EPSO TAO platform: rules, tools and the prerequisite test

AD5 Part 1 is sat at home on TAO, the online testing platform EPSO uses for its open competitions, with the Proctorio browser extension recording your camera, microphone and screen. The rules are strict, and some ordinary actions end a session with no way back in. Read this before your prerequisite test.

What you need

• A laptop or desktop computer. Phones and tablets are not supported.
• Windows 10 or later, macOS 10.15 or later, or Ubuntu 18.04 or later, with an up-to-date Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.
• A webcam and a microphone, and administrator rights on the computer.
• Antivirus, firewall, VPN and web proxy switched off; one screen only; no docking station and no virtual machine.
• If you work for an EU institution, a computer of your own: EPSO’s Director has said work laptops cannot be used for this competition, because Proctorio would not start on centrally managed devices in EPSO’s trials.
• A valid ID card or passport, with your name and photo on the same side.

The room and the desk

You must be alone in a quiet, well-lit room. On the desk you may have your plugged-in computer, a mouse, a keyboard, a numeric keypad, a USB adapter, two tissues and one clear drink without a label. Not allowed: a phone within reach, a second screen, headphones or earplugs, an external calculator, pens, paper, books or notes, food, other people or pets, speaking or reading aloud, or leaving your seat or the camera’s view. Proctorio records the whole session, and people then review the recordings.

What ends a session

EPSO’s instructions list actions that can end your test automatically, with no way back in:

• losing the connection to Proctorio for more than two minutes
• changing network connection
• plugging in a charger after the test has started
• connecting a second screen
• closing or reloading the test tab, or opening another tab
• leaving full-screen mode
• withdrawing permission for the camera, microphone or screen

The prerequisite test: once only

From 20 October to 6 November 2026 you can open the platform and run the prerequisite test: system checks, a webcam image, an ID check and a scan of the room and desk. No score is recorded. You can do it only once per competition unless your invitation letter says otherwise, and EPSO’s instructions say a technical complaint from a candidate who skipped it will be dismissed. Do it early, on the same computer, network, browser and room you will use on the day. The full calendar is in our guide to the AD5 test dates.

The tools on screen

With no paper allowed, all your working happens on screen. EPSO’s instructions list a calculator, a scratchpad, a highlighter, a line reader, answer elimination, zoom and accessibility tools. The calculator takes a dot as the decimal separator, whatever the language of your test.

How the screen behaves

These details come from EPSO’s instructions and from EPSO’s public sample on the same platform, as we found it in October 2026:

• Each test has its own clock. Before each one, a page of instructions counts down and then starts the test by itself.
• You can move freely between questions within a test, bookmark any of them and see answered, unanswered and bookmarked questions in an overview.
• Submitting a test always asks you first, and warns you if questions are unanswered. Once a test is submitted you cannot go back into it.
• The clock is small and gives no warning as time runs down: it does not change colour or flash. Check it at fixed points.
• Clicking your chosen answer again clears it, and a question counts as answered only once you move off it.
• The buttons and labels are in English in every language version of the sample. Only the questions are in your language.
• Copying text and right-clicking are blocked. In numerical questions the table is a picture, so the highlighter does not work on it.

If something goes wrong

The platform’s helpdesk works in English and French, Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 18:00 CET. If a technical problem hits during your test, contact the helpdesk at the time, and also complain to EPSO through your candidate account within 3 calendar days. A complaint does not automatically lead to a retest, and if you are given one, the results of the affected session no longer count.

Practise the screen as well as the questions

EPSO’s public sample runs on the same platform and is the best way to see it for yourself: see EPSO’s sample test against the real Part 1. Our test screen is built to behave like that sample, with the same tools and the real Part 1 clocks, so that the screen holds no surprises when the questions count.