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TCS interview questions, from the NQT to the HR round.

Updated · Sources at the end

Tata Consultancy Services hires most of its engineers as freshers, and almost all of them start with the same test, the National Qualifier Test (NQT). The test has a Foundation part on numbers, English and reasoning, and an Advanced part with harder reasoning and two coding problems. How you do in the Advanced part decides which offer you are interviewed for: Ninja, Digital or Prime. The interview that follows is one sitting with a technical, a managerial and an HR interviewer, often in person at a TCS office.

The tier matters a lot for pay. TCS's 2026 hiring page puts a Ninja graduate at a minimum of ₹3.4 lakh a year, Digital at ₹7.09 to 7.30 lakh and Prime at ₹9.09 to 9.30 lakh, with more for postgraduates. TCS hired 44,000 freshers in the year to March 2026 and had made 25,000 offers for the following year by April, its CEO said.

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Interviewing at TCS? Below are the questions candidates report. For the ones your exact role and level will get, paste the posting. Your first mock is free.

01

Who TCS hires

TCS's All India NQT hiring takes B.E., B.Tech, M.E., M.Tech, MCA, M.Sc and M.S graduates of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 batches, in any branch, with up to two years of work experience. You need 60% or the CGPA equivalent in 10th, 12th, diploma if any, and every degree, no pending backlog when you sit the test, and no more than 24 months of gaps in your education, which you must declare. TCS had 584,519 employees in April 2026.

Not sure your resume shows the level TCS hires at? Check it with a free resume review.

Everyone takes the same NQT. Your score decides which of three offers you are interviewed for, and the interview gets harder as the tier goes up.

  • Track · Ninja

    Ninja

    The entry offer. TCS's iON page says Advanced section performance decides between Ninja and Digital interviews, and TCS's hiring page says Ninja offers can also come from performance during the process. Candidates describe a shorter technical round on one language, OOP, SQL and your project.

  • Track · Digital

    Digital

    For a strong Advanced score, especially in coding. Candidates report more coding in the interview (a string or array problem on paper), plus Java or Python internals such as multithreading, HashMap and exceptions, and questions on any internship or ML project.

  • Track · Prime

    Prime

    The top tier, for the best Advanced scores. Candidates report a deeper technical round with a dynamic programming problem, cloud services and your backend code, and a managerial round on SDLC, Agile and leading a team. A Prime interview can end in a Digital or Ninja offer instead; one 2024 candidate interviewed for Prime and was offered Ninja.

02

What is the TCS interview process?

TCS publishes the eligibility and the test's sections. The detail of the interviews comes from candidate reports from 2024 to 2026, marked as reported. Drives run on campus and off campus; dated reports show tests in October and November with interviews in December and January, and a spring off-campus drive (registration from 18 February 2026, tests from 10 March) with interviews from April. The complaints candidates post are about what happens after: weeks of silence before results, and joining dates moved after the offer.

01
Registration
TCS NextStep portal, category IT, then Apply For Drive

Fill in every mark and declare any education gap; TCS checks them against the 60% rule and your documents later. A separate paid TCS iON NQT also exists, and its score can be used for TCS and other companies (see below).

02
NQT Foundation
65 questions in 75 minutes, in a TCS iON centre

Numerical, verbal and reasoning ability, each on its own timer of about 25 minutes, as candidates report it. Prep sites and candidates describe it as the first filter.

03
NQT Advanced
About 14 reasoning questions in 25 minutes, then 2 coding problems in 90 minutes

Advanced quantitative and reasoning, then hands-on coding in a language such as Java, C++ or Python. This part decides your tier.

04
Results
Usually one to four weeks after the test, reported

One December 2024 campus drive shortlisted 217 of about 800 test takers for interviews, a candidate reports.

05
Interview
One sitting, a panel of two or three, often in person, about 30 minutes to an hour

Reported as a technical, a managerial and an HR interviewer, sometimes taking turns and sometimes in one combined round. Technical goes first and is the longest.

06
Offer and joining
Offer letter, document checks, then a joining date

Reported as one to four weeks from interview to offer in recent drives. Candidates with 2025 offers report joining dates being postponed, sometimes without a new date.

03

TCS NQT: sections, coding questions and how to pass

TCS iON's pattern and reported problems

TCS iON publishes the NQT's shape: Part A, Foundation, is 65 questions in 75 minutes on numerical, verbal and reasoning ability; Part B, Advanced, is 16 questions in 115 minutes on advanced quantitative and reasoning ability and coding. The paid TCS iON version adds a 30-minute psychometric test on personality and motivation. You sit it only in a TCS iON centre, with human proctoring. Candidates report each section on its own timer and coding in languages such as Java, C++ and Python. TCS doesn't publish cut-offs, and the questions rotate, so use the patterns below.

