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Defence

AFCAT preparation

Air Force Common Admission Test for flying, technical and ground duty branches.

24 free guides·Conducted by Indian Air ForceOfficial website

About the AFCAT exam

AFCAT is the Indian Air Force’s own entrance test for graduates who want to become officers in the Flying, Ground Duty (Technical) and Ground Duty (Non-Technical) branches. It runs twice a year as a single computer-based paper. Age and degree rules differ by branch, so check the rules for your branch before you prepare.

The paper has 100 questions in two hours on general awareness, English, numerical ability, and reasoning with military aptitude. A right answer earns 3 marks and a wrong one costs 1. Clear the qualifying marks and you choose a date at an Air Force Selection Board for screening, psychology tests, group tasks and an interview. Flying candidates also take CPSS, which you can attempt only once in your life. The final merit adds your AFCAT and AFSB marks, so every written mark still counts. Technical candidates used to sit an Engineering Knowledge Test. It is not in the 01/2026 scheme, so read the notification for your cycle.

Read the Start here guides first: the pattern, eligibility and branches, the syllabus, a three-month plan, negative marking, cut-offs and the AFSB. Then go subject by subject. Numerical ability is Class 10 level and improves quickly with practice. General awareness is the slowest to build, so start it on the first day.

AFCAT exam pattern at a glance
Paper100 questions, 300 marks, 2 hours; online, English only
Marking+3 for a correct answer, −1 for a wrong one, 0 if unanswered
SectionsGeneral Awareness, Verbal Ability in English, Numerical Ability, Reasoning & Military Aptitude
EKTNot in the 01/2026 scheme. Check the latest notification
Final meritAFCAT marks + AFSB marks, with qualifying marks in each

Patterns change. Confirm details in the latest notification on the official website.

Start here

New to AFCAT? Read these first, in this order.

  1. 1The AFCAT exam pattern explainedOne online paper of 100 questions in two hours, with three marks for a right answer and one taken away for a wrong one. How AFCAT is structured, what each section tests, what changed for technical candidates, and what the pattern means for your preparation.
  2. 2AFCAT eligibility: branch-wise age and educationAFCAT eligibility is a set of rules, one for each branch. Flying has the tightest age window, the technical branches accept only listed engineering disciplines, and each ground duty branch has its own degree rule. A branch-by-branch guide with worked cases.
  3. 3Flying, technical and ground duty: choosing an AFCAT branchAFCAT opens the door to very different careers — flying aircraft, keeping them serviceable, operating weapon systems, or running the administration, logistics, finance, training and weather services behind them. What each branch involves, its terms of commission, and how to choose.
  4. 4The AFCAT syllabus, analysedThe official AFCAT syllabus fits on half a page, but each line hides many topics. A section-by-section breakdown of what the notification lists, what the questions look like, what to learn first, and a short sampler to test yourself.
  5. 5A three-month AFCAT planTwelve weeks is enough to prepare well for AFCAT if the time is used in the right order. A week-by-week plan that builds speed in maths and reasoning, grows English and general awareness steadily, finishes with full mocks, and keeps you fit for the AFSB.
  6. 6Negative marking and attempt strategy in AFCATIn AFCAT a wrong answer costs one mark and a right one earns three. What that means for guessing, how many questions to attempt, why accuracy matters more than attempts, and a simple two-round method for the paper, with worked numbers.
  7. 7AFCAT cut-offs and meritClearing the AFCAT cut-off earns an AFSB call; the final merit list decides who joins. How the written cut-off is set, how normalisation and branch cut-offs work, how the final merit is built from written and AFSB marks, and how to set a safe target score.

Subject by subject

Strategy

Guides on the pattern, branch-wise eligibility, choosing a branch, study plans, marking, cut-offs, the entry for women and NCC Special Entry. The rules for technical entries have changed recently, including the EKT and a reported GATE-score route, so check your cycle’s notification.

All 14 Strategy guides

Numerical Ability

The notification sets numerical ability at matriculation level. It covers percentages, ratios, interest, profit and loss, time and work, time and distance, averages, mixtures, mensuration, probability, statistics, heights and distances, and exponents. It improves quickly with timed practice.

All 10 Numerical Ability guides

Latest AFCAT guides

AFCATNumerical AbilityCompound interest for AFCAT: multipliers, CI–SI difference and half-yearly compoundingInterest on interest, done with multipliers. The amount formula, the CI–SI difference for two and three years, half-yearly compounding, rates that change each year, doubling questions and growth problems, with worked examples and a practice set. 5 min read·29 Sept 2026AFCATNumerical AbilitySimple interest for AFCAT: the formula, reverse questions and shortcutsSI = P × R × T ÷ 100. Finding the principal, rate or time, doubling and tripling questions, amounts after two different periods, sums split at two rates and a rate change, with worked examples and a practice set. 6 min read·28 Sept 2026AFCATNumerical AbilityProfit and loss for AFCAT: cost price, marked price, discounts and false weightsProfit and loss is percentage applied to cost price. The multiplier method, marked price and discount, successive discounts, the same-price trap, false weights and count-based questions, with worked examples and a practice set. 6 min read·27 Sept 2026AFCATNumerical AbilityAverages for AFCAT: the total method, replacements and weighted averagesAverage = total ÷ number. Most AFCAT average questions become two-line sums once you work with totals. Consecutive numbers, adding, removing and replacing items, weighted averages, wrong entries and a practice set. 7 min read·25 Sept 2026AFCATNumerical AbilityRatio and proportion for AFCATRatios appear in sharing, mixtures, ages, partnership, work and speed. Dividing amounts, combining ratios, proportionals, changing ratios, income and expenditure, and coin questions, with worked examples and a practice set. 7 min read·25 Sept 2026AFCATNumerical AbilityPercentage for AFCAT: multipliers, successive change and word problemsPercentage connects most of AFCAT's numerical section: profit, interest, discount, population, elections and exams. Fraction values, multipliers, successive changes, "more than / less than", price and consumption, and worked examples with a practice set. 6 min read·25 Sept 2026