AFCAT 2023: Notification, Application Form, Exam Date, Eligibility Criteria

AFCAT 2023: The ‘Indian Air Force’ is the prominent defence wing of Indian Armed Forces which releases the notification for the commencement of the ‘Air Force Common Admission Test’ (AFCAT). Candidates, who want join the IAF as an officer in the Flying Branch, Technical Branch and Ground Branch can apply for AFCAT 2023 after the release of its respective notification. The exam is conducted twice a year, in the month of February and August. The article given here offers all the crucial details about the AFCAT 2023 including the information of Application Form, Eligibility Criteria, Exam Pattern, and Important Dates as well.

AFCAT 2023 Exam Date

Events	Respective Dates
AFCAT I	AFCAT II
Online application form availability	Dec 2022	June 2023
Last date to submit application form	Dec 2022	June 2023
Release of admit card	Jan 2023	August 2023
Entrance exam date	February 2023	August 2023
Declaration of result	March 2023	October 2023
Interview date	April 2023	November 2023

AFCAT 2023 Eligibility Criteria

Nationality:

• Candidate must be a citizen of India.

Age criteria:

Flying Branch through AFCAT and NCC Special Entry: The age of the candidates should be 20 to 24 years as on 1^st January 2023 (for AFCAT I) and on 1^st July 2023 (for AFCAT II). Upper age limit for candidates with valid and current Commercial Pilot License issued by DGCA (India) is upto 26 years.

Ground Duty (Technical & Non-technical) Branch: The age of the candidates should be 20 to 26 years as on 1^st January 2023 (for AFCAT I) and on 1^st July 2023 (for AFCAT II).

Qualification:

1. Flying Branch:

• The candidates must have passed 10+2 with at least 60% marks in Mathematics and Physics each.
• 3-year degree course in any discipline/ BE/ B.Tech/ a pass in Section A & B examination of Associate Membership of Institution of Engineers (India) or Aeronautical Society of India from a recognized University with a minimum of 60% marks or equivalent is required.
• For NCC Special Entry (Flying Branch), NCC Air Wing Senior Division C certificate is mandatory, along with the above requirements.

Note: Candidates who have failed the Computerized Pilot Selection System (CPSS)/ Pilot Aptitude Battery Test (PABT) in an earlier attempt or a Flight Cadet suspended from flying training at Air Force Academy will not be eligible to apply in Flying Branch.

2. Ground Duty (Technical) Branch

Aeronautical Engineer (Electronics) (AE (L)):

• The candidates must have passed 10+2 with at least 60% marks in Mathematics and Physics each.
• A 4-year graduation degree/ integrated post-graduation qualification in Engineering/ Technology OR a pass in Sections A and B examination of Associate Membership of Institution of Engineers (India) or Aeronautical Society of India or Graduate membership with a minimum of 60% marks or equivalent in the following disciplines:
  • Communication Engineering
  • Computer Engineering/Technology
  • Computer Engineering & Application
  • Computer Science and Engineering/Technology
  • Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronics Engineering
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Electronics Engineering/Technology
  • Electronics Science and Engineering
  • Electronics
  • Electronics and Communication Engineering
  • Electronics and Computer Science
  • Electronics and/or Telecommunication Engineering
  • Electronics and/or Telecommunication Engineering (Microwave)
  • Electronics and Computer Engineering
  • Electronics Communication and Instrumentation Engineering
  • Electronics Instrument & Control
  • Electronics Instrument & Control Engineering
  • Instrumentation & Control Engineering
  • Instrument & Control Engineering
  • Information Technology

Aeronautical Engineer (Mechanical) (AE (M)):

Same criteria as Aeronautical Engineer (Electronics) but in the following disciplines:

• Aerospace Engineering
• Aeronautical Engineering
• Aircraft Maintenance Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering and Automation
• Mechanical Engineering (Production)
• Mechanical Engineering (Repair and Maintenance)
• Mechatronics
• Industrial Engineering

3. Ground Duty (Non-Technical) Branches:

Administration & Logistics: A minimum 3-year graduate degree in any discipline or cleared section A & B examination of Associate Membership of Institution of Engineers (India) or Aeronautical Society of India from a recognized university with at least 60% marks or equivalent.

Accounts: B. Com. from a recognized university with a minimum of 60% marks or equivalent.

Education:

• 60% marks in graduation completed from a university recognized by UGC/ Competent Accreditation Authority.
• MBA/ MCA/ MA/ M.Sc degree in English/ Physics/ Mathematics/ Chemistry/ Statistics/ International relations/ International Studies/ Defence Studies/ Psychology/ Computer Science/ IT/ Management/ Mass Communication/ Journalism/ Public Relation with a minimum of 50% marks in aggregate.
• For integrated courses, the minimum duration must be as per UGC guidelines with at least 50% marks in aggregate.

