How To Pass AFCAT Exam

AFCAT is conducted by IAF twice every year for the recruitment of eligible candidates in Flying , Technical and GDOC branches. AFCAT which is going to happen will be the 4th AFCAT. All the eligible candidates will get their AFCAT hall ticket via e-mail nearly in August 2012. It is amazing that number of candidates applying for AFCAT are increasing every year but it is also increasing the competition level and the cut off percentage to pass AFCAT written test. Though AFCAT is not a hard nut but success needs  good preparation.

You may know the syllabus of AFCAT so I will not waste more time discussing about what comes in AFCAT, if you are new to AFCAT then you can check the syllabus here.    

TIPS:

1. Go through the AFCAT syllabus carefully , know you weak and strong sections and work on them. 
2. Try to know kind of questions came in last AFCAT from someone, though AFCAT question paper is required to submitted after the examination, you can check some sample questions here.
3. Time management is important key factor in every exam, but unlike CDSE or NDA, AFCAT is comparatively easy and time given is more than enough, though you should always start solving question in a comfortable way.
4. You should start with a section which is easiest for you, and leave the difficult one for later. Keep in mind that all questions carries same marks, so there is not point of wasting more time on the difficult questions earlier.
5. There are total 100 marks divided in four sections, there is hardly any sectional cut off.

Different Sectional  Analysis : 

1. General Awareness : Depends on person to person, though the level of questions are moderate, questions comes from areas related to History, Sports, Geography, Environment,Civics, Basic Science, Defence, Art, Culture, Current Affairs, Politics etc. This sections take very less time because you may know the answer or you may not , there is nothing to solve. One should not spend more time on this part and must attempt the questions which are easy and known to him/her, you can do some guessing also but not more (-ve marking scheme in AFCAT).       2. Verbal Ability in English : Types of question are moderate and mostly similar to what comes in CDSE, number of questions are less when compare to CDSE. There also nothing much to solve but do requires some thinking process. Questions type are Comprehension, Error Detection, Sentence Completion, Synonyms, Antonyms and Testing of Vocabulary. Do not hit answers blindly in this section and attempt the known one.    3. Numerical Ability : Questions types are Decimal Fraction, Simplification, Average, Profit & loss, Percentage, Ratio & Proportion and Simple interest, this sections requires more time compare to other sections, difficulty level is moderate and with little practice you can make yourself comfortable  with such questions, this sections requires more practice specially to improve your speed of solving and thinking. Avoid guessing in this section because probably correct guess chances are less.   4.Reasoning and Military Aptitude Test: There are two types of questions comes under that which are from Verbal Skills and Spatial Ability, to be true these questions are very basic and required little sharp mind to solve , kind of puzzling questions, but easiest of all. You can see sample questions here.       

How To Prepare ??

  Now when you know what you are required , you may be thinking from where should I start , and a perfect start indeed. I would like to suggest few books which are helpful not only for AFCAT but also for different exams.   1: How To Prepare For AFCAT By Chandresh :This book is well designed for AFCAT and section wise questions are given as per the AFCAT format.  

2: A Modern Approach To Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning: If you are defence aspirant and also attempting other exam then this book is very helpful for preparing Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning questions, you can prepare for AFCAT from this book , for AFCAT just prepare the topics mentioned above.

3: Quantitative Aptitude For Competitive Examinations: Another good book to prepare for Quantitative aptitude question for any examination , it is very helpful for AFCAT preparation , just prepare the topics from this books which comes in AFCAT under Numerical Ability. 

Books which are mentioned above are very useful for AFCAT preparation, start from now, good preparation will fetch you more success.