The TCS National Qualifier Test (TCS NQT) is the common entry exam conducted by Tata Consultancy Services — India's largest IT services company — to hire fresh graduates across the country. One test decides your eligibility for all three fresher career tracks at TCS: Ninja, Digital and Prime. Your score determines which tier of interview you are invited to, and therefore your starting salary.
Key facts
| Conducted by | TCS iON (Tata Consultancy Services) |
| Who can take it | Final-year students and recent graduates — B.E/B.Tech, M.E/M.Tech, MCA, M.Sc (all specializations) |
| Mode | In-centre (TCS iON test centres across India) |
| Duration | 190 minutes (Foundation 75 min + Advanced 115 min) |
| Negative marking | None |
| Hiring tracks | Ninja (~₹3.4 LPA), Digital (~₹7 LPA), Prime (~₹9–11.5 LPA) |
How the exam is structured
The test has two parts. The Foundation section (Numerical Ability, Verbal Ability and Reasoning Ability) is attempted by everyone and qualifies you for the Ninja profile. The Advanced section (Advanced Quantitative & Reasoning plus Advanced Coding) is what separates Digital and Prime aspirants — a strong performance here can nearly triple your starting package.
Why TCS NQT matters
TCS hires tens of thousands of freshers every year through NQT, making it one of the highest-volume campus and off-campus hiring exams in India. It is open to multiple graduation batches, can be attempted off-campus without a college tie-up, and the same preparation directly helps in other service-company exams (Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant) that follow a similar pattern.