TNEA 2026 Vacancy After Round 3 — Seat Position for Supplementary Counselling

By Sampath Kumar · Updated 8 Sept 2026

Last updated: 8 September 2026

The Directorate of Technical Education has published the TNEA 2026 academic vacancy position after Round 3 counselling. 53,699 seats are still vacant — 53,668 in the general quota and 31 in the govt school 7.5% quota — across 391 engineering colleges and 114 branches. These are the seats that go into supplementary counselling.

Where all 1,96,932 TNEA seats went — the full funnel

Starting from the official seat matrix, this is what happened to every engineering seat in Tamil Nadu. Of 1,96,932 seats, 1,43,233 are now filled (72.7%) and 53,699 remain vacant going into supplementary counselling.

Baseline: the DoTE TNEA 2026 academic seat matrix — 1,77,342 general + 14,378 govt 7.5% = 1,91,720 seats. A further 114 courses appear in the vacancy statements but were added after that matrix was published; for those, the Round 1 vacancy (5,212 seats, almost all of them untouched full intakes) is taken as the intake, giving 1,96,932 seats in total across 422 colleges. The first filled row combines special reservation counselling and Round 1, because the matrix is dated before special reservation counselling and DoTE publishes no vacancy statement between the two. Rounds 2 and 3 are exact, and the vacancy figure here is the same 53,699 seats quoted throughout this page.

Round 1 vs Round 2 vs Round 3 — the full vacancy picture

Consolidating all three DoTE vacancy statements shows how fast the seats went. Round 2 absorbed 60,162 seats and Round 3 a further 55,365 — together about 68% of everything that was vacant after Round 1.

Source: DoTE TNEA 2026 General and Govt (7.5% reservation) academic vacancy position statements after Rounds 1, 2 and 3.

Community-wise vacancy after each round

OC seats moved fastest — from 46,899 vacant after Round 1 down to 5,181, about 89% taken. ST and SCA moved slowest (1,307 and 3,370 still open), which is exactly where supplementary counselling candidates in those categories still have room to work with.

District-wise vacancy after Round 3

Where the seats actually are, right now:

• Kanyakumari — 6,542 seats across 28 colleges
• Chennai — 5,335 seats across 44 colleges
• Namakkal — 4,149 seats across 20 colleges
• Kancheepuram — 3,793 seats across 24 colleges
• Coimbatore — 3,546 seats across 45 colleges

Branch-wise vacancy after Round 3

Even the branches students chase hardest still have seats left:

• Computer Science And Engineering — 9,268 seats in 355 colleges
• Mechanical Engineering — 6,702 seats in 338 colleges
• Electronics And Communication Engineering — 6,174 seats in 349 colleges
• Information Technology — 6,127 seats in 272 colleges
• Artificial Intelligence And Data Science — 5,306 seats in 315 colleges

Colleges with the most seats left after Round 3

The 30 colleges carrying the largest remaining vacancy. A big number here is not a verdict on the college — it usually reflects a large sanctioned intake, or a location away from Chennai and Coimbatore.

Colleges that filled the most seats — full funnel by college

The flip side of vacancy, and the better read on demand: total intake, how many seats each college filled in each round, what is left, and the overall fill rate. Ranked by seats filled — Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology (Autonomou leads, filling 2,590 of its 2,596 seats (99.8%).

A college that fills most of its seats in the first column is in far higher demand than one that fills the same number spread across Rounds 2 and 3. Tap any column heading to re-sort the table.

Colleges now completely full (31 colleges at 100% fill)

These 31 colleges have no seat left in either quota — every seat in their matrix has gone. Government colleges and the strongest autonomous institutions dominate the list, which is the clearest demand signal in the whole dataset.

Supplementary counselling schedule — official dates

DoTE has published the supplementary schedule. Registration closed on 31 August 2026; the rank list is out on 3 September and choice filling runs 4–5 September.

SCA→SC conversion counselling follows on 9–11 September (schedule & SCA vacancy →), and B.Arch supplementary on 5–10 September. Full schedule including B.Arch → Source: DoTE Chennai; dates are proposed, confirm on tneaonline.org.

SCA to SC conversion counselling — schedule & seats

Tamil Nadu reserves 18% of seats for Scheduled Castes, and inside that 18% there is a 3% preference for Arunthathiyars (SCA). SCA is not a separate quota — it is a first claim on part of the SC share. SCA seats still unfilled once the SCA candidates in the rank list are exhausted are converted to SC and allotted to Scheduled Caste candidates in a short round straight after supplementary counselling.

The pool is real: 3,370 SCA seats were vacant after Round 3 — 3,350 in the general quota and 20 in the govt school 7.5% quota — across 386 colleges, 66 branches and 33 districts. SCA was the slowest-moving community of the season: only about 42% of the SCA seats vacant after Round 1 were taken across Rounds 2 and 3, against 89% of OC seats. Branches that are long gone in OC — Computer Science, IT, AI & Data Science — still carry SCA seats.

