Defence · Government Exams

AFCAT Study Material

Standard notes cover three of the four sections well. Defence awareness and spatial reasoning need their own attention.

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AFCAT · checked 19 September 2026

AFCAT at a glance, from the official notices

The dates, vacancies and rules below are read on the conducting body’s own site and rewritten as each notice appears. The guide beneath carries the full pattern, syllabus, cut-offs and free mock tests.

Free AFCAT mock testAFCAT syllabusToday’s current affairs
19September 2026

Checked 19 September 2026

AFCAT: the facts that matter now

  1. 01

    AFCAT 01/2026: registration 17 November – 14 December 2025, examination 31 January 2026, AFSB calls issued. AFCAT 02/2026: registration 20 May –…

    2026 cycles

  2. 02

    Indian Air Force through the AFCAT portal (afcat.edcil.co.in) twice a year — Cycle 01 in the first half and Cycle 02 in the second — for the…

    Conducted by

  3. 03

    AFCAT 02/2026: about 353 through AFCAT — Flying 35, Ground Duty (Technical) 211, Ground Duty (Non-Technical) 107 — plus 26 through GATE score…

    Vacancies

  4. 04

    Graduates: Flying 20–24 on 1 July 2027 with physics and mathematics at 10+2; Ground Duty 20–26; unmarried; men and women

    Eligibility

Notes

AFCAT — Study material for this exam

The reasoning notes are worth working specifically for their spatial content, which is the part of AFCAT that most differs from other competitive papers. For defence awareness, past papers plus a regularly followed defence news source are the practical substitute for study material, since no general guide covers it.

Subject notes for AFCAT

Reasoning notes General knowledge notes English notes Quantitative aptitude notes Geography notes Current affairs

A daily routine

  • Twenty minutes of spatial reasoning practice — the highest-return drill for this paper.
  • Thirty minutes of general awareness, including a defence news source.
  • Twenty minutes of English vocabulary and error detection.
  • Arithmetic practice timed, on paper, without a calculator.
  • Physical training on most days, for the selection board and the medical.
Reasoning material — worked for its spatial content
Rotated blocks, embedded figures, pattern completion, figure classification and mirror images. General reasoning books cover the verbal families well and the spatial ones lightly, so seek out the spatial sets specifically.
General awareness — with a defence list attached
Conventional history, geography, polity, science and current affairs, plus a separate defence awareness sheet built from past papers. The second is the part nothing on a general shelf supplies.
English — a short rule set and a word list
Error detection, sentence completion, synonyms and antonyms. Finite, learnable and among the most reliable marks in the paper for a candidate willing to spend twenty minutes a day.
Numerical ability — fluency drilling
Matriculation arithmetic done on paper without a calculator, against a clock. The content will not stretch a graduate; the pace will.

Reading widely serves the board as well as the paper

For an entry where a multi-day assessment carries the selection, a habit of reading beyond the syllabus is preparation rather than enrichment. It feeds current affairs, it supplies the informed views the interview probes, and it is one of the few things a candidate can do months in advance that visibly changes how they present at a selection board.

Reading for a short, harshly penalised paper with a board stage after it.
SectionRead thisDo not spend time on
EnglishGrammar applied through practice, comprehension at pace, and vocabulary from sustained reading.Advanced literary material.
General awarenessHistory, geography, polity, economy, science, sports, culture, current affairs and defence-related material.Depth in one subject; the section is broad and quick.
Numerical abilitySchool arithmetic — percentage, ratio, average, profit and loss, time and work, simple interest — practised for speed.Advanced mathematics, which the paper does not reach.
Reasoning and military aptitudeVerbal and spatial reasoning practised deliberately, since the spatial half is unfamiliar to most candidates.Only verbal reasoning practice, which leaves half the section untouched.
Board and, where applicable, pilot aptitudeThe board process, and for flying-branch candidates the aptitude test, which has its own character and limited retake rules.Assuming the written paper is the selection.

Exam resources

Everything for AFCAT

Six resource pages, each kept in step with the latest official notification.

AFCAT SyllabusAFCAT syllabus — general awareness, verbal ability in English, numerical ability, and reasoning and military aptitude: the four sections of one paper.AFCAT Exam PatternAFCAT exam pattern 2026 — the 100-question, 300-mark online test with +3/−1 marking, four sections, normalisation, AFSB stages, CPSS and branch-wise merit.AFCAT Previous PapersAFCAT previous year papers — extracting the defence awareness seam and practising the spatial reasoning that dominates the aptitude section.AFCAT Mock TestsAFCAT mock tests — full paper practice with the one-mark negative marking applied, plus spatial reasoning drills.AFCAT PreparationAFCAT preparation strategy — guessing discipline, spatial reasoning, defence awareness and preparing for the AFSB.AFCAT Study MaterialAFCAT study material — general awareness, English, numerical ability and reasoning notes, with a defence awareness emphasis.

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