AFCAT
Recruits graduates as commissioned officers in the Indian Air Force's Flying Branch (Short Service Commission) and Ground Duty Technical and Non-Technical branches. The same notification also covers the NCC Special Entry and Meteorology entries.
Eligibility
Indian men and women. Flying Branch: graduate with at least 60%, and 50% each in Maths and Physics at Class 12, or BE/BTech with 60%. Ground Duty Technical: BE/BTech in a relevant discipline. Ground Duty Non-Technical: any graduate with 60%, with specific degrees for some branches. Final-year students may apply.
Age limit: Flying: 20–24 years (up to 26 for DGCA Commercial Pilot Licence holders); Ground Duty Technical and Non-Technical: 20–26 years
Exam pattern
Online computer-based test of 100 questions in 2 hours, totalling 300 marks. Each correct answer earns 3 marks and each wrong answer loses 1. Sections are General Awareness, Verbal Ability in English, Numerical Ability, and Reasoning and Military Aptitude. Technical-branch candidates also take the Engineering Knowledge Test (50 questions, 45 minutes, 150 marks). Qualifiers attend an Air Force Selection Board (AFSB) interview; Flying aspirants also take the Computerised Pilot Selection System (CPSS).
Syllabus at a glance
General Awareness covers history, geography, polity, sports, defence, art and culture, and current affairs. Verbal Ability covers comprehension, error detection, sentence completion, synonyms, antonyms and idioms. Numerical Ability covers decimals, fractions, time and work, percentages, profit and loss, ratio, averages and simple interest. Reasoning and Military Aptitude covers verbal and non-verbal (spatial) reasoning.
Upcoming dates
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| AFCAT 01/2027 notification | Early–mid Nov 2026 | expected |
| AFCAT 01/2027 online application window | Mid Nov – mid Dec 2026 | expected |
| AFCAT 01/2027 admit card | Mid Jan 2027 | expected |
| AFCAT 01/2027 online exam | Late Jan – early Feb 2027 (AFCAT 01/2026 was held on 31 Jan 2026) | expected |
| AFCAT 01/2027 result | Feb – Mar 2027 | expected |
| AFCAT 02/2027 notification | May – Jun 2027 | expected |
Expected dates follow the usual calendar; confirm on the official notification before planning.
Free prep material
Standard books
- Pathfinder AFCAT – Arihant Experts
- A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning – R.S. Aggarwal
- Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations – R.S. Aggarwal
- Objective General English – S.P. Bakshi (Arihant)
- Lucent's General Knowledge – Lucent Publications
How toppers play it
- Because of the +3/−1 marking, one wrong answer cancels a third of a correct one. Attempt about 75–85 questions you are confident of; the cut-off is usually 150–170 out of 300.
- Reasoning and Military Aptitude (spatial figures, embedded figures, dot situations) and English are the fastest scorers; attempt them first and leave numerical ability for the remaining time.
- Numerical Ability is limited to arithmetic; memorise percentage–fraction equivalents and use approximation instead of full calculation.
- General Awareness leans towards defence news, awards, sports and static history and geography; maintain a monthly defence current-affairs sheet.
- Flying aspirants should prepare for the Computerised Pilot Selection System (CPSS) and the Pilot Aptitude Battery Test (PABT) early, because both are one-time tests: failing either bars you from the Flying Branch for life.