4. Meteorology:

• The candidates must have passed graduation level exam with at least 55% marks in Mathematics and Physics each.
• Post Graduate Degree in any Science stream/ Mathematics/ Statistics/ Geography/ Computer Applications/ Environmental Science/ Applied Physics/ Oceanography/ Meteorology/ Agricultural Meteorology/ Ecology & Environment/ Geo-physics/ Environmental Biology with a minimum of 50% marks in aggregate is also required.

Note:

• Candidates appearing in the final year of their qualifying exam can also apply.
• LLB qualified candidates (after commissioning) may get an opportunity to be employed on legal duties of the IAF.

Marital status:

Candidates below 25 years of age must be unmarried at the time of commencement of course. Widowers and divorcees (with or without encumbrances) below 25 years of age are also ineligible.

Physical and Medical Standards

• The minimum acceptable height for men and women candidates in Flying Branch is 162.5 cms.
• The minimum acceptable height for male candidates in Ground Duty (Technical/Non-technical) Branch is 157.5 cms. For women candidates minimum acceptable height is 152 cms.
• For Gorkhas and individual belonging to hills of North Eastern region of India, Garhwal and Kumaon, the minimum acceptable height will be 5 cms less. In case of candidates from Lakshadweep, the minimum acceptable height will be 2 cms less than what is applicable to men and women respectively.

Height and Weight Standards for Men

Height in cm	Age Range (Years)
15-17	18-22	23-27	28-32	33-37
152	46	47	50	54	54
153	47	47	51	55	55
154	47	48	51	56	56
155	48	49	52	56	56
156	48	49	53	57	57
157	49	50	54	58	58
158	49	50	54	58	58
159	50	51	55	59	59
160	51	52	56	59	60
161	51	52	56	60	60
162	52	53	57	61	61
163	52	54	58	61	62
164	53	54	59	62	63
165	53	55	59	63	63
166	54	56	60	63	64
167	54	56	61	64	65
168	55	57	61	65	65
169	55	57	62	65	66
170	56	58	63	66	67
171	56	59	64	66	68
172	57	59	64	67	68
173	58	60	65	68	69
174	58	61	66	68	70
175	59	61	66	69	71
176	59	62	67	70	71
177	60	62	68	70	72
178	60	63	69	71	73
179	61	64	69	72	73
180	61	64	70	72	74
181	62	65	71	73	75
182	62	66	72	74	76
183	63	66	72	74	76
184	64	67	73	75	77
185	64	68	74	75	78
186	65	68	74	76	78
187	65	69	75	77	79
188	66	69	76	77	80
189	66	70	77	78	81
190	67	71	77	79	81
191	67	71	78	79	82
192	68	72	79	80	82
193	68	73	79	81	83
SD	6.0	6.3	7.1	6.6	6.9

 Height and Weight standards for Women

Height in cm	Weight in Kg
20-25 years	26-30 years
148	43	46
149	44	47
150	45	48
151	45	48
152	46	49
153	47	50
154	47	50
155	48	51
156	49	52
157	49	53
158	50	53
159	51	54
160	51	55
161	52	55
162	52	56
163	53	57
164	54	57
165	54	58
166	55	59
167	56	60
168	56	60
169	57	61
170	58	62
171	58	62
172	59	63
173	59	64
174	60	64
175	61	65
176	61	66
177	62	67
178	63	67
SD	5	5

Application Form for AFCAT 2023

AFCAT 2023 application form will be released on the official website careerindianairforce.cdac.in or afcat.cdac.in. Aadhaar card is mandatory for applying for the exam.

The candidates will have to register themselves first using a valid email id to receive a login id and password. The candidates are advised to log in using this id and password and then change the password.

After this, the applicants can move towards application form filling. In the form, the candidates will have to provide Personal Information, Qualification Details, Course Preference, Communication Details and Exam Center.

Photo, Signature & Thumb Impression (each in JPG/ JPEG format with file size between 10 and 50 kb) will also be uploaded in the form.

After filling details in each part of the form, the candidates must click on ‘save and continue’.

The next step will be submission of application fee that can be done via online payment gateway (credit/debit cards/ net banking) or Challan (at any HDFC or Axis Bank branch). The non-refundable exam fee will be Rs. 250/- for AFCAT entry (not applicable for meteorology and NCC special entry).

AFCAT 2023 Exam Pattern

The candidates opting for Ground Duty (Technical) branch will have to appear in both AFCAT 2023 as well as EKT (Engineering Knowledge Test conducted along with the AFCAT).

The mode of the exam will be online.

The questions will be of objective type and the paper will be in English language.

3 marks will be awarded for every correct attempt and 1 mark will be deducted for every incorrect attempt.

