EPSO AD5 2026 Digital Skills Test: Scoring, Pass Mark and What to Study

The EPSO AD5 2026 Digital Skills test is one of the official test areas in competition EPSO/AD/427/26. It is not a coding exam, and it is not a vague “technology awareness” exercise. The official notice defines it as a multiple-choice test assessing digital literacy: the ability to understand and use digital technologies for different tasks and purposes.

This guide focuses on the practical facts candidates search for most: language, number of questions, duration, pass mark, scoring weight and what to study. The application window ran from 5 February to 10 March 2026 and is now closed. Candidates who applied should also keep the administrative deadline for supporting documents in view: 7 October 2026.

Digital Skills test format at a glance

The first important consequence is timing. Forty questions in thirty minutes means candidates cannot treat this section as a slow reading exercise. You need enough digital vocabulary in your Language 2 to understand each scenario quickly, identify the tested concept and eliminate distractors without translating every word back into your stronger language.

Which language is used?

The Digital Skills test is taken in Language 2. In the official AD5 language split, the reasoning tests are in Language 1, while the EU Knowledge test, Digital Skills test and EUFTE are in Language 2.

That matters for preparation. If your digital knowledge is stronger than your Language 2 vocabulary, the bottleneck may not be the concept itself. It may be terms such as data, access, sharing, authentication, source reliability, collaborative tools, online safety or digital content. Build your study list in the language in which you will sit the test.

What does EPSO say the Digital Skills test covers?

The official notice links the test to the European Digital Competence Framework (DigComp). It lists five areas:

• Information and data literacy: finding, evaluating, interpreting and managing information or data.
• Communication and collaboration: using digital tools to communicate, work with others and share information appropriately.
• Digital content creation: understanding how digital content is created, adapted, organised and used.
• Safety: recognising risks around security, privacy, data protection, wellbeing and responsible use.
• Problem solving: choosing practical digital solutions and adapting to technical or workflow issues.

For an AD5 generalist, the safest study angle is practical administration, not specialist IT. Think like a junior EU administrator who must handle documents, data, digital collaboration, information quality and responsible use of tools in a professional environment.

How the Digital Skills score affects ranking

The Digital Skills test is not only a pass-fail hurdle. It also contributes to ranking for candidates who reach the relevant scoring stages.

• It has a required pass mark of 20/40.
• It is included in the preliminary combined score with a 30% weighting.
• It is included in the final combined score with a 25% weighting.

That makes Digital Skills strategically different from numerical and abstract reasoning. Numerical and abstract reasoning have a combined pass requirement, but they are not included in the preliminary or final combined score. Digital Skills can therefore help or hurt your ranking, not just your ability to remain in the competition.

What to study first

Start with the official five DigComp areas and convert them into exam habits:

• For information and data literacy, practise identifying reliable sources, misleading data presentation, search intent and basic data-handling choices.
• For communication and collaboration, review permissions, version control habits, shared documents, meeting tools and appropriate communication channels.
• For digital content creation, focus on copyright awareness, document structure, accessible formatting, reuse of content and practical editing workflows.
• For safety, revise phishing, passwords, multi-factor authentication, personal data, confidentiality and secure behaviour.
• For problem solving, practise choosing the simplest effective digital action when a workflow, file, access or data issue appears.

A sensible practice routine

Use a three-step routine rather than rereading broad digital-policy material endlessly.

1. Baseline: do one timed Digital Skills practice set in Language 2 and log every wrong answer by topic and by language problem.
2. Repair: revise the narrow concept behind each mistake. Was it source reliability, data handling, collaboration etiquette, safety or content creation?
3. Retest: repeat a short timed set three or four days later and check whether the same error type is still appearing.

The goal is not to memorise a giant technology syllabus. The goal is to become quick and accurate on the recurring digital decisions that a modern public-administration role requires.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Ignoring the language issue. If the test is in Language 2, your study notes should be in Language 2.
• Studying programming instead of digital literacy. The official notice points to practical digital competence, not software engineering.
• Treating 20/40 as the target. The pass mark is the floor. Because Digital Skills contributes to ranking, aim for a safer margin.
• Separating Digital Skills from EUFTE. Digital topics can also strengthen your examples and clarity in written EU-matters practice, even though the EUFTE is assessed separately.

How PassEPSO helps

PassEPSO helps you practise Digital Skills inside the full AD5 preparation path, alongside verbal, numerical, abstract, EU Knowledge and EUFTE practice. The useful part is diagnosis: once you know whether mistakes come from digital concepts, time pressure or Language 2 vocabulary, you can stop wasting sessions on the wrong fix.

If a concept keeps causing errors, Ask Peter can explain the reasoning step by step so you understand why one digital decision is safer, more efficient or more appropriate than another.

Official sources used

• Notice of open competition EPSO/AD/427/26, Official Journal C/2026/711
• EU Careers consolidated notice of competition EPSO/AD/427/26
• EU Careers — Graduates (Administrators — AD5)