AFCAT Exam Pattern 2026 - Subject Wise Pattern, Marking Scheme, Syllabus

AFCAT Exam Pattern 2026 - Subject Wise Pattern, Marking Scheme, Syllabus

Ongoing Event

AFCAT Application Date:17 Nov' 25 - 14 Dec' 25

Meghana Mohana KrishnanUpdated on 10 Nov 2025, 04:08 PM IST

Indian Air Force has specified the AFCAT 1 exam pattern 2026 in the official notification. The AFCAT 2026 exam pattern is available online on the official website - afcat.edcil.co.in. Candidates can know the important information pertaining to the exam such as subject-wise sections and the marking scheme through the AFCAT exam pattern 2026.

This Story also Contains

  1. AFCAT Exam Pattern 2026: Highlights
  2. AFCAT Syllabus 2026
  3. AFCAT Syllabus: EKT Syllabus
  4. AFCAT Question Papers 2026
  5. AFCAT Preparation Tips 2026
  6. AFCAT Books 2026
  7. AFCAT Mock Test 2026
AFCAT Exam Pattern 2026 - Subject Wise Pattern, Marking Scheme, Syllabus
AFCAT Exam Pattern

Additionally, information such as total marks, section-wise marks and negative marking schemes can also be known through the AFCAT exam pattern. Before beginning the preparation for the AFCAT exam, candidates are advised to go through the details mentioned in the AFCAT exam pattern 2026. The AFCAT 1 2026 exam pattern consists of a written exam, Engineering Knowledge Test (EKT) which candidates appearing for technical posts must attempt. Afterwards, the candidates who cleared these exams have to appear for the ASFB interview and a medical test. Candidates are encouraged to go through the material below for more information regarding the AFCAT exam pattern 2026.

AFCAT Exam Pattern 2026: Highlights

Exam

AFCAT 2026 Exam Pattern

EKT (only for technical)

Mode of Exam

Online

Online

No. of Questions

100

50

Maximum Marks

300

150

Duration of Exam

2 hours (120 minutes)

45 minutes

Sections in Paper

General Awareness, Verbal Ability in English, Numerical Ability and Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test

Mechanical, Computer Science and Electrical & Electronics

Negative Marking

1 mark

1 mark

Also Read:

AFCAT 2026 Exam Stages

  • Online written test.

  • AFSB (Air Force Selection Board) Interview.

  • Medical Test.

AFCAT Question/Sample papers
Candidates can download AFCAT question papers along with answers from here.
Free Download

Online Written Test - The online test is the first stage of the AFCAT recruitment process. Aspirants with the AFCAT admit card areeligible to appear in the AFCAT written test. The AFCAT online test is conducted for subjects such as English, Numerical ability, Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test and EKT Syllabus for candidates opting for engineering knowledge test.

AFSB (Air Force Selection Board) - The AFSB is conducted after the online test which is a 5-day event, conducted in various Air Force centres such as - Varanasi, Dehradun, Gandhinagar and Mysore. In AFSB, the aspirants are judged based on various parameters like screening, picture perception and discussion test, personal information questionnaire, physical training like monkey crawl, jumping across the screen, parallel beam or balancing etc.

Medical Test - In the medical test, a thorough health checkup is conducted for the candidates. If the candidate is found to be having any kind of medical issue, they will be given some time to recover.

AFCAT Syllabus 2026

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has prescribed the AFCAT 2026 syllabus in the official notification. Candidates preparing the AFCAT syllabus must learn all the subjects, topics and sub-topics from which the question paper will be based. As per the AFCAT 1 syllabus 2026, there are four sections - English, General Awareness, Numerical Ability & Reasoning, and Military Aptitude Test. From the following tables, candidates can check the subject-wise topics of the syllabus of AFCAT 2026.

AFCAT Syllabus: General Awareness

History, Geography, Sports, National & International Organisations, Art & Culture, Personalities, Environment & Ecology, Indian Polity, Economy, Basic Science Based Knowledge, Science & Technology, Current Affairs (National & International), Defence.

AFCAT Syllabus: English

Comprehension, Detect Error in Sentence, Sentence Completion/ Filling in of correct word, Synonym/ Antonym, Cloze Test or Fill in the Gaps in a paragraph, Idioms and Phrases, Analogy, Sentence Rearranging, Substitution in a Sentence/ One Word Substitution. Transformation of Sentence (Complex to Simple), Homonyms.

