AFCAT Exam Pattern 2025 - Subject Wise Pattern, Marking Scheme, Syllabus
Indian Air Force releases the AFCAT exam pattern 2025 in the official notification. The AFCAT 2025 exam pattern is available online on the official website - afcat.cdac.in. Candidates can make themselves aware of important information pertaining to the exam such as subject-wise sections and the marking scheme in the AFCAT 1 exam pattern 2025.
Additionally, information such as total marks exam, section-wise marks and negative marking schemes can also be found in the AFCAT exam pattern. Before beginning preparation for the AFCAT exam, candidates are advised to go through the exam details mentioned in the AFCAT exam pattern. The exam, as per the AFCAT 1 2025 exam pattern, consists of a written exam, along with an Engineering Knowledge Test (EKT) which candidates appearing for technical posts should also attempt. Afterwards, the candidates who have cleared these exams will have to appear for the ASFB interview and medical test. Candidates are encouraged to go through the material below for further information regarding the AFCAT exam pattern 2025.
AFCAT Exam Pattern 2025: Highlights
Exam | AFCAT 2025 Exam Pattern | EKT (only for technical) |
Mode of Exam | Online | Online |
No. of Questions | 100 | 50 |
Maximum Marks | 300 | 150 |
Duration of Exam | 2 hours (120 minutes) | 45 minutes |
Sections in Paper | General Awareness, Verbal Ability in English, Numerical Ability and Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test | Mechanical, Computer Science and Electrical & Electronics |
Negative Marking | 1 mark | 1 mark |
Also Read:
- AFCAT Application Form 2025
- AFCAT Exam Dates 2025
AFCAT 2025 Exam Stages
Online written test
AFSB (Air Force Selection Board) Interview
Medical Test
Online Written Test - The online test is the first stage of the AFCAT recruitment process. Aspirants with the AFCAT admit card will be eligible to appear in the AFCAT written test. The AFCAT online test will be conducted for subjects such as English, Numerical ability, Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test and EKT Syllabus for candidates opting for engineering knowledge test.
AFSB (Air Force Selection Board) - The online test will be followed by the AFSB which is a 5-day event, conducted in Air Force centres such as - Varanasi, Dehradun, Gandhinagar and Mysore. In AFSB, the aspirants will be judged on various parameters like screening, picture perception and discussion test, personal information questionnaire, physical training like monkey crawl, jumping across the screen, parallel beam or balancing etc. The AFSB will then be followed by the medical test.
Medical Test - In the medical test, a thorough health checkup will be conducted for the candidates. If the candidates are found to be having any kind of medical issue, they will be given some time to recover.
AFCAT Syllabus 2025
The Indian Air Force (IAF) prescribes the AFCAT 2025 syllabus and is mentioned in the official notification. Candidates preparing with the AFCAT syllabus must follow the subjects, topics and sub-topics on which the question paper will be based. As per the AFCAT 2025 syllabus, there will be four sections in the exam - English, General Awareness, Numerical Ability & Reasoning, and Military Aptitude Test. From the following tables, candidates can check the subject-wise topics for the syllabus of AFCAT 2025.
AFCAT Syllabus: General Awareness
History | Sports | Geography | Art and Culture | Current Affairs (National & International) | National & International Organisations | Science & Technology |
Politics | Civics | Defence | Indian Polity | Basic Science Based Knowledge | Environment & Ecology | Economy |
AFCAT Syllabus: English
Comprehension | Basic Grammar | Fill in the blanks by choosing the appropriate word |
Error Detection | Sentence Completion | Synonyms and Antonyms |
| Analogy | Idioms and Phrases | Cloze Test or Fill in the Gaps in a paragraph |
AFCAT Syllabus: Numerical Ability
Decimal and Fraction | Simple Interest & Compound Interest | Time & Distance (Trains/Boats & Streams) | Percentage |
Ratio and Proportion | Time and Work | Average/ Percentage | Profit and Loss |
| Area and Perimeter | Mixture & Allegation Rules | Number System & Number Series | Probability |
AFCAT Syllabus: Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test
| Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning |
Also Read:
- AFCAT Login 2025
- AFCAT Exam Analysis 2025
AFCAT Syllabus: EKT Syllabus
Candidates planning to apply for the ground duty (Technical) branch will have to take an additional online test - Engineering Knowledge Test (EKT).
