TCS NQT 2026: Question Paper Pattern and Worked Solutions

Your TCS NQT percentile decides the track: Ninja, Digital, or Prime. The section pattern and worked solutions below cover what TCS NQT has consistently tested across recent sittings.

TCS does not publish official question papers after each drive. What exists is a well-documented pattern from thousands of student reports: the Cognitive Skills section is the gate, question types repeat reliably, and the gap between a Ninja and a Digital or Prime offer often comes down to a handful of Numerical Ability problems. The worked examples here match those repeat patterns, with every solution derived from first principles.

TCS NQT 2026: Section-Wise Pattern

The National Qualifier Test runs in two broad parts. Most students complete the Cognitive Skills part; the Advanced section is offered to shortlisted candidates or as part of specific hiring drives.

Section	Questions	Time Allowed	Negative Marking
Verbal Ability	24	30 minutes	None
Reasoning Ability	30	50 minutes	None
Numerical Ability	26	40 minutes	None
Advanced Programming Logic	Varies by drive	Varies	Check notification
Coding	1 to 2	Varies	Check notification

No negative marking on the Cognitive Skills sections means the strategy is clear: attempt every question. Skipping questions in Numerical or Reasoning is a certain way to leave percentile points on the table.

Verbal Ability tests cloze passages, sentence completion, para-jumbles, and direct-indirect speech. It is the lightest scoring section in terms of difficulty but contributes to your overall Cognitive Skills score. Reasoning and Numerical carry more weight in practice because the variance between candidates is higher there.

For the full Ninja track structure, interview rounds, and what happens after the NQT score, see TCS Ninja Test Pattern 2026.

Numerical Ability: Worked Solutions

Numerical Ability questions in TCS NQT cluster around six topic families. The solutions below follow the format student reports consistently describe: one or two computation steps, no shortcuts that require memorising obscure formulas.

Time and Work

• Question: A can finish a task in 12 days; B can finish the same task in 18 days. Working together, how many days do they take?
• Step 1: A’s per-day rate = 1/12. B’s per-day rate = 1/18.
• Step 2: Combined rate = 1/12 + 1/18 = 3/36 + 2/36 = 5/36 per day.
• Step 3: Days together = 36/5 = 7.2 days.
• Answer: 7.2 days.

Percentages

• Question: A student scored 360 marks out of 500. What percentage did the student score?
• Step 1: (360 / 500) x 100 = 72.
• Answer: 72%.

Profit and Loss

• Question: A shopkeeper bought an item for Rs 800 and sold it for Rs 1,000. What is the profit percentage?
• Step 1: Profit = 1,000 - 800 = 200.
• Step 2: Profit % = (200 / 800) x 100 = 25.
• Answer: 25%.

Time, Speed, and Distance

• Question: A car travels 120 km at 40 km/h and returns 120 km at 60 km/h. What is the average speed for the full journey?
• Step 1: Time going = 120 / 40 = 3 hours. Time returning = 120 / 60 = 2 hours.
• Step 2: Total distance = 240 km. Total time = 5 hours.
• Step 3: Average speed = 240 / 5 = 48 km/h.
• Answer: 48 km/h. Note: the arithmetic mean of 40 and 60 gives 50. That is incorrect here. For equal distances at different speeds, use total distance divided by total time.

Probability

• Question: A bag contains 4 red, 3 blue, and 2 green balls. One ball is drawn at random. What is the probability it is not red?
• Step 1: Total balls = 9. Non-red balls = 3 + 2 = 5.
• Step 2: Probability = 5/9.
• Answer: 5/9.

Permutations and Combinations

• Question: How many 3-digit numbers can be formed using the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 with no digit repeated?
• Step 1: Choices for the first digit = 5. Second digit = 4. Third digit = 3.
• Step 2: Total arrangements = 5 x 4 x 3 = 60.
• Answer: 60.

For section-by-section breakdowns and more Cognitive Skills practice questions with detailed solutions, see TCS NQT Cognitive Skills: Questions and Solutions 2026.

