In the present article, we will discuss in detail the intricacies of the Air Force Common Admission Test or commonly known as AFCAT. It is a pan-India examination conducted all across India by the Indian Air Force. For all entries other than NDA and CDSE and for all branches, candidates have to undergo the AFCAT. The test is conducted twice a year in February and August. The notifications inviting applications for AFCAT are tentatively out in June and December. The syllabus for the AFCAT exam is as follows:
- General Awareness: History, Geography, Civics, Politics, Current Affairs, Environment, Basic Science, Defence, Art, Culture, Sports, etc.
- Verbal Ability in English: Comprehension, Error Detection, Sentence Completion/
Filling in of correct word, Synonyms, Antonyms and Testing of Vocabulary,
Idioms and Phrases.
- Numerical Ability: Decimal Fraction, Time and Work, Average, Profit & Loss, Percentage, Ratio & Proportion and Simple Interest, Time & Distance (Trains/Boats & Streams).
- Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test: Verbal Skills and Spatial Ability.
The rules for the AFCAT exam are as follows:
- Duration of the exam: 2 Hours
- No. of Questions: 100
- Total Marks: 300
- The exam will be Online and will be held at the centre allotted.
- It will consist of objective type questions and will be in English only.
- Marking Scheme is as follows:-
(a) Three marks will be awarded for every correct answer.
(b) One mark will be deducted for every incorrect answer.
(c) No marks for unattempted questions.
- Air Force has the discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all the subjects of the examination.
- The standard of Numerical Ability Questions will be of Matriculation level. The standard of questions in other subjects will be of graduation level (Indian University).
- You can visit the IAF website https://careerindianairforce.cdac.in or https://afcat.cdac.in, where you can get few practice (mock) tests, which will help you get an idea of the level and the type of questions asked in the examination. Also attempting these mock tests before taking the examination, will help you increase your speed and mentally prepare you for the test.
Points to keep in mind while filling out the form:
- The candidates should exercise due care while entering their Date of Birth. Any variation found in DOB on their Matriculation or equivalent examination certificate during verification at any subsequent stage, will render them disqualified.
- While filling in the application form, the applicants must ensure that they provide their valid and active e-mail IDs as the IAF would use electronic mode of communication while contacting them at different stages throughout the selection process. On successful submission of online application form, the candidate will receive a confirmatory e-mail on their registered e-mail ID.
- As far as possible, candidates will be allotted centres as per their choice. Candidates should note that no request for change of centre/ date/ slot will be entertained. Therefore candidates should exercise due care before deciding date/ slot of his/ her choice for the centre for the examination before filling the form.
The eligible candidates shall be issued with an e-Admit Card three weeks before the date of the examination. The e-Admit Card will be sent to the registered email IDs and will also be available at the website www.careerindianairforce.cdac.in for all candidates who successfully submitted their online application.
For AFCAT entry, IAF shall prepare a list of candidates who obtain the minimum qualifying marks in the Online AFCAT as fixed by the IAF in their discretion. If you have successfully cleared Step 1,i.e. if you have obtained the minimum qualifying marks in the examination you will be asked to select a service selection board from among, the Air Force Selection Boards located at Dehradun, Varanasi, Gandhinagar and Mysuru.
YLCC would like to thank Apurwa Shah for her valuable inputs in this article.
