SC (Scheduled Caste)
A constitutionally recognised category with 15% reservation in Tamil Nadu recruitment (excluding SCA), plus fee exemption and age relaxations.
SC candidates pay no examination fee, face no upper age limit in Group 4, and get up to 37 years against 32 for OC in degree-level exams. Group 1 prelims also sets a lower qualifying floor for SC/ST: 90 marks against 120 for others. Every benefit flows from the permanent community certificate, so keep it matching your OTR profile exactly.
Related terms
SCA (Scheduled Caste Arunthathiyar)
A 3% reservation within the SC quota for the Arunthathiyar community in Tamil Nadu, applied on a preferential basis.
Fee Exemption
Full waiver of the examination fee for SC, SCA, ST, PwBD and destitute widow candidates. Others pay the exam fee per application after OTR.
PSTM (Persons Studied in Tamil Medium)
A 20% preferential reservation within each category for candidates who studied their qualifying education in Tamil medium.
Communal Rotation
The 200-point roster Tamil Nadu uses to distribute vacancies across categories (GT, BC, BCM, MBC/DNC, SC, SCA, ST) in a fixed repeating order.
Reservation Roster
The running register that tracks which roster point each appointment consumed, ensuring reservation percentages hold across recruitment cycles.
GT (General Turn)
Vacancies open to all candidates purely on merit, regardless of community. Reserved-category candidates who make the general merit are counted against GT, not their quota.
This definition follows official TNPSC notifications and Tamil Nadu government orders. Sources: TNPSC official notifications. Figures are indicative and may change with each official notification. Data last reviewed: July 2026.
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