COA Syllabus 2026 – Computer on Office Automation
The complete Government Technical Examination syllabus for the Certificate Course in Computer on Office Automation, unit by unit, with the official exam pattern and mark split. Transcribed from the syllabus published by the Department of Technical Education, Government of Tamil Nadu.
Which syllabus applies to the 2026 COA exam?
The syllabus in force is the one issued by the Department of Technical Education, Government of Tamil Nadu for the Government Technical Examination (GTE), with effect from the June 2025 spell of examination notification. That is the document candidates sitting the exam in 2026 are examined on — there is no separate "2026 syllabus".
The course is examined in two parts: a theory paper and a practical paper, each of 1 hour and 50 marks, each needing 20 marks to pass.
Office package: the preferred packages are MS Office and LibreOffice / OpenOffice / WPS Office. Both are examinable — see the weightings below.
The full official document is on this site: COA syllabus PDF. More material is on the downloads page, and the books that cover it are listed under COA books and study material.
The 7 theory units
- Unit 1 — Basics of Computer: definition, history and the five generations, applications and advantages; characteristics (speed, storage, versatility, diligence); hardware and software; block diagram and working principle; types of computer by working (analog, digital, hybrid), by size (mainframe, mini, supercomputer, workstation, micro, desktop, laptop, palmtop) and by processor (XT, AT, Pentium i3/i5/i7); memory units and representation, primary memory (RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, DDR) and secondary memory (hard disk, SSD, CD, DVD, Blu-ray, pen drive, magnetic tape, zip disk); CPU components — motherboard, hard disk, SSD, RAM, ROM, processor, SMPS, connecting wire, graphics card, sound card, network card, modem; input and output devices — keyboard, mouse, scanner, digital camera, joystick, graphic tablet, monitor, printer, plotter; connecting ports (serial, parallel, USB) and installing a scanner and printer.
- Unit 2 — Operating Systems (MS-Windows & Linux): definition and functions of an OS; types — single-user single-task, single-user multi-tasking, multi-user, real time, mobile, cloud-based, network, virtual, embedded, distributed, time-sharing and batch. Windows: installing Windows, booting, maintaining user accounts, file systems and special files, backups and restoration; the desktop and GUI. Linux is examined alongside it.
- Unit 3 — Word Processing (MS Word & OpenOffice Writer): opening and saving, editing, insert / delete / cut / copy / paste / undo / redo, find, search and replace, page formatting and margins, converting between formats, importing and exporting; font styles, size and colour, bold / italic / underline, case, highlighting, special symbols; paragraph style, alignment, indents, line spacing, bullets and numbering; page style, borders and shading, columns, header and footer, footnotes and endnotes, shortcut keys; manual page, column and line breaks, sections and frames, anchoring and wrapping, table of contents, index, page numbering; tables — borders, alignment, insertion, deletion, merging, splitting, sorting and formula; clip art and pictures; word completion, spell check, mail merge, templates, letters and faxes, web pages, wizards, tracking changes, security, digital signature; printing.
- Unit 4 — Calculations and Data Sheets (MS Excel & OpenOffice Calc): spreadsheets and their applications, menus, formula editing, formatting, toolbars, shortcuts; opening and saving, margins, format conversion; addressing — rows, columns and cells, referring and selecting; entering and deleting data, filling continuous rows and columns, find, search and replace, inserting cells, columns, rows and sheets, symbols, external data, frames, clip art; functions and manual breaks; formulas — totals across a row or column, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and exponentiation; formatting cells, rows, columns and sheets, alignment, font, borders and shading, hiding and locking cells, row height and column width, sheet security, background and colour; sorting, filtering, validation, consolidation and subtotal; charts and drawing; error checking, spell check, formula auditing, templates, pivot tables, tracking changes, security and customisation.
- Unit 5 — Presentations (MS PowerPoint & OpenOffice Impress): opening a new presentation, templates, backgrounds and layouts; setting presentation style and adding text; style, colour and gradient fills, arranging objects, header and footer, slide background and layout; adding pictures, movies and tables, drawing; animation and transition effects; printing handouts and generating a standalone presentation viewer.
- Unit 6 — e-Office Applications: introduction, user roles and access control, page options and controls, user profile, notifications. File management: receipts and tapals, file creation, note, quick noting, draft, template, referencing, hashtags, initiate action, signing, draft approval, dispatch, link file, park file, close file, reopening a closed file and volume creation.
