Commission internal competitions 2026: stages, tests and pass marks

Internal competitions are selection procedures that the European Commission organises for people who already work for it: temporary agents, contract agents and officials who want a permanent post in a given function group and grade. The 2026 competitions belong to a 2025–2027 programme.

They are separate from EPSO's open competitions. The organiser is different, eligibility is limited to Commission staff, and the first test is not EPSO's verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning on TAO but an adaptive, interactive test called G+.

For the AD7+ competition alone, around 5,000 staff members were potentially eligible. The places are places on a reserve list, not job offers: being on the list lets you be recruited into the grade.

Each notice sets its own conditions. Two examples:

• AD7+ (COM/AD/107/2026): at least one year at the Commission, the last six months as an AD official, AD temporary agent or AST5 and above; plus a university degree and three to four years of relevant professional experience, or the Commission certification programme and four years in the AD function group.
• AD5 (COM/AD/108/2026): also open to AST3 and above officials and temporary agents and to FG IV contract agents, with a degree or the certification programme and minimum periods of service set in the notice.

The tests are sat in your second language, chosen among English, French and German and different from your main language in Sysper. Eligibility is checked in detail after the written test, so you can pass the first tests and still be excluded: read your notice before you start preparing.

The route of COM/AD/108/2026 (AD5); the other notices follow the same pattern, and the AST2 differences are in the next section.

1. G+ reasoning test. 24 questions in 36 minutes of numerical, inductive and deductive reasoning, adaptive and interactive. Pass mark: the 60th percentile of a benchmark group. It is a gate: its score does not carry over. See the guide to the G+ test.
2. EU knowledge. 30 multiple-choice questions in 30 minutes, in your second language. Pass mark: 15 out of 30. Only the best-ranked candidates, 2.5 times the number of places, have their written test marked.
3. Written test. 90 minutes to produce a briefing, summary, policy analysis or action plan from a dossier. Pass mark: 30 out of 50. The best 1.5 times the number of places go on to the eligibility check.
4. Eligibility check. Qualifications and experience are verified against the notice.
5. Oral. A presentation and an interview. Pass mark: 25 out of 50. The best candidates are placed on the reserve list.

The AST2 notice keeps the route but moves several numbers. It is the last to close: applications closed on 30 October 2026 at 12:00 Brussels time, for 50 places.

• Who can apply. Officials and temporary agents in the AST/SC or AST function groups, and contract agents in function groups III and IV, who have served the last six full months in those categories and the last twelve at the Commission. Contract agents also need 36 months at the Commission in total, consecutive or not. Time in agencies or other institutions does not count. On education: a post-secondary diploma, or a secondary diploma plus three years of relevant experience.
• G+. The same 24 questions in 36 minutes, but the pass mark is the 40th percentile of the benchmark group, university graduates with several years of experience, not the 60th.
• EU knowledge. 30 questions in 40 minutes, pass mark 15/30. The best-ranked, up to 2.5 times the places (125), have their written test marked.
• Written test. 90 minutes, pass mark 25/50: a summary report, minutes, a letter or a note drawn up from a set of documents, sat online on the same day as the EU knowledge test.
• Oral. 60 minutes, pass mark 25/50: a short presentation on an EU subject with questions, and a structured interview.

The language of the competition is English, French or German, different from your main language in Sysper, as in the other notices.

EPSO's AD5 EU knowledge test is 30 questions in 40 minutes. The internal one is 30 questions in 30 minutes: a minute per question, a quarter less time than EPSO gives. The AST2 notice is the exception, with 40 minutes. It is sat in English, French or German.

The topics overlap with EPSO's: the institutional set-up, the Commission's role and powers under the Treaties, its governance and decision-making, EU policies and history. Staff unions preparing candidates recommend EPSO's reference sources plus the Treaties in force.

The dates are indicative, and the Commission confirms each stage by invitation. As of September 2026:

• AD7+: the G+ test took place in June 2026; the EU knowledge and written tests and the oral follow in the autumn.
• AD5 and AST3: the G+ tests run from September into October 2026, with the EU knowledge and written tests after them.
• AST2: applications closed on 30 October 2026; the G+ invitations follow.

The G+ comes weeks before the rest. The EU knowledge test and the written test are where most candidates are eliminated, so do not wait for your G+ result to start on them.

• G+: the stage candidates know least. Practise interactive formats and give deductive reasoning its own time. Work at about 90 seconds per question.
• EU knowledge: train at one minute per question, in your second language, and learn the Treaties and the Commission's powers well enough to answer without hesitating.
• Written test: write briefings from long dossiers in 90 minutes. What is marked is structure, clarity, concision, use of the documents and fit to the reader.
• Oral: prepare a short presentation and examples from your own work for each competency in the notice.