Overview
AFCAT (Air Force Common Admission Test) is the entrance exam through which the Indian Air Force recruits officers into its Flying Branch and Ground Duty (Technical and Non-Technical) branches. The Air Force now runs recruitment through its Career Portal at careerairforce.gov.in (the older afcat.cdac.in address is no longer in use); the application system itself has also been seen hosted at afcat.edcil.co.in during recent cycles. AFCAT is held twice a year, numbered by cycle — for example AFCAT 01 and AFCAT 02 of a given year — each with its own vacancy count, dates and fee. For the AFCAT 02/2026 cycle, 379 vacancies were notified across Flying, Ground Duty (Technical), Ground Duty (Non-Technical) and GATE-score entry, with online applications open from 20 May 2026 to 21 June 2026 (later extended) and the written exam held on 8 August 2026, per secondary reporting on the notification. Because the official portal could not be fetched directly for this review, these cycle-specific figures should be confirmed on careerairforce.gov.in before relying on them.
Who can apply
Age and educational eligibility vary by branch (Flying, Ground Duty Technical, Ground Duty Non-Technical) and entry type (AFCAT entry, NCC Special Entry, GATE Score entry), and are fixed as on a stated cut-off date in each cycle's notification — for AFCAT 02/2026, reports place the general age band at 20 to 26 years with the cut-off date 1 July 2027. Candidates must be unmarried at the time the course begins; marriage is not permitted during training. Because age bands and qualifications differ by branch and are reset every cycle, check the specific branch-wise eligibility table in the live notification on careerairforce.gov.in rather than assume a fixed rule.
Exam pattern
AFCAT is a single computer-based objective test. Per the AFCAT 02/2026 notification (as reported by secondary sources), the paper pattern is:
| Section | Questions | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| General Awareness | Part of 100 total | Graduation-level standard |
| Verbal Ability in English | Part of 100 total | Graduation-level standard |
| Numerical Ability | Part of 100 total | Matriculation (10th) level standard |
| Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test | Part of 100 total | Graduation-level standard |
| Total | 100 questions, 300 marks | 2 hours, English only |
Marking: +3 for a correct answer, -1 for a wrong answer, 0 for an unattempted question. If the exam runs in multiple shifts, the Air Force applies a normalisation formula to the raw scores. NCC Special Entry and GATE Score Entry candidates are exempt from this written test and move directly into the selection pipeline on their existing scores.
Selection process
AFCAT written exam — the objective test described above, for candidates applying through the regular AFCAT entry.
Air Force Selection Board (AFSB) — a multi-day assessment for shortlisted candidates: Stage I covers the Officer Intelligence Rating test and a Picture Perception & Discussion Test; Stage II covers psychological tests, group tasks and a personal interview, spread over about five days.
Medical examination — candidates recommended by the AFSB are medically examined against Indian Air Force standards.
Final merit list — prepared from the written test and AFSB scores of medically fit candidates.
Fees
Reports on the AFCAT 02/2026 notification put the application fee at ₹550 plus 18% GST, payable online (debit card, credit card, net banking or UPI), and non-refundable. Candidates applying through NCC Special Entry or GATE Score Entry are exempt from this fee. Confirm the fee for the current cycle on the live notification, since it can change between cycles.
How to apply
Applications are submitted online through the Indian Air Force's recruitment portal for the specific AFCAT cycle (careerairforce.gov.in, with the live application form sometimes hosted at afcat.edcil.co.in). Candidates select their branch and preferred AFSB centre, fill in personal and educational details, pay the fee online, and download the confirmation page. Always use the current cycle's live notification and portal link rather than a saved link from an earlier cycle, since the Air Force has changed the hosting domain in the past.
Preparation tips
Because AFCAT is conducted twice a year with its own vacancy count, dates and branch-wise eligibility each cycle, always confirm current details from the live notification rather than an earlier cycle's figures. Numerical Ability is set at a relatively easier (10th-standard) level compared with the graduation-level General Awareness, English and Reasoning sections, so candidates often gain more by shoring up accuracy in the harder sections than by over-preparing arithmetic. Given the -1 negative mark per wrong answer against +3 for a correct one, guessing only pays off when at least one option can be confidently eliminated.
Who conducts AFCAT and where do I apply?
The Indian Air Force conducts AFCAT for entry into the Flying Branch and Ground Duty (Technical and Non-Technical) branches. Applications go through the Air Force's Career Portal, careerairforce.gov.in, for the live cycle; the older afcat.cdac.in address is no longer used.
How many times a year is AFCAT held?
AFCAT is conducted twice a year, notified as separate cycles (for example AFCAT 01 and AFCAT 02 of a year), each with its own vacancies, dates and fee.
What is the AFCAT written exam pattern?
100 objective questions worth 300 marks, covering General Awareness, English, Numerical Ability and Reasoning & Military Aptitude, in a 2-hour, English-only paper. Correct answers score +3 and wrong answers score -1, per the AFCAT 02/2026 notification as reported.
What happens after clearing the AFCAT written exam?
Shortlisted candidates go through an Air Force Selection Board (AFSB) assessment over about five days — intelligence and picture-perception tests, then psychological tests, group tasks and a personal interview — followed by a medical examination for those recommended, before a final merit list is drawn up.
Do NCC and GATE-entry candidates take the AFCAT written test?
No. Candidates applying through NCC Special Entry or GATE Score Entry skip the written exam and proceed directly to the AFSB stage on their existing NCC or GATE credentials, per reported details of the AFCAT 02/2026 notification.
What is the AFCAT application fee?
Reports on the AFCAT 02/2026 notification list a non-refundable fee of ₹550 plus 18% GST for AFCAT-entry candidates, paid online; NCC Special Entry and GATE Score Entry candidates are exempt. Confirm the fee for the current cycle on the live notification.