Do you want to be in Air Force

Do you want to be in Air Force

Understanding the code to crack Air Force Common Admission Test (AFCAT) will help candidates qualify with ease, writes retired Wing Commander Dinesh Mathur

17.08.2020

Joining the Indian Air Force (IAF) remains a preferred career option for numerous millennials of our country. Even though, a considerable number of aspirants apply for various officerlevel entries of the IAF, selecting candidates having desired aptitude and potential remains an issue with the selectors. Towards this aim, the IAF has appropriately introduced AFCAT as a screening test. Only after one clears AFCAT, he/she is qualified to undergo Services Selection Board (SSB) test, which comprehensively assesses a candidate’s OLQs (Officer Like Qualities).

What is AFCAT

AFCAT is a graduate-level online test, which is currently used to screen candidates for all entries of the IAF, excluding NDA and CDSE. This implies that this test is mandatory for induction in all entries which include flying, Ground Duties (Technical and Non-Technical) branches of the IAF. However, candidates keen to join IAF as Technical Officers are required to additionally appear in EKT (Engineering Knowledge Test). AFCAT is conducted twice a year in the months of February and August. AFCAT exam has following four sections:

English: There are 20-25 questions to assess a candidate’s basic proficiency in English language. In this part, topics such as Comprehension, Error Detection, Sentence filling by Correct Words, Vocabulary test (Synonyms, Antonyms and One Word Substitution etc.), Idioms and Phrases are included. Candidates are expected to follow a routine of reading books, magazines and newspapers.

General Awareness: This part has 20-25 questions of graduate level awareness and includes topics like History, Geography, Civics, Politics, Environment, Defence, Sports, Current Affairs etc. To prepare for static GK, referring to books of recognized publishers and material available in NCERT books would be helpful.

Numerical Ability: This section comprises 18-20 questions of class X level mathematics and includes topics like Decimal and Fraction, Time and Work, Averages, Profit and Loss, Percentage, Ratio and Proportion, Simple and Compound Interest, Time and Distance etc. Even though the level of questions asked is not very difficult, but managing speed to solve each question is crucial. Towards this aim, the candidate must practice solving maths questions within the prescribed time limit. In addition, candidates must take online mock tests available on IAF website to solve questions at a fast speed.

Reasoning and Military Aptitude: Interestingly, this part of AFCAT has been ascribed more significance compared to other parts. Accordingly, there are 30-35 questions of graduate level in this section. Questions in this part are based on Venn diagrams, Figural Series, Figural Classification, Analogy, Verbal/Word Classification, Spatial ability tests, establishing relations and Letter/Symbol series etc. These tests lay stress on testing a candidate’s observation skills and registering finer aspects of a given situation and logical approach and reasoning.

It has been observed that cutoff marks generally range between 140-150 out of 300 every year. However, a candidate should aim to score 200 or more marks in AFCAT to feel secure about his/her final selection.

(The author is decorated with VSM and is former chief instructor at the Defence Institute of Psychological Research and has been part of two Services Selection Boards)