How to clear AFCAT/CDS?

AFCAT happens every year twice (Generally February and September) and can be easily cracked with 45–50 days of preparation. Here’s the exhaustive list of things from which questions would be asked:

1. General Awareness: Sports, History, Geography, Culture, Environment, Current Affairs, Civics, Politics, Basic Sciences, Art and Defense.
2. Verbal Ability in English: Comprehension, Synonyms, Error Detection, Antonyms and Sentence Completion, Testing of Vocabulary etc.
3. Numerical Ability: Simplification, Decimal Fraction, Average, Percentage, Simple Interest, Profit & Loss and Ratio & Proportion.
4. Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test section: Spatial Ability and Verbal Skills.

Those who applied for technical branch will have Engineering knowledge Test (EKT), which is a separate paper and technical questions are asked in this (Very basic knowledge in the respective branch of engineering needed).

Now let’s look at the exam pattern:

There’ll be 100 multiple choice questions (Typically 25 from each of the 4 topic) which is asked in the examination. You’ll be given 120 minutes in total. Each question carries 3 marks if you answer it correctly and a negative 1 mark if you answer the same wrong. There’s no marks for the unattended questions. Typically the cut off for AFCAT is 125–145 but it differs year over year depending upon the difficulty of the paper. Here’s the list of previous cut offs:

• AFCAT 2014 phase 1: 128/300
• AFCAT 2014 phase 2: 126/300; EKT: 45/150
• AFCAT 2015 phase 1: 126/300; EKT: 55/150
• AFCAT 2015 phase 2: 144/300; EKT: 52/150
• AFCAT 2016 phase 1: 132/300; EKT: 52/150

My personal experience is that you’ll get a lot of time in both AFCAT and EKT papers and hence there’s no need to rush yourself through the exam (Unlike bank and other aptitude exams).

Now let’s look at how to prepare for this following a 45 day schedule (Assuming you are a amateur in aptitude):

Buy any suitable AFCAT prepartion book which I refer below and start preparing in each chapter of the 4 sections (Verbal, numerical, reasoning and current affairs). This will take you 35–40 days. Go to any website and register for AFCAT mock tests andgive 8–10 mock tests before going to the exam. Giving mock AFCATs is extremely important. Also don’t forget to review the answers of the tests you give. It’s good to note that there’s no sectional cut off for time or marks in the examination. Which means that, if you are strong in one section, you can take out your time and give more answers in that section boosting your score.

Remember that AFCAT is one among the easiest test in India which you can clear and get a call for the SSB and hence never fear or lose confidence in giving it. (Follow me for knowing more details about SSB)

Here’re a few reference text books:

1. Afcat: Air Force Common Admission Test by K N Natarajan
2. AFCAT (Air Force Common Admission Test) Exam Guide (enlarged) (English) 1st Edition - Buy AFCAT (Air Force Common Admission Test) Exam Guide (enlarged) (English) 1st Edition by R, Guptas|Author; Online at Best Prices in India - Flipkart.com
3. Buy AFCAT (Air Force Common Admission Test): Previous Years Papers & Practice Test Papers (Solved) Book Online at Low Prices in India
4. AFCAT Air Force Common Admission Test Practice Work Book (For Commissioned Officers In Flying,Technical & Ground Duty Branches) Price in India - Buy AFCAT Air Force Common Admission Test Practice Work Book (For Commissioned Officers In Flying,Technical & Ground Duty Branches) online at Flipkart.com

Here’s a list of website where you can give mock AFCAT:

1. AFCAT Mock Test
2. AFCAT 2016 Online Practice Test
3. AFCAT-2016 Mock Test Papers

Remember that spending a few bucks in the text books and mock tests is worth it! All the best :-)