  • Numerical ability (reported: 20 questions in 25 minutes): Number systems, arithmetic, basic statistics and data interpretation, per TCS iON. Drill percentages, ratios, time and work, and reading a table fast. Skip any question that takes more than two minutes and come back to it.
  • Verbal ability (reported: about 25 questions in 25 minutes): Grammar, usage and reading comprehension, per TCS iON. Read the question before the passage so you know what to look for.
  • Reasoning ability (reported: 20 questions in 25 minutes): Number and word patterns, figures, decision-making and visual-spatial reasoning, per TCS iON. Practise series and arrangement puzzles against a clock.
  • Advanced quantitative and reasoning (reported: about 14 questions in 25 minutes): Harder versions of the same topics. Candidates say coding matters more than this section for the tier, so bank the easy ones and move on.
  • Coding problem 1 (reported as easy): Reported problems include the LCM of two numbers and simple if-else logic. Read the input format twice: one 2026 candidate lost marks on input validation. Make it pass every case before you touch problem 2.
  • Coding problem 2 (reported as medium): Reported problems include the maximum sum of a subarray of size k (sliding window), counting the frequency of elements as in an election count, and sorting with conditions. Each problem is reported to run against about seven hidden test cases, and partial passes are reported, so submit a correct simple version first, then improve it.

Two NQTs. TCS's own hiring drive is registered through NextStep and leads straight to TCS interviews. The TCS iON NQT is a paid test (₹999 for the IT version in October 2026) held every two to four weeks; its score is valid for two years and is used by TCS and other companies, and TCS iON says Part B performance decides eligibility for Ninja or Digital offer interviews. Calibrd can't rehearse the timed test; it can prepare you for the interview that follows.

The rest of the loop depends on your role. Pick it, or paste the posting, and Calibrd predicts the rounds and questions you are likely to get at TCS.

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04

What TCS screens for

Candidate reports point to the same things at every step.

  • Speed and accuracy in the Foundation sections, where each part runs on its own clock
  • Coding that passes hidden test cases, since the Advanced score sets the tier you are interviewed for
  • Fundamentals in one language you can defend: OOP, memory, exceptions and collections
  • A project or internship you can explain line by line
  • A clear yes or no on relocation, night shifts and service agreements, which the HR interviewer asks about
05

TCS interview questions

Candidate-reported themes

These are the questions and themes candidates report from TCS NQT interviews from 2024 to 2026, for Ninja, Digital and Prime. The wording is ours; the practice questions under each theme are written in the style candidates describe, and TCS's own questions change between panels.

Behavioural & motivation

  • Why TCS?Listening for: Specificity · Connection · Research
  • Tell me about yourself.Listening for: Frame · Evidence · Length
  • Walk me through your final-year project or internship. What did you build yourself, and what stack did you use?Listening for: What it does · Their own part · One decision
  • Your whole team is more experienced than you. How would you get your work done and still be heard?Listening for: Learns fast · Speaks up well · A real example
  • A teammate isn't doing their share and the deadline is close. What do you do?Listening for: Talks first · Protects the deadline · Escalates fairly
  • Are you open to relocating anywhere in India, and to night or rotational shifts?Listening for: A clear answer · A reason · Honest
  • What is your greatest weakness?Listening for: Realness · Action · Proportion
  • Where do you see yourself in five years?Listening for: Direction · Fit · Credibility

Technical

  • Practice: compress a string by replacing each run of a repeated character with the character and its count, so aaabcc becomes a3b1c2. Write it and walk through it.Coding on paper or in the room: Reported: the maximum element of an array (Digital, 2026), string compression (Digital, 2024), element frequency and pattern printing (Prime, 2025). A practice questionListening for: One pass · Edge cases · Explains it
  • Practice: what is the difference between HashMap and Hashtable, and what is a deadlock? Give an example of each from code you could write.Java and OOP internals: Reported for Digital in 2026: multithreading, deadlock, HashMap versus Hashtable, stack memory and exception handling. A practice questionListening for: The two maps · Deadlock · Concrete code
  • Practice: houses in a row hold given amounts of money and you can't take from two neighbours. What is the most you can take? Explain your approach before you code.Dynamic programming: Reported: House Robber in a Prime technical round (January 2026). A practice question in that styleListening for: The recurrence · Optimises · Edge cases
  • Practice: given an Employees table with department and salary, find the second highest salary in each department, and explain your query.SQL and databases: Reported across tiers as SQL queries and DBMS basics. A practice questionListening for: Correct query · Ties · Explains it
  • Practice: explain IaaS, PaaS and SaaS with one example each, then say when you would choose Agile over Waterfall for a client project.Cloud and SDLC: Reported in Prime and Digital managerial rounds: IaaS, PaaS and SaaS, private and hybrid cloud, AWS services, SDLC and Agile versus Waterfall. A practice questionListening for: Cloud models · Agile vs Waterfall · The client view

