AFCAT syllabus

The article separates the official syllabus from topics reconstructed from past papers. EKT is not part of the current AFCAT paper.

Most AFCAT preparation material still tells Ground Duty (Technical) candidates to study for the Engineering Knowledge Test. The EKT no longer exists. It is absent from the AFCAT 01/2026 and 02/2026 notifications, which carry a single paper for every branch, and Ground Duty (Technical) now has a separate GATE score route that bypasses the written exam entirely.

The second thing commonly got wrong is what the written exam is for. AFCAT marks are not merely qualifying. Merit is drawn from the written exam and the AFSB tests combined, with a separate minimum to clear in each.

The syllabus below is the notification’s own topic list. Browse the available AFCAT practice papers.

Syllabus by section

The notification names four subject areas but publishes no question or mark split between them. Any section-wise breakdown you see elsewhere is reconstructed from past papers, and the reconstructions disagree with each other.

AFCAT at a glance

Exam pattern

AFCAT written test, one paper for all branches

There is no sectional timing and no published sectional cut-off, so the two hours can be spent wherever they are worth most. The Air Force reserves the discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all subjects.

Where the exam runs across more than one shift, marks are normalised. Candidates sitting a harder shift are not left carrying that difficulty into the merit list.

At plus 3 and minus 1, a wrong answer costs a third of what a right one pays. Four correct and one wrong nets 11 marks out of a possible 15, so an educated guess between two options is worth taking and a blind guess between four is not.

How the pattern has changed

The paper itself has been stable. One hundred questions, 300 marks, two hours, plus 3 and minus 1, and the same four subject areas. What has changed sits around the paper.

The EKT was a separate 45 minute paper sat by Ground Duty (Technical) candidates immediately after AFCAT. It is gone, and any site still publishing an EKT pattern for 2026 is describing a test that is no longer set.

In its place, Ground Duty (Technical) gained a GATE score route. Candidates shortlisted on their GATE score go directly to AFSB testing without sitting AFCAT at all, and no application fee is charged on that route. It runs in addition to the AFCAT entry rather than replacing it.

The percentage bars are the change most worth watching. AFCAT 01/2026 required 50 per cent in Mathematics and Physics at 10+2 for Flying and Technical branches, and 60 per cent at graduation. AFCAT 02/2026 dropped those figures and asks only that the subjects were passed. Whether the bars return in a later cycle is a question for that cycle’s notification.

Branches and entries

• Flying, through the AFCAT entry and the NCC Special Entry

• Ground Duty (Technical): Aeronautical Engineer (Electronics), known as AE(L), and Aeronautical Engineer (Mechanical), known as AE(M)

• Ground Duty (Non-Technical): Weapon Systems, Administration and Logistics, Accounts, Education, Meteorology

• NCC Special Entry and GATE Score Entry candidates go directly to AFSB testing without sitting the written exam

• Ten per cent of Ground Duty vacancies are reserved for NCC Air Wing Senior Division C certificate holders

• Two seats in Ground Duty (Non-Technical) are reserved for law qualified candidates, who may be employed on legal duties after commissioning

Eligibility

Age is measured as on the first day of the month the course commences, not as on the exam date, so the reference date moves with every cycle. For AFCAT 02/2026, whose course begins in July 2027, the reference date was 1 July 2027.

Candidates must be unmarried when the course commences, and marriage is not permitted during training. The notification sets no limit on the number of AFCAT attempts, so the age band is what ends a candidate’s run.

Selection process

Clearing the written exam earns a call to an Air Force Selection Board. AFSB testing runs across two stages and takes about six days in total.

• Stage I, day one: the Officer Intelligence Rating test, followed by the Picture Perception and Discussion Test. This is a screening test, and candidates who do not clear it are sent home the same day

• Document check, also on day one, to confirm eligibility for the branches applied for

• Stage II, day one evening: the psychological test

• Stage II, the following five days: group tests and the interview

• Computerised Pilot Selection System, for Flying Branch candidates who have been recommended. This is a once in a lifetime test, and a failure permanently bars the Flying Branch

• Medical examination, for candidates recommended by the AFSB

The CPSS point is worth reading twice. It is administered to recommended candidates only, and a candidate who has failed CPSS or PABT in an earlier attempt, or who was suspended from flying training at the Air Force Academy, is not eligible to sit it again.

How the merit list is decided

Candidates are placed in order of merit on the total marks secured in the written examination and in the AFSB tests together. To be eligible for that list, a candidate must separately clear the minimum qualifying marks in the written exam and in the AFSB test.

Two hurdles, then one combined ranking. A strong AFCAT score is an asset carried into the final list rather than a ticket that is torn at the door, which is the opposite of how several preparation sites describe it.

Branch allotment is then decided by vacancies, performance across the selection process, medical fitness and the preferences the candidate gave.

General Awareness

• History, Geography, Sports

• National and International Organisations

• Art and Culture, Personalities

• Environment and Ecology

• Indian Polity, Economy

• Basic Science Based Knowledge, Science and Technology

• Current Affairs, both national and international

• Defence

Defence is listed as a topic in its own right, which no other competitive exam at this level does. The full General Awareness breakdown covers what that means in practice.