Reasoning Ability: Worked Solutions

Reasoning Ability in TCS NQT tests logical consistency more than computation speed. The three patterns below account for the bulk of what student reports describe across recent sittings.

Number Series

• Question: Find the next term in the series: 3, 7, 13, 21, 31, ?
• Step 1: Differences between consecutive terms: 4, 6, 8, 10. Each difference increases by 2.
• Step 2: Next difference = 12. Next term = 31 + 12 = 43.
• Answer: 43.

Coding and Decoding

• Question: In a code where each letter shifts one position forward in the alphabet, PLACE is coded as QMBDF. Using the same code, what is the code for GRADE?
• Step 1: Apply the same +1 shift to each letter of GRADE: G becomes H, R becomes S, A becomes B, D becomes E, E becomes F.
• Answer: HSBEF.

Blood Relations

• Question: Pointing to a person, Arjun says, “She is the daughter of my father’s only son.” How is the person related to Arjun?
• Step 1: Father’s only son means Arjun himself.
• Step 2: She is the daughter of Arjun.
• Answer: Arjun’s daughter.

For a broader set of TCS aptitude questions drawn from recent online tests, see TCS aptitude questions from recent online tests.

Programming Logic: Worked Solutions

The Programming Logic section tests your ability to trace pseudocode and small algorithms, not write them. Reading a block of code and predicting output is the core skill.

Pseudocode Output

• Question: What does the following pseudocode print?

x = 5
y = 2
z = x * y + x % y
print(z)

• Step 1: x * y = 5 x 2 = 10.
• Step 2: x % y = 5 mod 2 = 1 (remainder when 5 is divided by 2).
• Step 3: z = 10 + 1 = 11.
• Answer: 11.

Algorithm Tracing (Loop)

• Question: What does the following algorithm output when n = 4?

result = 1
i = 1
while i <= n:
    result = result * i
    i = i + 1
print(result)

• Step 1: The loop multiplies result by each integer from 1 to 4 in sequence: 1, then 2, then 3, then 4.
• Step 2: Running product: 1, 2, 6, 24.
• Step 3: After the loop ends (i becomes 5, condition fails), print(result) outputs 24.
• Answer: 24. This computes 4 factorial (4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 24).

The Programming Logic section in older drives carried negative marking for advanced questions. Check the notification for your drive before assuming the no-negative-marking rule extends here.

NQT Score and Track Eligibility

The same NQT test serves all three hiring tracks. Your percentile determines where you land:

Track	CTC Band	What TCS Evaluates Beyond the NQT
Ninja	Rs 3.5 to 3.9 LPA	NQT percentile + basic technical interview + HR round
Digital	Rs 7.0 to 7.5 LPA	Higher NQT percentile + advanced technical interview
Prime	Rs 9.0 to 11.0 LPA	Top NQT percentile + AI or data project review + extended interview

TCS does not publish cutoff percentiles, but the track your score qualifies you for is determined before shortlists go to campuses. The Prime tier is where AI matters most. According to TCS CHRO Sudeep Kunnumal at the AI Impact Summit in March 2026, 60% of TCS’s FY26 fresher hires are AI-skilled, up from 10 to 15% three years ago. The Prime track extended interview now routinely includes a project review where candidates discuss an AI or data-related build.

Scoring well on Numerical Ability and Reasoning is the prerequisite. What you’ve built on top of that determines Prime eligibility.

Building Beyond the NQT

The six Numerical Ability patterns above cover the repeating core: Time and Work, Percentages, Profit and Loss, TSD, Probability, and Permutations. Clearing them at a good percentile gets you into the Ninja pool. Clearing them at a high percentile opens Digital and Prime.

Prime is the track where a project review appears. If the Prime track is your target and you have not built anything AI-related, the 2026 AI roadmap for Indian engineering students is the structured starting point for building that project-level readiness. TinkerLLM at Rs 299 is the hands-on entry if you want something deployable to point to before the extended interview.