EPSO/AD/427/26 · AD5 Graduates
Your whole AD5 competition now runs through three reasoning tests.
Part 1 is verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning, and EPSO plans to start it in November 2026. Fall below 10/20 on verbal reasoning and it ends there — and for everyone who clears it, verbal reasoning alone carries 40% of the preliminary ranking for 1,490 places. This page is about that, and nothing else we sell.
One payment. VAT included. No subscription.
Read this page in: EnglishБългарскиDeutschΕλληνικάEspañolSuomiFrançaisHrvatskiItalianoNederlandsPolskiPortuguêsRomână
Where the competition actually stands
The application window is closed and the notice is fixed: competition EPSO/AD/427/26, 1,490 places on the reserve list, supporting documents due 7 October 2026. That deadline is independent of the tests and does not move if a test month does.
EPSO split the testing into two parts. Part 1 is the reasoning stage — verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning — and EPSO's update of 18 September 2026 says it is planned to start in November 2026. Part 2 is the EU knowledge test, the digital skills test and the free-text essay on EU matters (EUFTE); EPSO has communicated no dates for it and says more information follows at a later stage, its earlier communication placing these tests in 2027. There is no situational judgement test and no assessment centre in this competition.
How EPSO calls you in, and what to do this week
Nothing about your session arrives by post or by surprise: it all runs through your Single Candidate Portal account and the testing platform. This is what EPSO has published about the roll-out, in the order it happens.
- Make sure now that you can log into your Single Candidate Portal account. Everything below is delivered there, and a password you cannot reset in November is a problem you can solve today.
- About three weeks before your session, an invitation letter appears in your portal account. It states the WEEK you are tested — not the day and not the hour.
- At least two weeks before the test, the exact date and time are available on the testing platform. That is the slot that binds you.
- For Part 2, EPSO provides the references used to develop the EU knowledge test about two months before that test takes place.
- An information letter with the details of the AD5 testing has been in your portal account since 30 June.
What Part 1 is actually scored on
Two thresholds decide whether you go on, and they are not symmetric. One test stands alone; the other two are added together.
Verbal reasoning
at least 10/20, on its own
Numerical reasoning + abstract reasoning
at least 10/20 for the two combined
And then you are ranked
Candidates who clear both thresholds are placed in a preliminary ranking on verbal reasoning (40%), the EU knowledge test (30%) and the digital skills test (30%). The final ranking is verbal reasoning 35%, EU knowledge 25%, digital skills 25% and the EUFTE 15%.
Read those two boxes together and the shape of Part 1 is plain: verbal reasoning is the only test that is both a threshold you must clear alone and a weight you are ranked on. Numerical and abstract reasoning can carry each other, and neither is ranked. A candidate who spends the autumn on the section that feels hardest, and leaves verbal to instinct, is training the part of Part 1 that decides least.
Sprint 1 · train this now
Sprint 1 — the three tests you sit first
This is the whole of Part 1 — the stage EPSO plans to start in November 2026 — and it is what your account opens on. Practice, explanations and simulations are available in all 24 EU languages, so you train in the language you will sit the test in.
Verbal reasoning
One statement is true of the text and the others are not. The work is reading for what the passage actually claims instead of what sounds reasonable, against the clock — and seeing which family of wrong option keeps catching you.
Numerical reasoning
Tables, percentages and rates where the arithmetic is the easy part and the reading is the trap. You practise finding the cheapest route to the answer and stopping the moment you have it, rather than computing everything on the page.
Abstract reasoning
Five panels and a sixth you have to deduce, in the rule families EPSO really uses. Every explanation names the two independent relations that settle the item, so a solved question teaches a method and not a lucky answer.
How you train it
- Timed practice that follows what you get wrong, with a written explanation after every question.
- A full exam simulation under the real time limits, with a readiness report when you finish.
- The Score Predictor, which turns your answers into where you stand, section by section.
- Ask Peter, the AI-assisted tutor, for the moment a written explanation is not enough.
- Spaced repetition, so a weak spot comes back to you before it becomes a habit.
Sprint 2 · on EPSO's signal
Sprint 2 — Part 2, started when EPSO announces the dates
EPSO has communicated no dates for Part 2 and says more information will follow at a later stage; its earlier communication places these tests in 2027. The material is in your account today and the plan tells you when to open it — because a week spent on EU knowledge now is a week not spent on the tests that are marked first.
EU knowledge
Practice across the EU topics the test covers, plus the EU Knowledge podcasts in the Podcasts tab, which are part of every paid AD5 plan.
Digital skills
Practice on the digital skills test as EPSO examines it, with the same timed sessions and explanations as the reasoning sections.
EUFTE writing coach
A 40-minute essay in your Language 2, written against a real background document and returned marked on EPSO's own five anchors, with the one thing to fix before the next draft.
Pick a plan and start on Sprint 1
One payment, VAT included, no subscription. Every plan is the same question bank in all 24 EU languages; what changes is how much of it you can practise in a day and how much feedback you get back.
Your country and billing address are taken at checkout.
Go to the AD5 plans →Questions candidates actually ask
When are the EPSO AD5 2026 tests?
Part 1 — verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning — is planned to start in November 2026. Part 2 — the EU knowledge test, the digital skills test and the EUFTE — has no communicated dates; EPSO's earlier communication places it in 2027, on dates to be announced later. Source: EU Careers, “AD5 Graduates Testing – more details about timing and roll-out”, 18 September 2026.
How will I know the exact date and time of my test?
About three weeks before your session you receive an invitation letter in your Single Candidate Portal account, and it states the week you are tested. The exact date and time are available on the testing platform at least two weeks before the test. Make sure you can log into your portal account. Source: EU Careers, “AD5 Graduates Testing – more details about timing and roll-out”.
What do I have to score in Part 1?
At least 10/20 in verbal reasoning, and at least 10/20 for numerical and abstract reasoning combined. Source: EU Careers, “AD5 Graduates selection process: how you are assessed”.
Is there a situational judgement test or an assessment centre?
No. EPSO/AD/427/26 has neither. The competition is the Part 1 reasoning tests, then the EU knowledge test, the digital skills test and the EUFTE in Part 2.
Which language are the tests in?
Part 1 is sat in your Language 1. The EU knowledge test, the digital skills test and the EUFTE are in your Language 2. PassEPSO is available in all 24 EU languages, so you can practise each part in the language you will actually sit it in.
I have already applied. Is it too late to start?
No. Part 1 is reasoning, and reasoning is trained by repetition under time rather than by memorising a syllabus. Start with the Score Predictor so the first week goes on the section that is costing you marks, not the one you enjoy.
Independent EPSO preparation material. Not affiliated with EPSO, EU Careers or the institutions of the European Union. Always read the official notice of competition for authoritative information.