Tamil Nadu Engineering Counselling: 54,000 Seats Remain Vacant After Third Round

Around 54,000 engineering seats remain vacant in Tamil Nadu after the completion of the third round of engineering counselling. A supplementary counselling round is expected to begin in the first week of September to fill some of the remaining seats.

Tamil Nadu currently has 418 engineering colleges, including Anna University and its constituent colleges, government and government-aided engineering colleges, central government institutions and more than 200 private engineering colleges. Together, these institutions offer around 2.65 lakh engineering seats.

1.45 Lakh Seats Filled in Three Rounds

Of the total seats, 1,99,775 seats under the government quota are being filled through the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) counselling process this year.

The rank list for students who applied for government-quota engineering seats was released on July 1. Around 2.36 lakh students, including those eligible under the 7.5% reservation for government school students, were allowed to participate in the counselling process.

The first round of general counselling was held from July 20 to 30, followed by the second round from August 3 to 13. The third round began on August 17.

In the third round, 56,294 students were allotted seats. Students who received allotments must join their respective colleges by August 27, while final allotment orders for those who confirmed their choices are scheduled to be issued on August 31.

Overall, 1,45,224 seats have been filled through the first three rounds, leaving around 54,000 seats vacant based on the available data.

Supplementary Counselling in September

Every year, around 50,000 engineering seats reportedly remain vacant in Tamil Nadu. Education experts attribute this partly to factors such as inadequate faculty and infrastructure facilities in some colleges.

Students who did not apply for engineering admissions after appearing for the Class 12 board examinations, as well as students who cleared supplementary examinations, can apply for the supplementary counselling.

Applications for the supplementary counselling have been open since August 17 through the TNEA website, with August 31 as the last date to apply.

So far, around 10,021 students have applied. The TNEA committee expects the supplementary counselling process to fill around 10,000 additional engineering seats.

The supplementary counselling is scheduled to begin in the first week of September, providing another opportunity for eligible students to secure engineering seats in Tamil Nadu.