The last month before AFCAT: a four-week plan

With a month to go, the question changes. It is no longer "what else should I study?" but "how do I turn what I know into marks on the day?" New topics now bring little and cost a lot, in time and in confidence. The marks in the last month come from three things: full mocks, sharp revision and a clear plan for the two hours.

This guide gives you a week-by-week plan, a daily timetable, what to revise in each section, and a strategy for the paper itself.

The rule for the last month

Stop adding, start sharpening. If a topic is completely new to you with four weeks left, and it is not a common one, let it go. The time is better spent making sure you never lose marks on topics you already know.

The exception is a quick, rule-based topic you have skipped that turns up in every paper. A type of non-verbal reasoning question, for example, can be learnt in two or three sessions. Use the first week for such gaps, then close the door on new material.

The four-week plan

That is ten full mocks in a month. Each one takes two hours to sit and should take at least an hour to analyse. Do not take a mock you will not have time to analyse.

A daily timetable

For a candidate with the whole day free, a mock day and a revision day might look like this. If you work or study, keep the same order and shrink each block.

Keep a short run or workout in the evening on most days. It helps sleep, and you will need the fitness at the AFSB.

What to revise, section by section

Numerical Ability

• Your one-page formula sheet: percentage, profit and loss, interest, time and work, speed and distance, mensuration, averages, ratio.
• Squares to 30, cubes to 15, and fraction–percentage pairs (1/8 = 12.5%, 1/6 = 16⅔%, 3/8 = 37.5%).
• The newer syllabus areas you may have practised less: probability, statistics, heights and distances, exponents.

Reasoning and Military Aptitude

• One set a day each of non-verbal series, mirror and water images, paper folding and embedded figures.
• Coding-decoding, blood relations and direction questions: revise the method, not just the answers.

English

• Your grammar rules list and the error types you keep missing.
• Your vocabulary notebook: synonyms, antonyms, idioms and one-word substitutions, a section a day.
• One reading comprehension passage a day, timed.

General Awareness

• Defence: aircraft, missiles, exercises, ranks, commands and IAF history.
• Current affairs of the past year: appointments, awards, sports, summits, schemes, defence deals.
• Static GK: the facts you have already noted. This is not the time for a new book.

Using mocks well in the last month

Look at the trend, not a single score. Keep a table of your last six mocks with the score, attempts and accuracy for each, and watch accuracy most closely.

Worked example. Suppose a candidate's three recent mocks look like this:

They attempted fewer questions each time and scored more each time. Accuracy, not attempts, drove the gain. That is the pattern to aim for.

Handling a bad mock

Every candidate has one. When it happens, ask three questions:

1. Was the mock unusually hard? Compare with others who took it, if you can.
2. Was it a timing problem? Look at where the time went.
3. Was it a gap in one topic? Note it and fix it in the next two days.

Then move on. One mock is one data point. If your last five mocks show a rising trend, the bad one does not change it.

A time plan for the two hours

You have 120 minutes for 100 questions. Decide your section order and time budget before the exam, test it in your mocks, and stick to it on the day. Here is one plan. Adjust it to the number of questions in each section and to your strengths.

Inside each section, use two passes: answer what you can quickly, mark anything that passes about 90 seconds, and return to it in the review block. Never guess blind: with +3 and −1, a blind guess is worth zero on average, while a guess after removing two options is worth +1. See our guide to negative marking.

The last three days

• Three days before: your last light mock, or none. Revise your formula sheet and error log.
• Two days before: defence notes and current affairs. Check the exam centre's location and how long it takes to reach.
• The day before: light revision only, no mock. Download and print your admit card, and put it with your photo ID and anything else the admit card lists. Sleep at your normal time.

Exam day checklist

• Admit card, printed as instructed
• Original photo ID as specified in the admit card
• Any other documents or items the admit card asks for, and nothing it forbids
• Reach well before the reporting time printed on the admit card
• A light meal and water before you leave

After the paper

Note down, while it is fresh, which sections felt hard and which topics came up. Then start preparing for the AFSB straight away, without waiting for the result. Our AFSB overview explains what to start with.