- Unit 7 — Digital Communication and Applications: data communications, types of computer network, LAN and WAN; definition and history of the internet, uses, the web, addressing and URLs; connection types — dial-up, broadband (ISDN, DSL, cable) and wireless (Wi-Fi, WiMax, satellite, mobile); naming conventions, browsers, browsing and searching, search engines, portals, social networking sites, blogs, viewing a web page, downloading and uploading; creating an email ID, reading, saving, printing, forwarding and deleting mail, attachments, cc and bcc; Google Forms, Docs, Slides and Sheets; tablets and smartphones, and scanning and editing a document with the tools built into Windows and Linux.
How the marks are split between MS Office and open source
The syllabus fixes the weighting for both papers:
Theory examination
MS Windows and MS Office — 70%
Linux and open source office package — 30%
Practical examination
MS Office / open source office package — 50%
e-Office — 50%
In the practical, the candidate performs the exercise stated in the first question and submits the data as a draft document in the e-Office application for the second, along with the relevant screenshots in the web application portal where they apply.
Keyboard, font and typing speed rules
Keyboard: QWERTY for English, Tamil99 layout for Tamil.
Font: Arial for English and Marutham for Tamil, at font size 12.
Typing speed, and the certificate it earns you: for Papers II and III, typing at 30 words per minute is certified as qualified in GTE Typewriting Junior Grade in that language, and 45 words per minute as qualified in Senior Grade. The syllabus states that this applies only on passing the certificate course as prescribed.
That rule is why COA and typewriting are worth preparing for together. Practice material for both is on the downloads page, including the Tamil99 keyboard layout.
What the practical exercises cover
The syllabus lists practical exercises across the same ground as the theory units — operating system tasks (running and switching between programs, customising the taskbar and start menu, the recycle bin, arranging desktop icons), word processing, spreadsheet work including multi-branch sales sheets with totals and averages, presentations, and e-Office file handling.
Every exercise is written out in the official syllabus PDF, and there are 1,000 worked exercises in the COA practical exercise book.
Exam pattern and mark split
| Paper | Question type | No. of questions | Marks each | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theory 1 hour | Simple multiple choice | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Multiple choice with two statements of logical thinking | 10 | 2 | 20 | |
| Match the following | 10 | 1 | 10 | |
| True or false | 10 | 1 | 10 | |
| Theory total | 50 (pass 20) | |||
| Practical 1 hour | MS Office / open source office package question execution | 1 | 50 | 50 |
| e-Office file submission with the output of the above question | 1 | 50 | 50 | |
| Practical total | 50 (pass 20) |
Preparing for this syllabus at CCE India
Books written to this syllabus
Theory and practical books in Tamil and English, updated to the syllabus in force. See COA books and study material.
The official document, free
The complete DOTE syllabus PDF is on this site — no signup, no email address required.
Both office packages
The exam covers MS Office and LibreOffice / OpenOffice, so the training does too, in the 70 / 30 split the syllabus sets.
Typing counted towards the grade
Reaching 30 or 45 wpm during the course earns Junior or Senior Grade typewriting certification alongside COA.
COA syllabus FAQ
How many units are in the COA syllabus?
Seven theory units: Basics of Computer, Operating Systems (Windows and Linux), Word Processing, Calculations and Data Sheets, Presentations, e-Office Applications, and Digital Communication and Applications. Practical exercises are set across the same ground.
What are the total marks for the COA exam?
The theory paper carries 50 marks and the practical paper carries 50 marks, each of one hour. The minimum to pass is 20 marks in each paper. These figures are from the official Department of Technical Education syllabus in force from the June 2025 examination notification.
Is the COA exam on MS Office or LibreOffice?
Both. The syllabus names MS Office and LibreOffice / OpenOffice / WPS Office as the preferred packages. In the theory paper the weighting is 70% MS Windows and MS Office to 30% Linux and open source; in the practical it is 50% office package and 50% e-Office.
Which keyboard layout and font does the COA exam use?
QWERTY for English and the Tamil99 layout for Tamil. Fonts are Arial for English and Marutham for Tamil, at size 12.
Does passing COA give a typewriting certificate as well?
The syllabus states that for Papers II and III, typing at 30 words per minute is certified as qualified in GTE Typewriting Junior Grade in that language, and 45 words per minute as Senior Grade — on passing the certificate course as prescribed.
Where can I download the COA syllabus PDF?
The official Department of Technical Education syllabus is hosted on this site and can be downloaded free from the button at the top of this page or from the downloads page.