KVS TGT Selection Process: Merit Formula, Interview and Shortlisting

ProSyllabus is an independent study site. We are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti or CBSE. Every rule below is quoted or summarised from their published documents, and the documents control if anything here differs.

The five steps from application to appointment

The notification describes a single path for TGT, and it is the same path for PGT, Principal, Vice-Principal, Assistant Commissioner, PRT and several other teaching and officer posts. Lower non-teaching posts end in a skill test or in Tier-2 alone. The steps run in this order.

The merit formula and what it means

The grid is the same formula for sample marks, so it works with no script. The cell for Tier-2 marks of 70 and an interview of 80 reads 71.50: 0.85 x 70 is 59.50 and 0.15 x 80 is 12.00. None of the marks in the grid is a prediction. CBSE has not published Tier-2 marks for TGT, so there is no official figure to say what merit is likely to be enough.

Shortlisting by category: how the 1:10 and 1:3 work

Both ratios are measured against the notified vacancies, and the notification applies them "under each category". Candidates who tie on marks with the last candidate in the range are also shortlisted. For Tier 1 the shortlist is ten candidates per notified post. For the interview it is three per notified post. The notification gives no separate ratio for TGT, so the same ratios apply to every post it lists in section 11. It provides for ties at the last shortlisted position to be included in the shortlist, but we found no rule for breaking ties in the final merit ranking.

Our arithmetic for what that implies at the interview: with the revised KVS posts plus the NVS posts for the same subject, the interview round for English would be about 1,920 candidates (3 x 640), for Mathematics 2,190, for Sanskrit 1,674 and for Hindi 891. The table gives all ten. These are estimates from the notified posts and the stated ratio, before ties, and they depend on the KVS-NVS pooling we infer from CBSE's combined post rows. CBSE has not published the interview shortlist counts.

If you prepare against a subject's interview slots, remember the category structure: the 1:3 is applied within each category, so the number of general candidates interviewed is tied to the general posts, and so on. A reserved-category candidate competes for a reserved-category slot, as laid out in the vacancy table.

KVS or NVS: the preference and allotment rule

The recruitment is joint. Candidates who appear in both organisations' merit lists for the same post, or in the lists of more than one post, "will have to mandatorily submit their preference of posts in KVS and NVS" in the online portal, within a notified period, once they are in Tier-2 and the interview. The notification then states four rules. Allotment of post and department "will be done as per merit and the choice indicated". A candidate is "allotted only one post as per his/her choice". The preference cannot be changed: "The request for change in choice ... will not be accepted for whatsoever reason". And a candidate who does not fill the choice in the notified period "will not be considered in merit and no post will be allotted to them". There is no waiting list.

CBSE's result press releases repeat the point: "Candidates who are required to exercise a preference under the Recruitment Notification may submit the same through the application portal." The practical consequence is that a candidate who has qualified for both organisations is making a decision about two employers' working conditions, location pools and pay allowances at a single moment. The notification gives KVS and NVS different working arrangements: NVS schools are fully residential and the notification says NVS teachers are required to stay on campus, take residential duties and receive a ten per cent special allowance, which it says is not admissible to the Assistant Commissioner post; KVS posts carry no such clause.

Interview and documents: what the notification says and does not say

The notification gives the interview 100 marks and nothing else about it. It does not say how long it is, who sits on the panel, what is assessed, or what minimum mark is needed. We found no interview guideline in any CBSE or KVS notice, and we do not invent one. What is stated is what the process requires of you at that stage: eligibility is verified, and "if a candidate has been allowed to appear in the Tier-I/Tier-II/Interview/Skill-Test, it does not imply that the candidate's eligibility has been verified." A candidate "found not eligible during the verification prior to the interview shall not be allowed to appear in the Interview", and the appointing authority verifies finally.

The 2025 cycle has a visible feature that matters for how you read any rumour: CBSE says marks are not released for interview posts until the interview is complete. In each of its result notices it says the Tier-II result "indicates the candidate's status for shortlisting to the interview" and that "marksheets will be made available to the candidates within 15 days from the date of publication of the final result, after completion of the interview process." So there is no official Tier-II mark list, cut-off or merit position to compare yourself with, and an interview shortlist is shown only in each candidate's own login.

Where the 2025 cycle stands

Every KVS TGT subject has had its Tier-II result, declared in phases. Some dates are given by CBSE's own press releases and are therefore firm; the interview stage is the part with no published schedule. CBSE says the schedule and call letters "will be made available in the respective candidate logins after finalisation of the schedule in consultation with KVS/NVS."

Some coaching sites say interview letters have already been issued. That may be true for individual candidates whose login shows one, but there is no CBSE or KVS notice with a schedule. We report what the documents say: the process is "continuing", and the call letters follow a schedule not yet public. Treat any date outside CBSE, KVS or your own login as unconfirmed.