TNEA 2025 Eligibility Criteria – Age, Qualification, Attempts & Reservation

Required Degree: Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) or equivalent examination. Minimum Aggregate Marks: General Category: Minimum 45% aggregate marks in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry put together. Backward Class (BC) including Backward Class Muslim, Most Backward Class & Denotified Communities (MBC & DNC), Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Caste Arunthathiyars (SCA), Scheduled Tribes (ST): Minimum 40% aggregate marks in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry put together. Marine Engineering: Minimum 60% aggregate in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics (PCM) and 50% in English in either Class 10 or Class 12. Final-Year Student Provisions: NA. Subject-Specific Requirements: Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics are essential subjects. English is compulsory for Marine Engineering.

Strict Upper Age Limit: Generally, no strict upper age limit. For Marine Engineering, the maximum age is 25 years. Minimum Age Criteria: 18 years of age. Maximum Age Criteria: 25 years for Marine Engineering. Cutoff Date for Age Calculation: NA. Relaxation Details for SC/ST, OBC-NCL, and PwD Categories: No specific age relaxation years mentioned; relaxations are primarily in qualifying marks and seat reservations.

Types of Relaxations: Reduced qualifying marks for reserved categories (General: 45%; Reserved: 40%). Seat Reservations: Open Competition (OC): 31.00%, Backward Class (BC): 26.50%, Backward Class Muslim (BCM): 3.50%, Most Backward Class & Denotified Communities (MBC & DNC): 20.00%, Scheduled Caste (SC): 15.00%, Scheduled Caste Arunthathiyars (SCA): 3.00%, Scheduled Tribes (ST): 1.00%. Special Reservation Categories: Differently Abled Persons (5% of available seats), Sons/Daughters of Ex-Servicemen (150 seats), Eminent Sports Persons (500 seats), Sons/Daughters of Freedom Fighters (10 seats). Additionally, 7.5% preferential seats are reserved for Government School students who studied from 6th to 12th standard in state Government Schools, applicable across all categories (OC, BC, MBC, SC, ST). Requirement of Valid Documents: Valid and up-to-date permanent community certificates (permanent card/electronic form/digitally signed e-certificate) from competent authorities. For Persons with Disabilities (PwD), a valid Disability Certificate from a competent Medical Board is required. Relevant certificates are needed for Ex-servicemen and sports quota. Protocol for Availing Relaxations: Verification of certificates is an integral part of the online counselling process.

Eligibility for Indian Citizens, OCI/PIO Holders: Indian citizens are eligible. Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cardholders who are native to Tamil Nadu are permitted to participate under the Open Category, with an exception for those born in a foreign country after March 4, 2021. Domicile Requirements for State-Level Exams: Tamil Nadu candidates who passed Class 8 to Class 12 from schools in Tamil Nadu are eligible and do not need a Nativity Certificate. Tamil Nadu native candidates who passed any of Class 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 or equivalent from schools outside Tamil Nadu can apply but must produce a Nativity Certificate (electronic form/digitally signed e-certificate). Children of Central Government employees serving in Tamil Nadu continuously for the past five years are eligible, irrespective of their nativity, and need to provide their parents' employment certificates. Children of All India Service Tamil Nadu cadre officers are eligible with a self-declaration from the parent. Children of employees in Public Sector or Government recognized institutions working in Tamil Nadu continuously for the past five years are also eligible, irrespective of their domicile, and need to provide relevant evidence. Other state candidates who have studied from Class 8 to Class 12 in Tamil Nadu are eligible and do not need a Nativity Certificate. Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees residing in Tamil Nadu can apply under open competition with an identification certificate from the Head Quarters Tahsildar (or original passport, visa, and police registration letter if not registered in a refugee camp). Guidelines for NRI and Foreign Candidates: Anna University offers 5% supernumerary seats for the NRI category in its University Departments for BE/B.Tech/B.Plan. For this, the father, mother, or legal guardian of the candidate must possess NRI status, supported by a recent certificate from the Indian Embassy or a Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC) for seafarers. This is a separate admission channel, distinct from the common TNEA counselling for all colleges.

Attempt Limit: No specific attempt limit mentioned for TNEA. Maximum Allowed Attempts: NA. Category-Based Relaxations: NA