ST (Scheduled Tribe)
A constitutionally recognised category with 1% reservation in Tamil Nadu recruitment, plus fee exemption and age relaxations.
ST is the smallest communal quota on the roster, so notifications typically carry few ST vacancies per post. ST candidates pay no examination fee, face no upper age limit in Group 4, and get up to 37 years for degree-level exams. Group 1 prelims applies the lower SC/ST qualifying floor of 90 marks against 120 for other categories.
Related terms
SC (Scheduled Caste)
A constitutionally recognised category with 15% reservation in Tamil Nadu recruitment (excluding SCA), plus fee exemption and age relaxations.
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.
BC (Backward Class)
Tamil Nadu's largest reservation category, holding 26.5% of vacancies (excluding BCM). Claimed with a community certificate at verification.
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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