AFCAT Notification 2026 (OUT): Download AFCAT 1 Official PDF Here

AFCAT full form is Air Force Common Admission Test. The exam is conducted twice a year to pick up Class-1 Officers in Flying and Ground Duty (Technical and Non-Technical) branches. Career in Air Force is loaded with opportunities. Candidates starting their career as Flying Officer can reach to the position of Air Marshal/Chief of Air Staff based on their experience and performance.

AFCAT exam or Air Force Common Admission Test is conducted by Indian Air Force to select candidates as Class 1 gazetted officers in the Flying and Ground Duty (Technical and Non-Technical) branches. EKT or Engineering Knowledge Test is conducted for the candidates who apply for the technical branches. AFCAT exam carries a total of 100 questions from General Awareness, Verbal Ability in English Numerical Ability, Military Reasoning, and Aptitude test. The total marks allotted to the AFCAT exam are 300. The duration of the test is two hours. EKT carries 50 questions that are Engineering subject-specific. Questions are asked from Mechanical, Computer Science, and Electrical & Electronics. The total marks allotted to the test are 150 and is held for 45 minutes.

Candidates after admission in Air Force Academy will not be considered for any other commission. They are not permitted to appear for any interview or exam after they have finally selected for training at AFA. No request for withdrawal of candidature received from a candidate after they have submitted their applications is entertained under any circumstance. PAN Card, Aadhaar card and account in SBI/ Nationalized Bank is mandatory at the time of joining Air Force Academy (AFA). Use/possession of narcotics is banned. Candidate may be tested for presence of drugs in the body during Medicals and subsequently during training/ service career as an officer. If candidate is found to be using/ in possession of narcotics during any time of training/service career, candidate would be debarred from training /service as per extant policy.

AFSB or Air Force Selection Board is held for candidates qualifying the online test of AFCAT. The AFSB interview is conducted in three stages at different centres-Dehradun, Varanasi, Gandhinagar and Mysuru. At AFSB, candidates need to undergo the following tests: Stage-I: This stage comprises Officer Intelligence Rating Test along with Picture Perception and discussion test on the first day. This is the screening stage and qualifying the test are called for subsequent rounds of AFSB. In the first stage, the documents of candidates are verified to ascertain their eligibility for the branch they have applied for. Stage 2: This stage is conducted for five days. The tests that are conducted in this stage are Psychological Tests, Group Tests, Interview and Computerised Pilot Selection System (CPSS). The CPSS is conducted for Flying Branch and it is a once in a lifetime test.

Yes, there is a negative marking in AFCAT exam. For each wrong answer, one mark is deducted. 

Some of the important changes observed in AFCAT notification are listed below:

No Permanent Commission

There was no vacancy for Permanent Commission. Earlier, Permanent Commission vacancies were announced for male candidates. The engagement period for Flying Branch (Men and Women) SSC Officers is fourteen years from the date of Commissioning. The initial tenure for Ground Duty (Technical & Non-Technical) SSC Officers would be for a period of ten years. An extension of four years may be granted subject to service requirements, availability of vacancies, willingness, suitability and merit. Grant of Permanent Commission (PC) (at a later date) would be considered subject to service requirements, availability of vacancies, willingness, suitability, merit and as per prevailing policies on the subject. SSC officers are not entitled for the grant of pension.

New Addition of Branch

IAF included one new branch in AFCAT exam. The weapon system branch was included and the total number of vacancies for this branch was two for women and 15 for men.

Meterology Branch Included in the Online Test of AFCAT

Candidates who applied for the Meteorology branch were required to appear for AFCAT online exam. Earlier, it was as part of the special entry.

No EKT Exam Conducted

EKT exam is not included in AFCAT exam. Earlier, EKT was the part of AFCAT exam. This is conducted for the Technical branch.

To download AFCAT admit card Visit the official website of IAF, Go to the Candidate Login section on the home, Candidates need to click on the AFCAT cycle for which they have submitted their application forms, AFCAT login page opens, In the login page, candidates need to enter their email IDs, password and captcha code, AFCAT admit card appears on the screen, Download AFCAT admit card and take its printout. 

Six months are more than enough to prepare for AFCAT exam. Candidates must start from clearing the basic concepts of every topics. Maths can be tough, therefore, candidates must understand the basic concepts. They should note down the important theorems and formulas. In English, candidates need to focus on improving their vocabularly. Candidates must prepare current affairs of six months from the date of exam. They should also prepare basic Science, Geography, Defence Terms, etc. Logical Reasoning questions will be of non-verbal type. So, candidates must solve previous years' question papers. 

With just three months left for the exam, take mock test on the first day of preparation. This will give candidates an idea how much effort they need to put in to propel towards the ideal score. Set a week-wise target to complete the syllabus. Buy a good book and learn from it. The mock-taking exercise should be followed up with an in-depth mock analysis. Candidates must also solve previous years' question papers.

Candidates need to understand the format ofAFCAT reasoning section. Practising will help candidates to know the type of questions that are asked in the exam.  They must attempt mock tests.  Also, candidates must solve previous years' question papers.

Quant is the most scoring section and very basic questions are asked. With just practice, candidates will be able to score good marks. Questions are asked from  Profit and loss, Time and Work, Time Speed and Distance, Percentage, Simplification, Average, Mixtures, SI and CI, etc. For English, candidates must practice RCs, Vocab and Idioms. Candidates must solve five question papers as this will help them to know their strengths and weaknesses in the given subjects or topics. Candidates need to work on their weaknesses. Candidates must revise everything in the last 30 to 31 days leading to the exam. Also focus on taking the mock tests.

To retrieve the password while checking AFCAT result, candidates need to click the ' Forgot Password' tab. The system will ask candidates for some details to retrieve the password. After entering the details, the verification link will be sent to the candidate's registered email ID. After verification, the password will be reset. AFCAT result is valid till the merit list of that particular course is out. Once candidates get eliminated in any of the stages of recruitment. They need to take the test again and apply for a new course.