AFCAT 01/2027 Written Exam, Official Syllabus and AFSB Selection

Official AFCAT paper: 31 January 2027

The AFCAT online paper is 100 objective questions for 300 marks in 120 minutes, presented in English only. The notification schedules reporting at 8:00 AM, last entry at 9:00 AM, verification from 8:00–9:45 AM, reading instructions from 9:45–10:00 AM and the paper from 10:00 AM–12:00 noon. Admission after the 9 AM last-entry time is not permitted.

Exact syllabus, by published subject

English: Comprehension, sentence error detection, sentence completion, synonyms and antonyms, cloze passage, idioms, analogy, sentence rearrangement, one-word substitution, transformations of sentences and homonyms.

General Awareness: History, geography, sport, national/international organisations, art and culture, personalities, environment and ecology, Indian polity, economics, basic science, science and technology, current affairs (India and international), defence.

Numerical Ability: Decimal fractions, time-work, percentages, averages, profit-loss, ratio-proportion, simple/compound interest, time-distance and races (including trains and boats), area/perimeter, probability, number systems and series, mixtures/alligation, squares, cubes and roots, HCF/LCM, mensuration, heights and distances, statistics (mean/median/mode), exponents and powers.

Reasoning and Military Aptitude: Verbal and non-verbal reasoning. The notification does not publish an official subject-wise number-of-questions or mark split; no such split should be treated as fixed.

NCC Special Entry and GATE Score Entry differ from the AFCAT written route

NCC Special Entry candidates need a valid NCC Air Wing Senior Division C Certificate acquired within the two years preceding registration. They are exempt from the AFCAT written test, and proceed directly to AFSB. Flying branch age and educational requirements still apply. The NCC Flying seat allocation is 10% of specified CDSE PC (men) vacancies and 10% of AFCAT SSC (men/women) vacancies; it is a share of available seats, not an additional exact count. Paragraph 10 also reserves 10% in Ground Duty Technical/Non-Technical for eligible NCC C-certificate holders within vacancies, again not an additive pool.

GATE Score Entry is for AE(L) and AE(M) with an eligible four-year BE/BTech degree and the prescribed GATE subject. Eligible GATE scores are those whose result was declared between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2027; the official selection period spans the commencement of January 2028 courses. Shortlisted GATE applicants are called directly to AFSB, rather than sitting the AFCAT CBT under this route. AE(L) accepts Computer Science/IT, Data Science/AI, Electronics/Communication, Electrical and Instrumentation papers; AE(M) accepts Aerospace, Mechanical, Production/Industrial, Engineering Sciences with the specified allowable optional subjects and Metallurgical Engineering.

AFSB process and final ranking

Candidates passing the AFCAT cutoff—or entering by the separately prescribed NCC/GATE route—are processed at 1 AFSB Dehradun, 2 AFSB Mysuru, 3 AFSB Gandhinagar, 4 AFSB Varanasi and 5 AFSB Guwahati. Stage I consists of Officer Intelligence Rating and Picture Perception and Discussion Test on day one. Those screened in proceed to Stage II: psychology on the first evening followed by group tasks and personal interview over the next five days. Recommended Flying candidates also undergo Computerised Pilot Selection System (CPSS); a prior CPSS/PABT failure disqualifies a Flying candidate. Medical clearance is required before merit-based training allocation.

Both the required written-test minimum (where relevant) and AFSB minimum are set by IAF. The final order of merit combines the applicable written and AFSB marks and depends on medical fitness, branch preferences and vacancies. An AFSB call or written-test pass is not an appointment.

Admit card and the examination-day checklist

The notification schedules AFCAT e-Admit Cards from 27 January 2027 at 11 AM on the official AFCAT portal and by registered email; postal admit cards are not issued. Candidates need the e-Admit Card and original accepted photo ID plus the documents directed in the hall ticket. The exact exam city comes from the allotted admit card, not from a candidate's preference alone.

📊 AFCAT route seats versus GATE seats

Page references

Written paper and syllabus: notification pp. 18–22. AFSB stages: pp. 23–26. Final merit, training and pay: pp. 27–28. Medical criteria: Appendix A.