Guides
How the competitions work and how to prepare for each test, written from the notices of competition and EPSO's own pages.
How EPSO competitions work
Notice of competition, application, reasoning tests, field tests, reserve list: the stages of an open competition and what each one decides.
7 min read · updated October 2026The 2026 AD5 graduate competition, test by test
Questions, time limits, pass marks and languages for EPSO/AD/427/26, and how the two testing parts fit together.
6 min read · updated October 2026Numerical reasoning: what is tested and how to get faster
The question types behind EPSO numerical items, the arithmetic shortcuts that matter without a calculator, and the traps built into the options.
8 min read · updated October 2026Abstract reasoning: finding the rules in a series
The attributes that change in EPSO figure series, how to combine several rules at once, and how the wrong options are built.
6 min read · updated October 2026Accuracy and precision: 40 items in 6 minutes
What the AST-SC accuracy test looks like, the kinds of discrepancies it hides, and a scanning technique that keeps nine seconds per item realistic.
5 min read · updated October 2026Prioritising and organising: rules, tables and the only option that fits
How the AST-SC organising test combines a short scenario with timetables, calendars and budgets, and how to eliminate options systematically.
5 min read · updated October 2026Test day: remote testing, rules and a checklist
EPSO tests are taken online on a fixed date. What to prepare, what is allowed, and how to avoid losing a session to a technical problem.
4 min read · updated October 2026CAST: how contract agents are selected
The permanent CAST procedure: applying, being pre-selected by an institution, and the reasoning tests that follow.
4 min read · updated October 2026