AFCAT PREPARATION TIPS
Air Force Common Admission Test (AFCAT) is conducted twice a year by the Indian Air Force recruiting students for the position of Officers in Flying, Technical, Administration, Logistics branch for permanent and short service commission officers.
Every year a large number of students apply and appear for this exam. To clear this exam all you need is the right guidance and proper strategy. AFCAT exam comprises of 100 questions of total 300 marks. Questions would be asked from English, General Awareness, Military Aptitude, Reasoning and Mathematics. We will provide the complete AFCAT preparation tips to crack the AFCAT exam in your first attempt.
The AFCAT exam selection process consists of three phases:
- Online Exam/ EKT for Technical Candidates
- AFSB Interview
- Medical Test.
Phase 1
AFCAT written paper consists of 100 questions with a maximum of 300 marks. Each question carries 3 marks and there is a negative mark for each wrong answer to a question. Questions which are unattempt will not be penalized.
It also has EKT(Engineering Knowledge Test) for Ground Duty and Technical branches with maximum 150 marks.
After clearing it, the candidate goes to the next rounds of personal interview and screening.
Exam | No of Questions | Marks | Duration |
AFCAT (For both Non-Technical & Technical Candidates) | 100 | 300 | 2 hrs |
Engineering Knowledge Test (EKT-For Technical Candidates) | 50 | 150 | 45 min |
Sections in AFCAT exam
Section | Marks | No of questions | Duration |
English | 75 | 25 Appx | 2 hours |
General Awareness | 75 | 25 Appx | |
Numerical Ability | 54 | 18 Appx | |
Reasoning and Military Aptitude | 96 | 32 Appx |
AFCAT Exam Preparation strategy for each section
How to prepare for English Section?
Candidates need the entire AFCAT exam guide to prepare for this section. However, they need not worry as we have come up with good preparation tips for this section.
This section consists of 20-25 questions and the level is from moderate to difficult. Questions would be asked from Comprehension, Error Detection, Sentence Completion/ Filling in of correct word, Synonyms, Antonyms and Testing of Vocabulary, Idioms and Phrases.
To prepare for this section, read the newspaper daily, read novels, watch English tv channels and note difficult words and find their meaning to improve your vocabulary. Make your basics strong, go through the grammar part and learn all the basic rules. It will help you in finding error in sentencing and even in sentence completion.
How to prepare for the General Awareness?
The test consists questions from General Science, Indian history, Physics, Geography, Chemistry and Current Events. Follow the news updates regularly. Candidates must have knowledge of events like sports, arts, literature, etc. Read about the current affairs, economic affairs, current and past policies topics related to India and its neighbouring countries.
How to prepare for Reasoning Section?
This section involves questions from Series, Venn Diagram, Syllogism, Blood Relation, Non Verbal questions, Verbal reasoning, military aptitude etc. Solve all the previous year questions of AFCAT. You need to practice a lot to clear this section. Increase your speed of attempting the questions with 100 percent accuracy.
How to prepare for the Mathematics Section?
The questions would be asked from Number system, HCF and LCM, Time, Distance and Speed, Time and Work, Ratio and Proportion, Percentage, Average, Simple Interest and Compound Interest, Pipes And Cistern etc.To prepare for this section practice some set of questions daily to increase the calculation speed.
Phase 2
Candidates who obtain minimum qualifying marks in the AFCAT exam, the Indian Air Force(IAF) call those candidates for the AFSB interview.
Here are some AFCAT preparation tips to clear AFSB interview:
- Buy a book to get familiar with the procedure of the interview. Don't mug it up just understand the procedure and make yourself prepare for that.
- Be prepared for the 5 days of exhaustive test. For the pre preparation you can join any gym ,or go for running daily or get involved into any type of physical exercises.
- They always ask about your hobbies and interest ,so make sure that you develop any hobby or interest and not just blabber anything about it
- For the interview part, make some set of questions and practice them orally daily in front of the mirror to develop some confidence. Read books for personal development and keep yourself updated with the current affairs.
Phase 3
Candidates are recommended to keep themselves physically strong and fit to get easily adapt to the training which they are going to get in the AFCAT which consist of running, swimming, rope climbing and other physical training. Candidates must follow the below mentioned routine:
1. Running: up to 4 Km in 15 minutes.
2. Skipping
3. Push-ups & Sit-ups: Minimum 20 each
4. Chin-ups: 08
5. Rope Climbing: 3 to 4 metres
6. Swimming (25 m)
This is the complete AFCAT preparation tips that candidates need to follow. Remember that AFCAT is a respected and prestigious exam so candidates must prepare for it accordingly. Take the help of previous year study materials to get a clear understanding about the examination. Good luck to all the aspirants!