EPSO AD5 2026 Pass Marks: The Exact Minimum Scores You Need on Each Test

TL;DR. The EPSO AD5 2026 competition (EPSO/AD/427/26, Official Journal C/2026/711) sets five pass marks you must clear individually before anything else is counted: 10/20 on verbal reasoning, 10/20 on the combined numerical + abstract reasoning test, 15/30 on the EU-knowledge MCQ, 20/40 on the digital skills MCQ, and 5/10 on the EUFTE free-text essay. Miss any one minimum and you are eliminated, regardless of how strong your other scores are.

Why the pass mark matters more than the final score

Most candidates obsess over the final weighted ranking. That is the wrong first target. In the AD/427/26 design, passing every minimum is a prerequisite, not a strategic choice. The EPSO selection board applies the pass marks as a sequence of elimination filters: fail one, and your file is closed before the weighted ranking is even computed. Understanding where each cutoff sits — and how far above it you should realistically aim — is the foundation of an efficient study plan.

The five pass marks in one table

All five thresholds sit at exactly 50 %. That is not a coincidence: the Notice treats the minimum as a floor of basic competence, not a target. Candidates who plan around bare-minimum performance almost never make the reserve list.

1. Verbal reasoning — 10 / 20

Twenty questions, thirty-five minutes, taken in your Language 1 (C1 level). The minimum pass mark is 10 correct out of 20. Because verbal reasoning carries 35 % of the final weighted score — the single largest weight of any section — scoring at or near the minimum effectively removes you from the top of the ranking even if you progress. A competitive candidate aims for 16+ out of 20, leaving real margin above the cutoff.

The test measures your ability to draw logical conclusions from short written passages in your strongest language. Speed is the rate-limiter: roughly 105 seconds per question, including reading the passage. The pass mark is reachable with general reading comprehension skills; the top of the distribution is reserved for candidates who have drilled the specific EPSO question format under timed conditions.

2. Numerical + abstract reasoning — 10 / 20 (combined)

This is where most candidates misread the Notice. Numerical and abstract reasoning are delivered as one combined test with a single score out of 20 and a single pass mark of 10. There is no separate cutoff for numerical or for abstract: the score is aggregated and the minimum is applied to the total.

This is also the only test that is pass / fail only for ranking purposes. Scoring 20 out of 20 does not improve your preliminary or final ranking — it just confirms you cleared the floor. The Notice is explicit: numerical + abstract is a gating test, not a weighted one.

Strategic implication: do not over-invest. Scoring 12 – 14 out of 20 is the rational target — comfortably above the minimum, far below the point where extra effort would yield ranking gains. The same study hours are far more productive on verbal reasoning, EU knowledge, digital skills, or the EUFTE.

3. EU knowledge — 15 / 30

Thirty multiple-choice questions in forty minutes, taken in Language 2 (B2 level). The pass mark is 15 out of 30. EU knowledge carries 25 % of the final weighted score, making it jointly the second-largest weight alongside digital skills.

The scope is the institutional architecture and law of the Union: the Treaties (Rome, Maastricht, Lisbon), the roles and powers of the European Parliament, Council, Commission, Court of Justice, European Central Bank, Court of Auditors, European External Action Service; the ordinary legislative procedure; the EU budget; enlargement; key policies. This is the most learnable section on the entire exam — a well-structured syllabus and deliberate revision can move a candidate from the minimum to 25+ out of 30 within weeks.

A competitive target is 22 – 26 out of 30. Below 20, you are leaving final-ranking points on the table.

4. Digital skills — 20 / 40

Forty multiple-choice questions in thirty minutes. The pass mark is 20 out of 40. Digital skills also carries 25 % of the final weighted score, so it is mathematically equivalent to EU knowledge in the ranking.

The Notice defines digital skills broadly: safe and responsible use of digital tools, data literacy, communication and collaboration technologies, problem-solving with digital resources, and awareness of emerging topics such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. The test is conceptual, not technical — no coding, no software-specific trivia.

Thirty minutes for forty questions gives you 45 seconds per item. That is the tightest time-per-question ratio of any section. Scoring well here is almost entirely a function of practice under time pressure, not raw knowledge. A competitive candidate targets 30+ out of 40.

5. EUFTE (free-text essay) — 5 / 10

Forty minutes to produce a short free-text response on an EU-related topic in Language 2. The pass mark is 5 out of 10. The EUFTE is not counted in the preliminary ranking; it enters the picture only for the final reserve-list ranking, where it is weighted at 15 %.

This design has an important practical consequence: your EUFTE is only scored if you already finish in the preliminary top group. That top group size is set each cycle by EPSO, based on the 1,490-seat reserve list and the projected final-ranking distribution. Candidates who pass but fall below the preliminary cutoff never have their essay marked.

Because the EUFTE is the only free-text element, it is also the section where candidate performance spreads the widest. A well-structured essay — clear thesis, referenced EU facts, correct B2+ syntax — frequently lands 7 – 9 out of 10. A poorly planned essay can land at the 5 minimum. That gap, multiplied by the 15 % weight, is often what separates a reserve-list place from a near-miss.

The order in which pass marks are applied

The elimination sequence matters because it determines when you are removed from the procedure if you miss a minimum:

1. All five tests are delivered during the remote-test window on the TAO platform.
2. All four MCQ-based tests are scored automatically (verbal, numerical + abstract, EU knowledge, digital skills). Candidates below any of the four MCQ minimums are eliminated at this stage.
3. Preliminary ranking is computed from verbal (40 %), EU knowledge (30 %) and digital skills (30 %) for surviving candidates.
4. EUFTE essays are marked only for candidates in the preliminary top band.
5. Final ranking re-weights the surviving candidates: verbal 35 %, EU knowledge 25 %, digital skills 25 %, EUFTE 15 %.
6. The top 1,490 enter the reserve list.

A practical consequence: if you fall below the pass mark on any of the four MCQ tests, your EUFTE is never read — even if it would have been excellent.

Minimums vs. competitive targets: a planning table

Three common mistakes around the pass marks

• Treating the 50 % minimum as a goal. At exactly 50 %, you clear elimination but you are near the bottom of the distribution of candidates who clear it. Virtually no one makes the reserve list at 50 % minima.
• Over-preparing numerical + abstract. Because it is pass / fail only, every hour above the pass-confidence threshold is wasted. Redirect it to EU knowledge, digital skills or the EUFTE.
• Skipping EUFTE practice. Candidates assume that if they pass the MCQs they have done the hard part. The EUFTE carries 15 % of the final weight and is where the reserve list is often won or lost.

The single takeaway

The pass marks define the floor, not the bar. Verifiable from the Notice (EPSO/AD/427/26, Official Journal C/2026/711), they should shape the sequence of your study — not its endpoint. Plan to clear every minimum by a margin, concentrate above-minimum effort where the weights are greatest (verbal, EU knowledge, digital skills, EUFTE), and keep numerical + abstract just comfortably above the cutoff.

Source: Notice of Competition EPSO/AD/427/26, Official Journal C/2026/711, published 5 February 2026.