For AFCAT 2023

Subject	No. of Questions	Total Marks	Duration
General Awareness, Verbal Ability in English, Numerical Ability and Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test	100	300	2 Hours

For EKT

Subject	No. of Questions	Total Marks	Duration
Mechanical, Computer Science and Electrical and Electronics	50	150	45 Minutes

Exam Schedule

The AFCAT 2023 is supposed to be conducted in two shifts as per the following schedule:

Activity	First Shift	Second Shift
Reporting Time	0700 hrs	1230 hrs
Verification of Admit Card, ID Proof, Biometrics, Photo/ Thumb Impression/ Sign on Attendance Sheet & Candidate Seating in Exam Hall	0700- 0845 hrs	1230-1415 hrs
Reading of Instructions by Candidates	0845-0900 hrs	1330-1430 hrs
AFCAT	0900 to 1100 hrs	1430- 1630 hrs
Exit time for Non EKT candidates	1100 to 1130 hrs	1630-1700 hrs
EKT	1130 to 1215 hrs	1700 to 1745 hrs

Syllabus

• English: Comprehension, Error Detection, Sentence Completion/Filling in of correct word, Synonyms, Antonyms and Testing of Vocabulary, Idioms and Phrases
• General Awareness: History, Geography, Civics, Politics, Current Affairs, Environment, Basic Science, Defence, Art, Culture, Sports, etc
• Numerical Ability: Decimal Fraction, Time and Work, Average, Profit & Loss, Percentage, Ratio & Proportion and Simple Interest, Time & Distance (Trains/Boats & Streams)
• Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test: Verbal Skills and Spatial Ability

AFCAT 2023 Admit Card

The admit card for AFCAT 2023 will be released soon. The admit card will also be sent on the registered email id. The candidates will be able to download their admit card using their username and password.

The candidates must carry the admit card at the exam center along with Aadhaar card, another valid photo identity, two passport size color photographs and Blue/ Black ballpoint pen.

If there is any kind of discrepancy, it must be communicated to AFCAT-C-DAC Query Cell immediately (Telephone No. 020-25503105/06, E-Mail queries may be addressed to [email protected]).

Exam Center

The exam center will be allotted on first-come-first-serve basis.

Once allotted, no request in the change of exam center will be entertained.

The exam will be conducted in any of the following cities:

Agartala, Agra, Ahmedabad, Aligarh, Allahabad, Aizawl, Ambala, Amritsar, Andaman, Bareilly, Behrampur, Belgaum, Bengaluru, Bahadurgarh, Bhagalpur, Bhawanipatna, Bhilai, Bhopal, Bhuj, Bhubaneshwar, Bikaner, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Darbhanga, Darjeeling, Dehradun, Delhi, Dhanbad, Diu, Durgapur, Faridabad, Ganganagar, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Greater Noida, Guntur, Gurugram, Guwahati, Gwalior, Haldwani, Hisar, Hyderabad, Imphal, Indore, Itanagar, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jalandhar, Jalpaigudi, Jammu, Jamshedpur, Jhansi, Jodhpur, Jorhat, Kakinada, Kannur, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Kochi, Kohima, Kolhapur, Kolkata, Kota, Kurukshetra, Leh, Lucknow, Madurai, Mangalore, Meerut, Midnapore, Mumbai, Mysore, Nagpur, Nasik, Nizamabad, Pathankot, Patna, Puducherry, Pune, Rajkot, Ranchi, Rohtak, Rourkee, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Shillong, Shimla, Silchar, Solapur, Sonipat, Srinagar, Thane, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Tinsukia, Tirunelveli, Tirupathi, Udaipur, Ujjain, Vadodara, Varanasi, Vellore, Vijayawada, Vishakapatnam, Warangal

AFCAT 2023 Result

The result for the AFCAT 2023 will be released on the official website. A merit list will be prepared for the candidates who score more than the cut-off marks decided by the authority. These candidates will be called for the interview round.

AFSB Interview

The candidates who obtain minimum qualifying marks in AFCAT 2023, a merit list of such candidates will be prepared. These candidates will then have to appear for the Air Force Selection Board (AFSB) interview. The date and time of the interview will be selected by the candidates only. Request for change of AFSB interview date will not be considered except under some valid circumstances. Such requests should be sent to AFSB Centre from where the call for AFSB interview has been received.

The candidates who are appearing for the interview for the first time (those who have not already appeared for the same type of entry at any of the Selection Boards) will be provide both-sides travelling fare of AC-III Tier/AC Chair Car or normal bus fare.

Final Merit List & Training

The name of the candidates who quality both written exam and AFSB interview will appear in the final merit list prepared by IAF. The selected candidates who are medically fit will then be allotted to the Air Force Training Establishments as per their merit and availability of vacancies.

Frequently Asked Questions