AFCAT Syllabus: Numerical Ability

Decimal Fraction, Time and Work, Average/ Percentage, Profit & Loss, Ratio & Proportion, Simple and Compound Interest, Time & Distance and Races (Trains/ Boats & Streams), Area and Perimeter, Probability, Number System & Number Series, Mixture & Allegation Rules, Square & Square root/Cube & Cube roots, HCF & LCM, Elementary Mensuration, Heights and Distance, Statistics (Mean, Median and Mode), Exponents and powers.

AFCAT Syllabus: Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test

Verbal and NonVerbal Reasoning

Also Read:

AFCAT Syllabus: EKT Syllabus

Candidates planning to apply for the ground duty (Technical) branch have to take an additional online test - Engineering Knowledge Test (EKT).

AFCAT Syllabus Topics

Syllabus

Topics

AFCAT EKT Fundamental Engineering Syllabus

Engineering Physics, Engineering Mathematics, and Engineering Drawing

AFCAT EKT Mechanical Engineering Syllabus

Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics/Hydraulic Machines, Engineering Mechanics, Materials Science, Thermodynamics, Manufacturing Science, and Machine Drawing

AFCAT EKT Electrical & Electronics Engineering Syllabus

Microwave Engineering, Analog, and Digital Electronics, Electronic Devices, Telecommunication Systems, Microwave Engineering, Control Engineering, and Electrical Engineering

AFCAT EKT Computer Science Engineering Syllabus

Information Technology, Network Theory Design, Analog, and Digital Electronics, Computer Networks, Switching Theory, and Electronic Devices

AFCAT EKT Allied Engineering Topics Syllabus

Control Engineering, Telecommunication Systems, Electrical Engineering, Radar Theory, Instrumentation, Antenna, and Wave Propagation, and Microwave Engineering

Also check:

AFCAT Question Papers 2026

Some leading coaching institutes provide the question papers of AFCAT 2026 in online mode. Candidates can refer to IAF AFCAT question paper 2026 while preparing for the exam. The AFCAT 2026 question papers consist of questions from subjects such as quantitative aptitude, logical reasoning, general knowledge, and English language. By solving past years' AFCAT question papers during preparation, aspirants will be familiar with the topics asked in the exam, the exam pattern, the difficulty level of questions, etc.

AFCAT Preparation Tips 2026

Candidates preparing for the AFCAT exam must prepare in such a way that they can beat the cut throat competition and qualify successfully. From the following points, candidates can check the preparation tips of AFCAT 2026.

  • Aspirants must refer to the exam pattern and syllabus mentioned in the official AFCAT notification.

  • Download the previous years' question papers of AFCAT in order to successfully practise for the exam.

  • They can go through the e-books, current affairs published monthly while preparing for the general awareness section.

  • Give mock tests on a regular basis to increase speed, accuracy, and time management skills.

  • Refer to the past year's trends of AFCAT 2026 cut off to know the difficulty level of the AFCAT exam.

  • Aspirants must do a self-analysis to know about their strong and weak sections.

  • Aspirants must also know about the defense equipment used by the Indian defense forces as the questions related to it can be asked in the interview rounds.

Also Read:

AFCAT Books 2026

To prepare for any exam and not just AFCAT, the best part is to refer to the study materials which can add on to the preparation strategy. From the following table, aspirants can check the best books related to the AFCAT exam preparations.

AFCAT Books 2026

Subjects

Publication

AFCAT Books on General Awareness

Lucent’s General Knowledge

The Malayala Manorama English Yearbook

From Plinth to Paramount by Neetu Singh - KD Publication

Verbal Ability

AFCAT Books on Verbal Ability

Objective General English by Dr. RS. Aggarwal

Verbal Reasoning by Bhupendra Kumar Singh

Numerical Ability

AFCAT Books on Numerical Ability

Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by RS Aggarwal/ S.Chand Publishing

Objective Arithmetic- S Chand

Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation-Disha Publication

AFCAT Books on Aptitude Test

Quantitative Aptitude- S.Chand

Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Exams-McGraw Hill Education

Check Other Competitive Exam Patterns

AFCAT Mock Test 2026

IAF provides the AFCAT mock test in online mode on the official website. The AFCAT 2026 mock test will help the students understand the exam pressure and the AFCAT exam pattern 2026 in a better way. Candidates need to login through the dummy login credentials already mentioned on the page and start their AFCAT mock test 2026. Using the AFCAT mock test, candidates will be able to understand their preparation level too.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Who is eligible for AFCAT exam?
A:

As per the academic qualification, candidates must graduate, as far as the age limit and physical requirements are considered, aspirants are advised to click here - AFCAT eligibility criteria 2026.

