: B. Work in 36ths of the tank per hour: A = 3/36, B = 2/36, C = −1/36. Net = 4/36 = 1/9 of the tank per hour, so 9 hours.

Question 3

Find the next number: 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, ?

  • A) 125
  • B) 126
  • C) 127
  • D) 129

Answer: C. Each term is the previous term × 2 + 1. 63 × 2 + 1 = 127.

Question 4

Ravi walks 5 km north, turns right and walks 3 km, then turns right again and walks 9 km. How far is he from his starting point, and in which direction?

  • A) 5 km, south-east
  • B) 4 km, south
  • C) 5 km, north-east
  • D) 7 km, south-east

Answer: A. After the first two legs he is 5 km north and 3 km east. Turning right from east means facing south, so 9 km south leaves him 4 km south and 3 km east of the start. Distance = √(4² + 3²) = 5 km, towards the south-east.

Question 5

Choose the correct word: "Neither the manager nor the team members ___ aware of the change."

  • A) was
  • B) were
  • C) is
  • D) has been

Answer: B. With "neither… nor", the verb agrees with the nearer subject. "Team members" is plural, and "were" is the only plural verb among the options.

Question 6

Five friends P, Q, R, S and T sit in a row facing north. R sits exactly in the middle. P sits immediately to the left of R, and S sits immediately to the right of R. Q is not at the left end. Who sits at the right end?

  • A) R
  • B) S
  • C) Q
  • D) T

Answer: C. Seats 1 to 5 from left: R is 3, P is 2, S is 4. Q and T take seats 1 and 5. Q is not at the left end, so Q is in seat 5 and T in seat 1.

Question 7 (Advanced level)

How many three-digit numbers are divisible by 7?

  • A) 127
  • B) 128
  • C) 129
  • D) 130

Answer: B. The smallest is 105 (7 × 15) and the largest is 994 (7 × 142). Count = 142 − 15 + 1 = 128.

Question 8 (Advanced level)

Two fair dice are thrown. What is the probability that the sum is 8?

  • A) 1/6
  • B) 5/36
  • C) 7/36
  • D) 1/9

Answer: B. The favourable outcomes are (2,6), (3,5), (4,4), (5,3) and (6,2): 5 out of 36.

Question 9 (Advanced level, code tracing)

What does this pseudocode print?

x = 0
for i from 1 to 5:
    if i mod 2 == 0:
        x = x + i
    else:
        x = x - 1
print x
  • A) 3
  • B) 5
  • C) 6
  • D) 2

Answer: A. Trace it: i=1 → x = −1; i=2 → x = 1; i=3 → x = 0; i=4 → x = 4; i=5 → x = 3.

Strategy and time management

Treat each section timer as its own test. With fixed section timings, time you save in Verbal does not carry over to Numerical. Plan your pace per section: one fast pass through every question, marking the long ones, then a second pass.

Answer everything. With no negative marking, an unanswered question is a guaranteed zero. When you are down to the last minute, eliminate one or two options and pick.

Draw arrangement and direction questions on your rough sheet instead of solving them in your head.

Pick your coding language before test day and practise reading input from standard input. Write a simple, correct solution first and optimise only if time remains.

Know which track you are aiming for. If Ninja is your target, put most of your hours into the Foundation topics. If you want Digital or Prime, the Advanced section is compulsory, and coding practice should take at least half of your preparation time.

Common mistakes freshers make

  • Skipping the Advanced section to "save energy". You then can't be considered for Digital or Prime, even if your Foundation score is excellent.
  • Ignoring Verbal. Engineers often under-prepare grammar. A handful of error-spotting rules (agreement, articles, prepositions, tense consistency) covers a large share of questions; our verbal reasoning practice questions are a good drill.
  • Form errors. TCS checks eligibility at several stages. A mismatch between your NextStep form and your mark sheets can end your candidature after you have cleared the test.
  • Falling for fake offers. TCS says it does not send hiring communication from free email services such as Gmail or Yahoo, and does not ask candidates to deposit money for job offers.

A four-week preparation plan

Week 1: Diagnose. Take one full timed mock covering numerical, verbal and reasoning. List your three weakest topics. Revise formulas for percentages, ratios, time and work and speed-distance. The numerical reasoning practice questions are useful for building speed.

Week 2: Foundation drills. Do 30 to 40 questions a day split across the three Foundation sections, always timed. Review every wrong answer and write down the trick you missed.

Week 3: Advanced and coding. Move to probability, permutations and harder arrangements. Solve two coding problems a day on arrays, strings and basic recursion, in your test language and reading from standard input.

Week 4: Full mocks. Two or three full-length timed mocks that follow the 190-minute pattern, on a desktop, in one sitting. Practise the BPS pattern too if you are a non-engineering graduate: TCS lists that test as 65 minutes covering verbal ability, numerical ability and logical reasoning.

For timed practice across numerical, verbal and logical formats, the assessment training test package gives you full-length sets with explanations. If you are applying to more than one IT services company, our guides to the Infosys aptitude test and the Wipro Elite NTH cover how those tests differ.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there negative marking in the TCS NQT?

TCS iON states that the NQT has no negative marking. That means you should never leave a question blank: if you run short of time, make your best elimination and mark an answer before the section timer ends.

Do I need to attempt the Advanced section for TCS Ninja?

No. On the engineering hiring page for the 2025 drive, TCS said the Advanced section is mandatory only if you aspire to a Digital or Prime offer. It was not mandatory for Ninja, although TCS encouraged everyone to attempt both sections.

How long is my TCS NQT score valid?

TCS iON says an NQT score is valid for two years from the date the result is published. You can retake the test and your highest score is the one that counts, but check the current rules on the iON NQT page before you book.

Can I take the TCS NQT from home?

The current TCS iON NQT page says the test runs only in-centre at authorised TCS iON exam centres across India. TCS's own hiring drives also ask you to pick a test centre during registration on the NextStep portal.

What CGPA do I need for TCS NQT hiring?

For the 2025 engineering drive, TCS required a minimum of 60% or 6 CGPA throughout academics, no active backlogs and an academic gap of no more than 24 months. Criteria are confirmed per drive, so read the notice for your batch.

About the author

Ingmar van Maurik is a specialist in test and interview preparation who helps candidates perform better in recruitment processes.

References