Τhe EPSO (European Personnel Selection Office) Τεστ

F.A.Q.s for the EPSO exams

• The new selection procedures (introduced after 2024) allow candidates to take the tests in any of the EU’s 24 official languages, rather than being restricted to the three dominant languages as in the past.
  However, the requirement to use two different languages during the selection process remains in place for each competition.

• The competitions will be conducted online, in a single day, with participants monitored remotely.

• Please ensure that your technical setup is suitable and that you are familiar with the new examination environment.

• More detailed information in English can be found at the following address: https://eutraining.eu/content/how-get-epso-cast-job-unravelling-complex-selection-process#

• It is estimated that, under the new testing system, competitions will be completed and results published within less than six months.

• Each category of questions may require candidates to reach a predefined minimum score threshold, typically 50% or 60% of the maximum score.
  Meeting this threshold does not guarantee progression to the next stage, but failing to meet it will result in automatic disqualification.

• Specifically for the Reasoning Tests, achieving the minimum threshold of 50% is now sufficient to advance to the next phase.

• For the Numerical and Abstract Reasoning sections, this threshold is calculated cumulatively. For example, if you score 3/10 in Numerical and 7/10 in Abstract Reasoning, you meet the required condition for these components.

For additional official information regarding EPSO competitions, please visit the following website: https://eu-careers.europa.eu/el/selection-procedure/epso-tests

Sample questions from the new-style exams for administrative staff can be found here: https://eu-careers.europa.eu/en/administrators-ad-generalists and here: https://eu-careers.europa.eu/en/administrators-ad-generalists

Make sure to review the essential DOs & DON'Ts before exam day—available here: https://eu-careers.europa.eu/en/dos-donts-epso-testing#tab-0

Guidelines for Preparing for and Taking the EPSO Exams

• Familiarise yourself with the structure of the exams and the nature of the questions.

  Identify your specific weaknesses in each category. Are your difficulties limited to one area—such as Numerical Reasoning—or spread across multiple ones?
  If confined to a single question category, do they relate to particular components or question types (e.g. arithmetic operations, graph interpretation), or do they concern the entire section?

• Focus your preparation on addressing these weaknesses.

  Try to pinpoint the principles and patterns you tend to overlook or consistently misapply when selecting your answers. Reflect on the causes of these mistakes—whether they stem from gaps in knowledge, misinterpretation, or stress-related performance issues.

• Gradually increase the level of difficulty of the exercises you attempt.

  Use a variety of representative and hierarchically organised questions to build up your skills progressively and systematically.

• Seek out authentic EPSO test material where possible.

  While mock exams from various providers can be helpful to some extent, only official (or near-official) EPSO materials will provide a truly accurate picture of what to expect on exam day.

• Practice Strategy and Test Conditions

• Begin your preparation without time constraints during the familiarisation phase. Once you are confident with the format and question types, start timing yourself—initially with flexibility, and later with strict adherence to the official time limits.

• Before considering yourself ready, you should be able to consistently complete full-length practice tests with satisfactory performance.

• Where possible, simulate exam-day conditions: take the tests at the same time of day, on the same device, and ideally in the same physical space from which you will take the real exam.

• Always complete the entire test in one sitting during the final stages of your preparation.

• The ideal preparation window for EPSO competitions is around 2–3 months, during which time you should aim to solve several hundred exercises, either from official EPSO sources or high-quality simulations that closely resemble the actual format.

• Technical Format and Test Structure

  EPSO uses CBT (Computer-Based Testing)—not adaptive testing (CAT). This means all candidates receive a different set of questions from one single pool, but each set is balanced and standardised to ensure equal overall difficulty.

• There is no negative marking for incorrect answers. You should answer every question, even if it means making an educated guess—or, when needed, a lucky one.

• Before the exam begins, you will watch a short 5–10 minute video tutorial explaining how the test will be administered.

• Scoring and Results

• EPSO typically releases results within 6 to 8 months of the competition date.

• No re-marking is allowed, nor is access to the test questions or official answers granted. This lack of transparency has often led to criticism of the selection process.

On the EU EPSO Test – Resources page, you will find downloadable pdfs with Verbal Numerical, and Abstract Reasoning sample questions as well as a mini complete reasoning test, containing half the number of questions found in the official exam.
Please note: the questions in this test are not included in our book.

Use this mini test as an initial diagnostic tool to assess your current (base line) performance level and to identify the areas where focused improvement is needed. Start the test now and map your EPSO readiness!