CHENNAI: With the increased difficulty level of the main Science subjects, including Mathematics and Physics, in the Class 12 board exam, engineering cut-off marks for Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) 2026-2027 are expected to decrease. The Tamil Nadu Higher Secondary board exams for 2026, which commenced on March 2, will end on March 26, with results tentatively expected on May 8.
Once the results are declared, the Directorate of Technical Education (DOTE), which operates under the Higher Education Department, will announce the detailed notification for engineering admissions in June.
Accordingly, the admission process involving several key stages, from uploading of required certificates to the publication of the merit list, will begin, a senior official from the Higher Education Department said.
He explained that 50 per cent of the mathematics marks and 25 per cent each from Physics and Chemistry will be considered for the merit list, with the maximum marks for the merit list fixed at 200.
"Last academic year, a total of 144 students achieved a perfect 200 out of 200 centum cut-off in TNEA 2025, which is more than double the 65 students who achieved this feat in 2024," he noted. However, the academicians opined that the Mathematics and Physics exams this year were a bit tough.
"There is a possibility that the number of students securing 100 per cent in these subjects might be fewer compared to the previous year," B Annapoorani, who is running a coaching centre for Class 12 board exam students in the city, claimed.
Mathematics teachers pointed out that few one-mark questions demanded deep thinking, while more than five questions across the two, three, and five-mark sections were indirect, increasing the difficulty level. "Compulsory questions were somewhat manageable; however, centum scores may decline this year," M Deepa, a Mathematics teacher in a private school at Pammal, said.
S Prakash, a Class 12 student in the Science group in a government-aided school in Chennai, claimed that the Physics paper was also quite tough, with several questions being indirect. "After completing the answers, we didn't have enough time to go through them," he added. In addition, a government school teacher, seeking anonymity, noted that the English paper was also slightly difficult this year.