What AFCAT is
The Air Force Common Admission Test is how the Indian Air Force recruits graduates directly into the Flying Branch (pilots) and the Ground Duty Technical and Non-Technical branches, as Short Service or Permanent Commissioned officers. It runs twice a year, AFCAT 01 and AFCAT 02, and it is the graduate-entry route into the Air Force that sits alongside NDA, which recruits straight out of Class 12 instead, and Agniveer Vayu, which recruits airmen rather than officers under the Agnipath scheme. A candidate who has already finished a degree and missed the NDA window at Class 12 uses AFCAT as the graduate-entry path into the same service.
Who can apply
The core requirement is graduation with a minimum of 60 percent marks, but the exact stream and cutoff percentage vary by branch: the Ground Duty Technical branch specifically requires an engineering or technology degree in a relevant discipline, while Flying Branch and Ground Duty Non-Technical accept a broader range of degrees. Age limits also differ by branch: Flying Branch candidates must be between 20 and 24 years, relaxable up to 26 for a candidate holding a valid Commercial Pilot License issued by the DGCA; Ground Duty branches run 20 to 26 years. Confirm both your degree’s eligibility and your branch-specific age window against the current notification before applying, since AFCAT does not use the same age or qualification band across every branch it recruits for.
How the exam runs
The AFCAT online test runs two hours and has one hundred questions worth three hundred marks, across General Awareness, Verbal Ability in English, Numerical Ability, and Reasoning and Military Aptitude. Each correct answer earns three marks and each wrong answer costs one, a one-third penalty; run your expected attempt pattern through the negative marking calculator before deciding how much to guess.
Candidates applying to the Ground Duty Technical branch additionally sit the EKT, the Engineering Knowledge Test, a separate forty-five minute paper in their own engineering discipline. EKT has no negative marking and is not what decides your primary shortlist; it exists to break ties among technical-branch candidates whose AFCAT scores land close together.
Candidates who clear the written stage move to the AFSB, the Air Force Selection Board, a multi-day process of intelligence and psychological tests, group tasks and a personal interview, broadly similar in structure to the SSB interview NDA candidates sit, followed by a medical examination for those recommended.
Preparing the application
Photograph and signature specifications follow the standard format given in the current AFCAT notification. The photo resizer on this site adjusts an existing photo to the required size in the browser if a studio-provided file does not already match.
The application fee is five hundred fifty rupees plus GST, payable online only. NCC Special Entry candidates apply without paying a fee.
On exam day
Reach the centre at least an hour before the reporting time on your admit card. Carry the printed e-admit card, an original government photo identification, and one recent passport size photograph. Mobile phones, smartwatches, calculators, earphones and any other electronic device are prohibited inside the examination hall.
Choosing between AFCAT, NDA and Agniveer Vayu
All three lead into the Indian Air Force, but at different entry points and with different commitments. NDA is for a Class 12 candidate willing to commit to a multi-year academy training track toward a Permanent Commission. AFCAT is the graduate-entry route into a Short Service or Permanent Commission, open to someone who already holds a degree. Agniveer Vayu recruits airmen, not officers, under the Agnipath scheme’s four-year tour structure, a fundamentally different rank and service commitment from either NDA or AFCAT. Deciding among the three depends on your current qualification, your age, and whether you are targeting an officer commission or airman service; this site’s exam pages for each carry the current, sourced eligibility for that comparison.
For anything this page cannot answer, treat the Indian Air Force’s own official website, linked above, as the last word. For the fuller comparison across all five defence entry routes on this site, see NDA vs AFCAT vs Agniveer.