The G+ test in the Commission's internal competitions

The G+ is a general cognitive ability test. For its 2026 internal competitions the Commission entrusted the first stage to an external company with recognised expertise in psychometric testing, and the notices describe the purpose in one line: measure general cognitive ability by assessing numerical, inductive and deductive reasoning through 24 questions in 36 minutes.

It is not an EPSO test. It is not sat on TAO, and it does not look like EPSO's reasoning tests: there is no verbal block, and answers are built on screen rather than picked from a list.

If you have sat EPSO tests before, the reasoning will feel familiar. The format will not.

There are three families of questions.

• Numerical. Data in tables and charts, as in EPSO's numerical test, but you answer by setting a bar or a pie chart to the right values, ranking items, or deciding which cases meet a rule. The difficulty is often in reading the conditions, not in the arithmetic.
• Inductive. The mechanics of EPSO's abstract reasoning, with different patterns: you find the rule behind a series of figures and build the next one, or link elements following the logic you inferred.
• Deductive. Short texts packed with conditions: who sits where, which task fits which slot, what must be true. You answer by placing people in rooms or tasks in a schedule. This is the block candidates who come from EPSO have never seen.

The test picks each question according to how you answered the previous ones: get one right and the next is harder, get one wrong and it is easier. That has three consequences.

1. You cannot go back. Once you submit an answer it is final, because the rest of your test was built on it.
2. You must answer every question to move on. With no negative marking, a reasoned guess always beats running out of time.
3. A hard test is usually good news. Two candidates never see the same questions, and difficult ones mean you are doing well.

Your result is compared with a benchmark group, university graduates with professional experience, not with the other candidates in your competition. The level is set by the test, not by who applies alongside you. To pass you need to reach the 60th percentile of that group: do better than six in ten of the reference population.

The G+ is an eliminatory gate. Pass it and you go on to the EU knowledge test; its score does not carry over into the rest of the competition.

1. Train with interactive questions, not only multiple choice. The reasoning is familiar; the gestures are what cost time when you meet them for the first time on the day.
2. Give the deductive block its own practice: schedules, seating plans, statements that must be true.
3. Work at about 90 seconds per question. With no way back, the danger is not a hard question but getting stuck on one: decide, submit, move on.
4. Never leave a question unanswered. There is no negative marking.
5. Read the conditions before you calculate. In numerical questions, that is where most mistakes start.
6. Sit a full 36-minute session at least twice in the last week, alone and without interruptions.
7. Check your invitation for the language of the test and for what is allowed on your desk.

The G+ comes weeks before the EU knowledge and written tests. Do not wait for your result to start preparing for them: see the guide to the internal competitions.