How to Pass EPSO Tests: 8-Week Study Plan for AD5 2026

The EPSO/AD/427/26 competition is not tested in one sitting, so it is not prepared in one timeline. The amending notice of 30 June 2026 split the testing phase in two, and a study plan that ignores that split spends its best weeks on tests that are more than a year away.

The split, in EPSO's own terms:

• Part 1 — reasoning. Verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning in Language 1, all three in one session, expected as of October/November 2026.
• Part 2 — EU knowledge, digital skills and the EUFTE essay, in Language 2, open only to candidates who reach the Part 1 pass scores. EPSO states this will take place in 2027, on dates to be announced later.

So this is two sprints, not one: eight weeks now on the three reasoning tests, and a separate sprint later on the Language 2 sections — started when EPSO publishes the Part 2 dates, not before.

Sprint 1: eight weeks for the Part 1 reasoning tests

Part 1 is verbal reasoning (20 questions, 35 minutes, pass 10/20), numerical reasoning (10 questions, 20 minutes) and abstract reasoning (10 questions, 10 minutes), the last two sharing a single combined 10/20 threshold. Under Table 6 of the notice, verbal reasoning is 40% of the preliminary combined score and 35% of the final one, while numerical and abstract enter neither. That ranking asymmetry is what the eight weeks are built around.

Week 0: benchmark the three reasoning types

• Take one timed session in each of verbal, numerical and abstract to get a baseline. Nothing else — the Language 2 sections are not part of this sprint.
• Write the three numbers down. The plan below follows the weakest of them, not your preference.

Weeks 1–4: verbal reasoning, the only ranked test in Part 1

• The clock allows about 105 seconds per question. Practise at that pace from the first session; untimed practice teaches the content and hides the problem.
• Work on the logical structure of the passage — premises, conclusion, what is assumed and what is merely stated.
• Read the text once and answer. Re-reading is where the 35 minutes go.
• Review every miss the same day, and retake the pattern rather than re-reading the explanation.

Week 5: numerical reasoning to a reliable pass

• Ten questions in 20 minutes: two minutes each, on tables, graphs, percentages, ratios and simple statistics. No advanced mathematics is required.
• Target a stable pass and stop there. Points above the threshold do not enter either combined score.

Week 6: abstract reasoning to a reliable pass

• Ten questions in ten minutes: 60 seconds each, so recognition speed matters more than the complexity of the rule.
• Remember the threshold is combined with numerical at 10/20, so a weak side has to be carried by the other.

Week 7: rehearse Part 1 as one session

• Run verbal, numerical and abstract back to back in the official order and timings — that is how they are sat, and switching from a 35-minute verbal block into 20 minutes of numerical is its own skill.
• Compare timing and accuracy section by section, not just the total.

Week 8: consolidate, and be ready before the invitation

• No new material. Repeat the weakest of the three reasoning types and re-run the missed patterns.
• Confirm the practical side: stable connection, quiet room, valid ID, the TAO platform. Tests are delivered remotely and remotely proctored.
• Candidates are invited individually several weeks in advance and rescheduling is not possible, so this sprint has to be finished when the invitation arrives, not started then.

Sprint 2: EU knowledge, digital skills and the EUFTE — later, in Language 2

These three tests belong to Part 2, which EPSO states will take place in 2027, on dates to be announced later. Start this sprint when those dates are announced. Until then there is no date to count back from, and weeks spent here are weeks not spent on the test that actually ranks you in the autumn.

What Sprint 2 has to cover when it starts:

• EU knowledge — 30 questions in 40 minutes, pass mark 15/30, weighted 30% of the preliminary score and 25% of the final one. Institutions and what each one does, the ordinary legislative procedure, the treaties and what each changed, and the current policy framework.
• Digital skills — 40 questions in 30 minutes, pass mark 20/40, same weights. That is 45 seconds per question, the tightest clock in the competition. The DigComp areas, applied rather than theoretical.
• EUFTE free-text essay — 40 minutes, pass mark 5/10, 15% of the final score, and marked only for candidates at the top of the preliminary ranking. Structure, concision, clarity, adaptation to audience and use of the source material are the published assessment anchors.
• Language 2 itself — all three are sat in your second language at B2 or above.

The one thing worth carrying through the gap between the two sprints is keeping Language 2 in active use: reading EU material in it costs little and means Sprint 2 starts from a working language rather than a rusty one.

Daily habits, in either sprint

• 60–90 minutes a day beats a weekend marathon; consistency is what builds pace.
• Everything timed, every time.
• Track accuracy weekly, by section, to confirm the plan is still pointed at the right weakness.
• Review before you retake, or you measure the same gap twice.

Practise the AD5 reasoning sections free, or run the score gap report to see where the eight weeks should start.

PassEPSO is an independent preparation platform. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to EPSO, EU Careers or any European Union institution. Official information about EPSO/AD/427/26 is published only by EPSO in the notice of competition and on eu-careers.europa.eu.