Choice filling is a single day and the tentative allotment must be confirmed within seven hours of release, so fill on the morning of 9 September and keep 10 September free. District-wise, branch-wise and college-wise SCA vacancy, plus the B.Arch conversion dates →

What supplementary counselling means for you

Supplementary counselling is the last stage of TNEA 2026. It is for candidates who are in the rank list but still hold no seat — because they never received an allotment, did not report, or had an allotment cancelled.

• Everything left is on the table. All 53,699 seats above are open at this stage, including CSE, ECE, IT and AI & Data Science.
• The 7.5% govt school quota is effectively closed. Only 31 seats remain there — down from 12,464 after Round 1 — and only in the SCA and ST categories. Government-school candidates without a seat should treat the general pool as their real option.
• Widen the district. A large share of what is left sits outside Chennai and Coimbatore. Candidates who will not travel have far fewer real choices than the headline total suggests.
• Vacancy is a moving target. These figures are the position as published after Round 3 and change as reporting and cancellations are processed.

How to read the DoTE vacancy statement

Two things trip people up when they open the official PDF:

• Vacancy is not intake. These are the seats left unfilled after allotment, not the college's sanctioned strength.
• The community columns are not always in the same order. In the Round 3 general statement DoTE printed the headings as OC, BCM, BC, MBC, SCA, SC, ST — BC/BCM and SC/SCA swapped compared with the Round 1, Round 2 and Round 3 govt statements. Comparing rounds column by column without checking the heading will give you the wrong BC and SC figures. Every table on this page is normalised to the standard OC, BC, BCM, MBC, SC, SCA, ST order.

Frequently asked questions

How many seats are vacant in TNEA 2026 after Round 3?

As per the DoTE academic vacancy position after Round 3 counselling, 53,668 seats are vacant in the general quota and 31 in the govt school 7.5% quota — 53,699 in total across 391 engineering colleges. These are the seats that go into TNEA supplementary counselling.

How much did TNEA vacancy fall from Round 1 to Round 3?

TNEA 2026 started Round 2 with 1,69,226 vacant seats. Round 2 filled 60,162 seats, leaving 1,09,064. Round 3 filled a further 55,365 seats, leaving 53,699 — so roughly 68% of the seats vacant after Round 1 have now been taken.

Are seats still available in TNEA supplementary counselling 2026?

Yes. 53,699 seats remain across 391 colleges and 114 branches. Computer Science And Engineering alone has 9,268 vacant seats in 355 colleges, followed by Mechanical Engineering with 6,702.

Which district has the most vacant engineering seats after Round 3?

Kanyakumari has the most, with 6,542 seats still vacant across 28 colleges, followed by Chennai (5,335) and Namakkal (4,149).

Is the govt school 7.5% quota still open after Round 3?

Almost entirely filled. Only 31 seats remain in the 7.5% govt school quota after Round 3, down from 12,464 after Round 1 — and the remainder sit only in the SCA and ST categories. Government-school candidates without a seat should register for supplementary counselling immediately.

How do I check college-wise TNEA vacancy for supplementary counselling?

Open the College Path TNEA college finder and go to the SEAT MATRIX tab. Switch between the General and Govt 7.5% quota, then filter by district, college and course to see the community-wise seats still vacant after Round 3. Only colleges and courses that actually have seats left are shown.

When is TNEA 2026 supplementary counselling choice filling?

Choice filling for TNEA 2026 supplementary counselling opens on 4 September 2026 at 10.00 AM and closes on 5 September 2026 at 5.00 PM. The supplementary rank list is published on 3 September 2026, tentative allotment is released on 7 September at 10.00 AM and must be confirmed the same day by 7.00 PM, and the provisional allotment is released on 9 September 2026 at 10.00 AM. These are DoTE's proposed dates.

Can I still register for TNEA 2026 supplementary counselling?

No. Registration and document upload for TNEA 2026 supplementary counselling ran from 17 August to 31 August 2026 and is now closed. Only candidates who registered in that window appear in the supplementary rank list published on 3 September 2026.

What is the TNEA 2026 SCA to SC conversion counselling schedule?

SCA to SC conversion counselling runs straight after the supplementary round. Choice filling is on 9 September 2026 from 10.00 AM to 7.00 PM, tentative allotment is released on 10 September at 10.00 AM with confirmation until 5.00 PM the same day, and the provisional allotment follows on 11 September 2026.

When is B.Arch supplementary counselling in TNEA 2026?

B.Arch supplementary counselling runs two days behind the engineering round. The B.Arch rank list is published on 5 September 2026, choice filling is on 6 September from 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM, tentative allotment is released on 8 September at 10.00 AM with confirmation until 7.00 PM, and the provisional allotment is released on 10 September 2026 at 10.00 AM.

Data compiled by College Path from the official DoTE TNEA 2026 vacancy position statements (General and Govt 7.5% reservation) after Rounds 1, 2 and 3. Figures are as published by the Directorate of Technical Education, Chennai — always confirm on tneaonline.org before making a decision. Last updated 31 August 2026.