The Directorate of Technical Education released the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions on Wednesday (TNEA) 2026 ranking list, with 2,36,017 students appearing in the list before this year’s counseling process. Higher Education Minister P. Viswanathan released the rank list. This year, 53 candidates secured the maximum cut-off score of 200 out of 200, underlining the intense competition for engineering positions. Aksitha S from Sri Ram Higher Secondary School, Boomisamuthiram, Dharmapuri, secured General Academic Rank 1 with a perfect cut-off of 200.00. The counseling for special category candidates will be held on July 13 and 14, while the online general counseling is scheduled between July 20 and July 30. The top ranks in the academic stream were shared by students from Dharmapuri, Tiruppur, Namakkal, Ariyalur and Kanyakumari. All the top five candidates secured the maximum cut-off of 200.00.
Academic Stream (General): Top 5
| Classification | Candidate | school | District | Cut down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aksitha S | Sri Ram Higher Secondary School, Boomisamuthiram | Dharmapuri | 200.00 |
| 2 | Rohith Balan A | Srinivasa Vidhyalaya Matric Higher Secondary School | Tiruppur | 200.00 |
| 3 | Venkatakrishnan A | Kurinji Higher Secondary School, Kavettipatti | Namakkal | 200.00 |
| 4 | Rikshitha T | Gokilambal Matriculation Higher Secondary School | Ariyalur | 200.00 |
| 5 | Ratan S Joe | Corpus Christi School, Peruvilai | Kanyakumari | 200.00 |
Government school students under 7.5% quota.
The separate merit list for students applying under the 7.5 percent government school reservation was topped by Devadharshini P from Model School, Veerapandi, Salem, who secured 199.00 marks. The top five candidates came from government model schools in Salem, Tiruchirappalli, Tiruvannamalai and Erode.
| Classification | Candidate | school | District | Cut down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Devadharshini P | Model School, Veerapandi | Salem | 199.00 |
| 2 | Pugalesh K | DN Government Higher Secondary School, Perumalpalayam | Tiruchirappalli | 198.50 |
| 3 | Janarthanam R | Tiruvannamalai District Government Model School, Anakkavur | Tiruvannamalai | 198.50 |
| 4 | Kevin K | Government Model Higher Secondary School, Sathyamangalam | crazy | 198.50 |
| 5 | Gokula Krishnan M | Salem District Government Model School | Salem | 198.00 |
The professional stream also records near-perfect scores
In the professional stream, Mithun Varshan B from Vivekananda Higher Secondary School, Paundamangalam in Namakkal, secured the top rank with a perfect cut-off of 200.00. Students from Coimbatore and Namakkal occupied most of the top positions.
| Classification | Candidate | school | District | Cut down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mithun Varshan B | Vivekananda Higher Secondary School, Paundamangalam | Namakkal | 200.00 |
| 2 | Shivani Sri GK | High School SVGV Matric | Coimbatore | 199.50 |
| 3 | Prithikha RB | High School SVGV Matric | Coimbatore | 199.50 |
| 4 | Raksha ARK | High School SVGV Matric | Coimbatore | 199.50 |
| 5 | Priyadharshini M | Vivekananda Higher Secondary School, Paundamangalam | Namakkal | 199.00 |
Professional government school category
The vocational stream under the government school reservation of 7.5 per cent was topped by Madhan Kumar S of Government Higher Secondary School, Onnupuram, Tiruvannamalai, with 199.00 marks. Notably, all the top five candidates in this category studied in the same government school in Onnupuram.
| Classification | Candidate | school | District | Cut down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madhan Kumar S | Government Higher Secondary School, Onnupuram | Tiruvannamalai | 199.00 |
| 2 | Mahasree M | Government Higher Secondary School, Onnupuram | Tiruvannamalai | 195.00 |
| 3 | Lishanth M | Government Higher Secondary School, Onnupuram | Tiruvannamalai | 195.00 |
| 4 | Kaviya V | Government Higher Secondary School, Onnupuram | Tiruvannamalai | 194.00 |
| 5 | Divya S | Government Higher Secondary School, Onnupuram | Tiruvannamalai | 194.00 |
Recommended to start in July
With the rank list now out, the admission process moves on to the board. Candidates belonging to special categories will participate in counseling on July 13 and 14, followed by online counseling for other candidates from July 20 to July 30. The release of the rank list marks the beginning of the seat allotment process for engineering admissions across Tamil Nadu, with thousands of students now awaiting their counseling rounds and college allotment.