AFCAT Syllabus Topics
Syllabus | Topics |
AFCAT EKT Fundamental Engineering Syllabus | Engineering Physics, Engineering Mathematics, and Engineering Drawing |
AFCAT EKT Mechanical Engineering Syllabus | Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics/Hydraulic Machines, Engineering Mechanics, Materials Science, Thermodynamics, Manufacturing Science, and Machine Drawing |
AFCAT EKT Electrical & Electronics Engineering Syllabus | Microwave Engineering, Analog, and Digital Electronics, Electronic Devices, Telecommunication Systems, Microwave Engineering, Control Engineering, and Electrical Engineering |
AFCAT EKT Computer Science Engineering Syllabus | Information Technology, Network Theory Design, Analog, and Digital Electronics, Computer Networks, Switching Theory, and Electronic Devices |
AFCAT EKT Allied Engineering Topics Syllabus | Control Engineering, Telecommunication Systems, Electrical Engineering, Radar Theory, Instrumentation, Antenna, and Wave Propagation, and Microwave Engineering |
Also check:
- AFCAT Result 2025
- AFCAT Admit Card 2025
AFCAT Question Papers 2025
Some leading coaching institute provide the question papers of AFCAT 2025 in online mode. Candidates can refer to IAF AFCAT question paper 2025 while preparing for the exam. The AFCAT 2025 question papers consist of questions from subjects such as quantitative aptitude, logical reasoning, general knowledge, and English language. By solving past years' AFCAT question papers during preparation, aspirants will be familiar with the topics asked in the exam, the exam pattern, the difficulty level of questions, etc.
AFCAT Preparation Tips 2025
Candidates preparing for the AFCAT exam must prepare in such a way that they can beat the cut throat competition and qualify successfully. From the following points, candidates can check the preparation tips of AFCAT 2025.
Aspirants must refer to the exam pattern and syllabus mentioned in the official AFCAT notification.
Download the previous years' question papers of AFCAT in order to successfully practise for the exam.
They can go through the ebooks of current affairs published monthly while preparing for the general awareness section.
Give mock tests on a regular basis to increase speed, accuracy, and time management skills.
Refer to the past year's trends of AFCAT cut off to know the difficulty level of the AFCAT exam.
Aspirants must do a self-analysis to know about their strong and weak sections.
Aspirants must also know about the defense equipment used by the Indian defense forces as the questions related to it can be asked in the interview rounds.
Also Read:
- AFCAT Answer Key 2025
- AFCAT Salary 2025
AFCAT Books 2025
To prepare for any exam and not just AFCAT, the best part is to refer to the study materials which can add on to the preparation strategy. From the following table, aspirants can check the best books related to the AFCAT exam preparations.
AFCAT Books 2025
Subjects | Publication |
AFCAT Books on General Awareness | Lucent’s General Knowledge The Malayala Manorama English Yearbook From Plinth to Paramount by Neetu Singh - KD Publication Verbal Ability |
AFCAT Books on Verbal Ability | Objective General English by Dr. RS. Aggarwal Verbal Reasoning by Bhupendra Kumar Singh Numerical Ability |
AFCAT Books on Numerical Ability | Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by RS Aggarwal/ S.Chand Publishing Objective Arithmetic- S Chand Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation-Disha Publication |
AFCAT Books on Aptitude Test | Quantitative Aptitude- S.Chand Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Exams-McGraw Hill Education |
Check Other Competitive Exam Patterns
- NDA Exam Pattern
- CDS Exam Pattern
- CAPF Exam Pattern
- SSC CGL Exam Pattern
AFCAT Mock Test 2025
IAF provides the AFCAT mock test in online mode on the official website. The AFCAT 2025 mock test will help the students to understand the AFCAT exam pressure and the AFCAT exam pattern 2025 in a better way. Candidates need to login through the dummy login credentials already mentioned on the page and start their AFCAT mock test 2025. Using the AFCAT mock test 2025, candidates will be able to understand their preparation level too.