These are the reported themes, and your loop is role-specific. Paste the actual posting and Calibrd predicts the questions for that exact role and level. How the questions are predicted →

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06

Pay

Ninja, graduate (postgraduate)₹3.4 LPA (₹3.6 LPA) minimum
Digital, 0 to 1 year, graduate (postgraduate)₹7.09–7.30 LPA (₹7.39–7.60 LPA)
Prime, 0 to 1 year, graduate (postgraduate)₹9.09–9.30 LPA (₹11.59–11.80 LPA)

Annual CTC from TCS's All India NQT hiring page for 2026, read through search snippets on 16 October 2026 because the page blocks automated reading. Candidates with one to two years' experience get slightly more (Digital ₹7.50–7.72 LPA, Prime ₹9.45–9.66 LPA for graduates). TCS says pay also varies by location. A 2024 candidate reports a Ninja offer of ₹3.33 LPA.

07

How to prepare for a TCS interview

  1. Check the eligibility before you register: 60% in every exam since 10th, no pending backlog, and every education gap declared.
  2. Know which NQT you are taking: TCS's own hiring drive or the paid TCS iON test, whose score lasts two years.
  3. Practise the Foundation sections on separate 25-minute timers, since each one closes on its own.
  4. Solve two coding problems in 90 minutes, easy first, until both pass every case you can think of. Your coding result sets your tier.
  5. Pick one language and revise its OOP, collections, exceptions and threads, plus SQL joins and ranking.
  6. Rehearse a two-minute walkthrough of your project or internship, and be ready to write a small piece of it on paper.
  7. For Prime, add dynamic programming, cloud service models and SDLC to your revision.
  8. Decide your answer on relocation and shifts before the HR round, and keep applying elsewhere until you have a joining date.

This guide covers TCS's fresher hiring in India through the NQT. Experienced hires apply to individual openings on TCS's careers site and follow a different process. For management and leadership roles the loop is similar but the bar shifts to people, delivery and strategy, so pair it with the leadership interview prep hub. The bar for your exact role comes from the role-by-role guides, and the prep that actually transfers is spoken, so run a mock interview before the real one.

Also interviewing at Infosys or Zoho? Their guides follow the same format, from the first screen to the offer.

Knowing the questions isn’t the same as answering them out loud. Run a TCS mock: spoken answers, coached on the spot. Your first mock is free.

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08

FAQ & sources

What is TCS' interview process?

TCS publishes the eligibility and the test's sections. The stages, in order: Registration; NQT Foundation; NQT Advanced; Results; Interview; Offer and joining.

What does TCS look for in candidates?

Candidate reports point to the same things at every step. Speed and accuracy in the Foundation sections, where each part runs on its own clock; Coding that passes hidden test cases, since the Advanced score sets the tier you are interviewed for; Fundamentals in one language you can defend; A project or internship you can explain line by line.

What questions does TCS ask in interviews?

These are the questions and themes candidates report from TCS NQT interviews from 2024 to 2026, for Ninja, Digital and Prime. Technical themes: Coding on paper or in the room; Java and OOP internals; Dynamic programming; SQL and databases; Cloud and SDLC.

What is on the TCS NQT?

TCS iON publishes the NQT's shape: Part A, Foundation, is 65 questions in 75 minutes on numerical, verbal and reasoning ability; Part B, Advanced, is 16 questions in 115 minutes on advanced quantitative and reasoning ability and coding. The paid TCS iON version adds a 30-minute psychometric test on personality and motivation. Covered on this page: Numerical ability (reported: 20 questions in 25 minutes); Verbal ability (reported: about 25 questions in 25 minutes); Reasoning ability (reported: 20 questions in 25 minutes); Advanced quantitative and reasoning (reported: about 14 questions in 25 minutes); Coding problem 1 (reported as easy); Coding problem 2 (reported as medium).

How do I prepare for a TCS interview?

Check the eligibility before you register: 60% in every exam since 10th, no pending backlog, and every education gap declared. Know which NQT you are taking: TCS's own hiring drive or the paid TCS iON test, whose score lasts two years.

Interview processes change. This reflects widely-reported and sourced conditions as of 2026 — confirm specifics with your recruiter, and treat it as a map rather than a guarantee.

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TCS Interview Questions: NQT, Ninja vs Digital — Calibrd