Verbal Ability in English

• Comprehension

• Detect Error in Sentence

• Sentence Completion, or filling in the correct word

• Synonyms and Antonyms

• Cloze Test, or filling the gaps in a paragraph

• Idioms and Phrases

• Analogy

• Sentence Rearranging

• Substitution in a Sentence, or One Word Substitution

• Transformation of Sentence, complex to simple

• Homonyms

Transformation of sentences and homonyms are the two that rarely appear in other exams at this level. The full Verbal Ability breakdown covers all eleven topics.

Numerical Ability

• Decimal Fraction

• Time and Work

• Average and Percentage

• Profit and Loss

• Ratio and Proportion

• Simple and Compound Interest

• Time and Distance, and Races including Trains, Boats and Streams

• Area and Perimeter

• Probability

• Number System and Number Series

• Mixture and Allegation Rules

• Square and Square Root, Cube and Cube Root

• HCF and LCM

• Elementary Mensuration

• Heights and Distance

• Statistics, covering Mean, Median and Mode

• Exponents and Powers

The notification states that the standard of Numerical Ability questions is matriculation level, and it states no standard for the other three sections. The full Numerical Ability breakdown covers every topic at that level.

Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test

The notification gives this section one line: Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning. There is no official topic breakdown beneath it, and every detailed list in circulation is a reconstruction from past papers.

The full Reasoning breakdown sets out what has actually been asked, and says plainly which parts are reconstruction.

What is not in the syllabus

• No Engineering Knowledge Test. It was discontinued from AFCAT 01/2026

• No sectional timing and no published sectional split

• No Hindi medium. The paper is set in English only

• No descriptive or essay paper

• No optional subject

• No stated limit on the number of attempts

• No published topic list beneath the Reasoning and Military Aptitude heading

How to spend the time

With no sectional timing, the paper rewards moving to whatever is quickest first. General Awareness questions are recall and take seconds. Numerical Ability questions take minutes. Starting with the section you are slowest in is how candidates leave twenty marks of General Awareness unread.

The marking scheme shapes guessing. Minus 1 against plus 3 means breaking even needs roughly one correct answer for every three wrong, so narrowing four options to two makes a guess clearly worth taking.

General Awareness and the Defence topic reward steady reading rather than late revision. Current affairs appear across national and international events, and the Defence component covers equipment, exercises, ranks and organisation that cannot be crammed in a fortnight.

Numerical Ability stops at matriculation level, so the work is speed rather than depth. Candidates from engineering backgrounds routinely over prepare this section and under prepare General Awareness. Browse the available AFCAT practice papers.

Common mistakes

• Preparing for the EKT, which no longer forms part of AFCAT

• Believing AFCAT marks are only qualifying, when they are added to the AFSB score for the merit list

• Trusting a section-wise question split, when the notification publishes none

• Guessing blind across four options at minus 1 a question

• Working the paper in order instead of taking the fastest marks first

• Treating Numerical Ability as graduate level mathematics, when the notification sets it at matriculation level

• Reading age eligibility against the exam date rather than the first of the course commencement month

• Assuming the percentage bars dropped in AFCAT 02/2026 will stay dropped in later cycles

• Planning a second CPSS attempt, which is a once in a lifetime test

AFCAT against CDS and NDA

All three lead to the Air Force and all three run twice a year. They differ in who conducts them, at what stage of education they take candidates and how the written paper is shaped.

AFCAT is the only one of the three that tests reasoning, the only one with a single combined paper and the only one conducted by the service itself rather than by the UPSC. It is also the only route that goes exclusively to the Air Force.

Frequently asked questions

Is the EKT still part of AFCAT?

No. The Engineering Knowledge Test was discontinued from AFCAT 01/2026. Ground Duty (Technical) candidates sit the same single paper as everyone else, and a separate GATE score route now leads directly to AFSB testing.

How many questions are in AFCAT?

One hundred, carrying 300 marks, in two hours.

What is the AFCAT marking scheme?

Three marks for a correct answer, one mark deducted for an incorrect answer, and nothing for an unattempted question.

Is there sectional timing in AFCAT?

No. The two hours cover the whole paper, and you can move between sections freely.

How many questions come from each section?

The notification does not publish a section-wise split. Breakdowns found elsewhere are reconstructed from past papers and they disagree with each other.

Do AFCAT marks count in the final merit list?

Yes. Merit is based on the written exam and AFSB test marks combined, and a candidate must separately clear the minimum in each.

How many times a year is AFCAT held?

Twice, as AFCAT 01 and AFCAT 02 of each year.

What is the age limit for AFCAT?

20 to 24 years for the Flying Branch, relaxed to 26 for holders of a valid DGCA Commercial Pilot Licence, and 20 to 26 years for Ground Duty branches. Age is measured as on the first day of the month the course commences.

How many attempts are allowed?

The notification sets no limit on AFCAT attempts. The age band is the binding constraint. CPSS, for the Flying Branch, is a separate matter and may be attempted once only.

Is AFCAT available in Hindi?

No. The paper is set in English only.

How long does AFSB testing take?

About six days. Stage I screening and the psychological test fall on day one, and group tests and the interview run across the following five days.

Do I need Mathematics and Physics at 10+2?

For the Flying Branch, Ground Duty (Technical) and the Weapon Systems branch, yes. Other Ground Duty (Non-Technical) streams have no such requirement.