Q: What are the topics covered in AFCAT 2026 Syllabus?
A:

The topics covered in AFCAT Syllabus are General Awareness, English, Reasoning, Numerical Ability and Military Aptitude Test. In EKT, there will be topics from Mechanical, Computer Science and Electrical and Electronics.

Q: What are the important topics covered in English of the AFCAT examination?
A:

The important topics covered in the English subject of the AFCAT examination are Comprehension, Error Detection, Sentence Completion, Synonyms and Antonyms, Filling in of correct word, vocabulary test, Idioms and Phrases.

Q: How many times AFCAT exam is conducted in a year?
A:

AFCAT is conducted twice a year.

Q: Is there any AFCAT mock test available?
A:

Yes, IAF provides the AFCAT mock test on the official website.

Q: How many papers are in AFCAT?
A:

There is one paper in AFCAT.  For candidates who want to appear in the ground duty (Technical) branch, they will have to appear in EKT (Engineering Knowledge Test) as well.

Q: What is the pattern of AFCAT exam?
A:

The exam pattern of the AFCAT exam consists of the stages, marking scheme, topics, subjects and time duration.

Q: Is AFCAT exam 2026 tough?
A:

Yes, it is a bit tough as a lot of candidates apply for it.

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Questions related to AFCAT

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to AFCAT ?

Hey! Since your date of birth is 07 Nov 2006 and you will complete graduation in 2029, here’s how many chances you’ll get for CDS (INA, IMA, AFA) and AFCAT:

For CDS exams, the age limit is usually 19–24 years.

For AFCAT, Flying Branch requires 20–24 years and Ground Duty goes up to 26 years.

By 2029, you will be around 22–23 years old, so you’ll be perfectly eligible at that time. Since CDS requires a graduate degree, you can only start applying after 2029 once you finish graduation. From that year onwards, you’ll have around 2–3 years window where you can appear for CDS (IMA, INA, AFA) as well as AFCAT.

If your date of birth is in October two thousand two and as of twenty fifth June two thousand twenty five you are about twenty two years and eight months old then you are within the age limit for AFCAT eligibility The eligibility criteria for the flying branch through AFCAT requires candidates to be between twenty to twenty four years of age as on first July twenty twenty six Similarly those with a commercial pilot licence can apply up to twenty six years old Ground duty branches allow candidates between twenty and twenty six years of age as on the same date Since your age is within these limits you meet the age eligibility requirement for AFCAT in all branches

Hello aspirant,

To choose applicants for admission to the Flying Branch and Ground Duty (Technical and Non-Technical) branches, the Indian Air Force administers the AFCAT exam.  Given the high volume of applications for the AFCAT exam, students must adhere to a solid study plan in order to pass.  The AFCAT curriculum is at the graduating level.  The math curriculum is at the high school level.  Candidates should read the syllabus carefully.

To know the complete preparation tips, you can visit our site through following link:

https://competition.careers360.com/articles/afcat-mock-tests

Thank you

The official question paper and answer key for AFCAT twenty twenty five will be released by the Indian Air Force after the exam is conducted Until then candidates can refer to previous year question papers and sample papers for preparation The AFCAT exam includes sections such as General Awareness Verbal Ability Numerical Ability Reasoning and Military Aptitude To prepare well aim to solve mock tests regularly and revise important topics from the syllabus Once the official answer key is available it will be provided through the official AFCAT website after login using your credentials


For a B.Tech in Civil Engineering (bachelor) candidate applying for AFCAT, the correct option is Graduate Option D .

Explanation:

AFCAT eligibility:

AFCAT requires a Bachelor's degree in any discipline (or B.Tech) from a recognized university with a minimum of 60% marks.

Engineering Graduates:

Engineers (B.Tech) are specifically mentioned as eligible under a graduate category, which is option D according to Quora.

Civil Engineering:

Since Civil Engineering is a B.Tech degree, it falls under the engineering graduate category, thus making option D the correct choice.

Option D:

Option D is specifically designed for engineering graduates. It allows you to mention your degree and specify your engineering discipline (Civil Engineering).