How EPSO competitions work
7 min read · updated October 2026
The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) runs the open competitions through which the EU institutions recruit permanent officials, and the CAST procedure for contract agents. Every open competition follows the same skeleton, laid down in a notice of competition published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The notice is the rulebook: eligibility, languages, the tests, their pass marks and how candidates are ranked. Read it before anything else, and watch the competition page for amendments; the 2026 AD5 notice, for example, was changed in June 2026 to split the tests into two parts.
1. Eligibility and application
You apply through EPSO's Single Candidate Portal with an EU Login account. Typical conditions are EU citizenship, a university degree (AD) or secondary education plus experience (AST, AST-SC), and knowledge of at least two official EU languages: language 1 at level C1 and language 2 at level B2, where language 2 is normally restricted to a short list set by the notice. Eligibility is checked against your application form, so declare your qualifications precisely.
2. Reasoning tests
Every competition, and CAST, starts with multiple-choice reasoning tests: verbal, numerical and abstract. They are taken online, on a date and time fixed by EPSO. In the 2026 AD5 competition the reasoning tests form part 1 and are a threshold: verbal reasoning needs 10 out of 20, and numerical plus abstract together need 10 out of 20. Candidates who pass are invited to part 2.
3. Field, knowledge and written tests
What follows depends on the profile. Generalist AD5 candidates sit an EU knowledge multiple-choice test, a digital skills test based on the DigComp framework and a short written test on EU matters (EUFTE). Specialist competitions replace the EU knowledge test with a field-related multiple-choice test, which is usually the ranking test. Secretaries and clerks (AST-SC) take speed tests on accuracy and precision and prioritising and organising. Lawyer-linguists and translators take language comprehension and translation tests.
4. Ranking and the reserve list
Candidates are ranked by the scores the notice designates as counting, until the number of places on the reserve list is reached. The reserve list is published, and the institutions recruit from it as posts become available. Being on the list is not a job offer. Lists are typically valid for about a year and are often extended.
What this means for preparation
- The reasoning tests eliminate the largest share of candidates, so time-pressured practice pays off first.
- For specialists the field test decides the ranking: budget most study time there once reasoning is secure.
- Use the competition calendar to align your preparation with the testing window of your competition.