AFCAT general awareness syllabus
The article separates the official syllabus from topics reconstructed from past papers. EKT is not part of the current AFCAT paper.
General Awareness is the fastest section in AFCAT to answer and the slowest to prepare. Every question is recall, so it takes seconds rather than minutes, and none of it can be worked out in the hall. The AFCAT syllabus hub page covers the rest of the paper.
Pattern
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Questions in the paper | 100 |
| Total marks | 300 |
| Duration | Two hours |
| Correct answer | Plus 3 |
| Incorrect answer | Minus 1 |
| Unattempted | Zero |
| Sectional timing | None |
| Medium | English only |
The notification publishes no question or mark split between the four subject areas, so there is no official figure for how many of the 100 questions this section carries. Splits quoted elsewhere are reconstructions from past papers and they contradict one another.
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Topics
- 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 appears as a named topic, which sets AFCAT apart from general graduate level competitive exams. In past papers it has covered aircraft and equipment in service, military exercises, ranks and insignia, command structure, decorations and recent defence agreements.
What is not in the syllabus
- No engineering or technical subject knowledge. That left the exam when the EKT was discontinued
- No state specific general knowledge paper
- No published weighting for any topic
- No negative marking beyond the paper wide minus 1
- No Hindi medium
How to spend the time
Answer this section first. Questions you either know or do not know should not be sitting unread while you work a mensuration problem, and clearing them early tells you how much of the two hours is left for the sections that need working time.
Move fast and do not linger. A General Awareness question you cannot answer in fifteen seconds is not going to come to you in sixty.
Build the Defence component deliberately, because it is the part no general competitive exam preparation covers. Following Indian Air Force news, inductions and exercises over several months does more than any compilation read the week before.
Current affairs run across national and international events. Browse the available AFCAT practice papers.
Common mistakes
- Leaving this section until the end of the two hours
- Spending a minute on a recall question
- Skipping the Defence topic because general competitive guides do not cover it
- Relying on a current affairs compilation older than the exam cycle
- Guessing blind across four options when the penalty is minus 1
- Treating Basic Science Based Knowledge as a physics paper, when it sits at general awareness level
General Awareness across AFCAT, CDS and NDA
| Feature | AFCAT | CDS | NDA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section name | General Awareness | General Knowledge | Part of the General Ability Test |
| Separate paper | No, one combined paper | Yes, 100 marks | No, inside GAT |
| Defence as a named topic | Yes | No | No |
| Science content | Basic science based knowledge | General science | Physics and Chemistry in depth |
| Negative marking | Minus 1 of a 3 mark question | One third of the question value | One third of the question value |
Frequently asked questions
How many General Awareness questions are in AFCAT?
The notification does not publish a section-wise split, so there is no official figure.
Is Defence really a separate topic?
Yes. The notification lists Defence among the General Awareness topics, which most graduate level competitive exams do not.
How far back do current affairs go?
The notification sets no window. Past papers have drawn on national and international events from the months before the exam.
What level is the science content?
The notification calls it Basic Science Based Knowledge, alongside Science and Technology. It sits at general awareness level rather than at a subject paper level.
Should I answer this section first?
Usually yes. There is no sectional timing, and recall questions take seconds where numerical questions take minutes.
Is there negative marking?
Yes. One mark is deducted for a wrong answer against three for a correct one.
Is Indian Polity asked in detail?
It is listed as a topic. The notification gives no sub-topics, and past papers have stayed at general awareness depth rather than at civil services depth.
Does the EKT syllabus still matter for technical candidates?
No. The EKT was discontinued from AFCAT 01/2026, and all branches now sit the same single paper.
Is this section the same for all branches?
Yes. There is one paper for every branch.
How should I guess here?
Guess when you can rule out two of the four options. At plus 3 and minus 1, that is clearly worth taking. A blind guess across four is not.