EPSO AD5 Part 1: the reasoning tests explained (2026)

Part 1 of the EU’s graduate competition, EPSO/AD/427/26, is three multiple-choice reasoning tests sat at home on one day in the week of 9 to 13 November 2026: verbal reasoning (20 questions in 35 minutes), numerical reasoning (10 in 20) and abstract reasoning (10 in 10). You need 10 out of 20 in verbal, and 10 out of 20 across numerical and abstract together, to go on to Part 2. Your verbal score is then carried into the ranking. This guide sets out what each test is, how it is scored and how to use the weeks you have.

Part 1 at a glance

All three tests are multiple choice and are sat in your language 1, the main language you declared in your application form. Each candidate sits all three in a single session on one day, at home, on EPSO’s online testing platform. With 174,727 applicants for 1,490 places, about 117 people are competing for every place.

Who sits Part 1

Everyone who applied by the deadline in March 2026 is invited. EPSO checks eligibility only at the end of the competition, for the candidates at the top of the ranking, so the whole field sits Part 1. Italian nationals alone account for 79,343 applicants, 45% of the total, followed by Spanish, German, French and Greek nationals. About 90% of applicants do not work for the EU institutions.

The three tests

Verbal reasoning

Each question is a short passage of general non-fiction followed by four statements, exactly one of which is supported by the passage. You have 35 minutes for 20 questions. It is the test that depends most on language, and the only one that counts towards your ranking. Read more in our guide to EPSO verbal reasoning.

Numerical reasoning

Each question gives a data table and asks for a figure worked out from it, with five options. You use an on-screen calculator: pen, paper and your own calculator are banned. See the numerical reasoning guide.

Abstract reasoning

Each question shows a series of five figures and five candidates for the next one. There are no words, and you have one minute per question. Two or three rules usually run at once. See the abstract reasoning guide.

How Part 1 is scored, and why verbal decides

Part 1 is a gate with no limit on numbers: everyone who reaches both pass marks goes through to Part 2. The verbal score then does a second job. It makes up 40% of the preliminary ranking after Part 2 and 35% of the final ranking, while numerical and abstract count for nothing beyond the gate.

That matters because only the top of the preliminary ranking, in principle about 1.5 times the 1,490 places, has its Part 2 essay marked. A candidate who scrapes 10 out of 20 in verbal starts Part 2 far behind. More in how Part 1 is scored.

The dates

• Monday 19 October 2026: invitation letters arrive in your EPSO candidate account. They name the week of your test only.
• Tuesday 20 October to Friday 6 November: do the one-off technical prerequisite test on the testing platform, where your exact date and time are shown from 19 October.
• Monday 9 to Friday 13 November: Part 1, one session per candidate. Dates can be changed only for documented medical or family emergencies.
• 2027: Part 2 (EU knowledge, digital skills and an essay, in your language 2), on dates EPSO has yet to announce.

Every date, and what to do on it, is in our guide to the AD5 test dates.

How the test is delivered

You sit Part 1 at home on the TAO platform, with the Proctorio browser extension recording your camera, microphone and screen. You need a laptop or desktop computer, a quiet room to yourself and a clear desk. Writing materials and external calculators are banned, so all your working happens in the on-screen calculator and scratchpad. Some ordinary actions end a session with no way back, such as leaving full-screen mode or plugging in a charger after the test has started. Read the TAO platform guide before your prerequisite test.

How to prepare in the time left

1. Take a timed diagnostic now. EPSO’s free sample on its own platform, or our free test, shows where you stand.
2. Put most of your hours into verbal, since it is the score that ranks you.
3. Practise each test on its own clock: 35 minutes for verbal, 20 for numerical, 10 for abstract. EPSO’s sample runs everything on one 30-minute clock, so it cannot teach you that pacing.
4. Use on-screen tools only while you practise: no paper, no phone calculator.
5. Do the prerequisite test early, on the computer, in the room and on the connection you will use on the day.

Our three-week plan turns this into a schedule.

What EPSO offers for free

EPSO publishes one sample reasoning test in all 24 EU languages, on the same platform as the real one, and it is worth taking. It is half the length of Part 1 and runs on one clock. EPSO also says plainly that its samples are not training material and that it endorses no preparation course or provider, ourselves included. What the sample does and does not show is in EPSO’s sample test against the real Part 1.