AD5 graduate administrators
Part 1 is the three reasoning tests. Verbal is also a ranked score, not just a gate.
Verbal ranked, numerical and abstract pass or fail
The EPSO reasoning tests
Three tests, one format, and almost every door into the EU institutions
Which one are you sitting?
Specialist AD competitions
AD6 and AD7 profiles sit the same three tests, then a field-related test in language 2.
All three pass or fail
Assistants and secretaries
AST and AST-SC sit the same three tests, plus two professional-skills tests that carry the ranking.
All three pass or fail
CAST contract agents
Permanently open, and the reasoning tests are the whole psychometric stage. Valid for ten years.
All three pass or fail
The same three tests, whichever competition you entered
EPSO builds one family of reasoning questions and uses it across the whole range of selection procedures. Whether you applied for AD5 graduate administrators, an AD6 or AD7 specialist competition, an assistant or secretary competition, or CAST, the first tests you sit are the same three, in the same order, with the same number of questions and the same clock.
That is the single most useful thing to know before you start preparing, because it means practice is not tied to the competition you happen to be in. Twenty verbal questions in thirty-five minutes is twenty verbal questions in thirty-five minutes.
| Test | Questions | Time | Roughly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verbal reasoning | 20 | 35 min | 1 min 45 per question |
| Numerical reasoning | 10 | 20 min | 2 min 00 per question |
| Abstract reasoning | 10 | 10 min | 1 min 00 per question |
The two pass marks
There are two gates and they are independent. Verbal reasoning is scored out of 20 and needs at least 10 on its own. Numerical and abstract are added together into a single score out of 20, and that combined total needs at least 10.
The consequence people miss is that a strong verbal score cannot rescue a weak numerical and abstract total, and vice versa. They are scored separately precisely so that they cannot compensate for one another. The combined gate is the one that helps you: a bad day on abstract can be carried by numerical, because only the sum of the two is checked.
Where the competitions actually differ
Three things change between procedures, and none of them is the format of a question.
First, what the score is for. In the AD5 competition your verbal reasoning mark is not only a gate, it is a ranked component worth a large share of your final position. Everywhere else the three reasoning tests are pass or fail: clear them and your mark is never looked at again.
Second, the calibrated difficulty. EPSO tunes the difficulty of the items to the grade and, in CAST, to the function group. The question types do not change, the questions get harder. That is why this site asks which exam you are targeting and serves you the matching band.
Third, what else is in the paper. The reasoning tests are never the whole selection procedure.
- AD5 adds an EU knowledge test, a digital competence test and a free-text essay on EU matters, all in your second language.
- Specialist AD competitions add a field-related multiple-choice test and the same essay.
- AST and AST-SC add accuracy and precision, and prioritising and organising, which are the tests that decide the ranking.
- CAST adds a competency or field test set by the recruiting service.
What language you sit them in
The reasoning tests are taken in your language 1, the language you declared at C1 level in your application. This is deliberate and it matters: verbal reasoning in particular is a test of reading precisely, not of coping in a foreign language, and you should be practising in the language you will actually sit.
The tests that follow are usually in your language 2. That is a separate problem and this site does not try to solve it.
What this site covers, and what it does not
Laureo practises the three reasoning tests and nothing else. Unlimited verbal, numerical and abstract questions, free, and a full mock that runs all three back to back with the real timings and scores you against both gates.
It does not cover EU knowledge, digital competence, the free-text essay, field-related tests, or the accuracy and prioritising tests in the assistant competitions. If you are sitting AD5 or a specialist competition you will need something else for those, and it is better to hear that here than to find out in October.
Common questions
- Are the AD5 and CAST reasoning tests the same?
- The format, the number of questions, the timings and the two pass marks are the same. What differs is the calibrated difficulty and what the score is used for: in AD5 your verbal mark is ranked and counts towards your place on the reserve list, while in CAST all three are purely pass or fail.
- I am sitting AD5 in 2026. Is this the right practice?
- For Part 1, yes. The AD5 Part 1 sitting is verbal 20 questions in 35 minutes, numerical 10 in 20 minutes and abstract 10 in 10 minutes, with a 10/20 verbal gate and a 10/20 combined gate. That is exactly what the free mock here simulates. Part 2 is EU knowledge, digital competence and the essay, which are not covered here.
- Which EPSO competitions use these three tests?
- Effectively all of them. AD5 graduate administrators, specialist AD6 and AD7 competitions, assistant and secretary competitions, and CAST for contract agents. The notice of competition for your procedure is always the authoritative source.
- Do I need to score highly, or just pass?
- It depends on your competition. In AD5, verbal reasoning is worth a large share of the ranking, so a higher mark is directly worth more. Numerical and abstract only need to clear 10/20 combined. In CAST and the assistant competitions all three are gates, so anything above the pass mark buys you nothing except margin for error.
- Is Laureo affiliated with EPSO?
- No. It is an independent study tool with no connection to EPSO or any EU institution. Every question here is originally written or procedurally generated, built to the format EPSO publishes.