AFCAT 02/2026 Notification — Officer Entry for July 2027 Courses, Exam Held 8 August
The Indian Air Force notified AFCAT 02/2026 for Flying and Ground Duty (Technical and Non-Technical) branches, NCC Special Entry and GATE Score Entry, for courses commencing in July 2027. Applications ran from 20 May to 19 June 2026 and the online exam was held on 8 August 2026.
The application window for this notification has closed.
Key details
- Vacancies
- ≈379
- Application deadline
- Application fee
- ₹550
₹550 plus 18% GST, non-refundable, for AFCAT entry. Paid online by net banking, debit or credit card or UPI; no cash, cheque or demand draft.
Useful links
Checked against afcat.edcil.co.in on 12 Oct 2026.
Vacancies by post
379Show all 13 rows
| Post | Vacancies |
|---|---|
| Flying Branch (SSC) | 35 |
| Ground Duty (Technical) AE(L) — PC | 4 |
| Ground Duty (Technical) AE(L) — SSC | 132 |
| Ground Duty (Technical) AE(M) — PC | 10 |
| Ground Duty (Technical) AE(M) — SSC | 65 |
| Weapon Systems (SSC) | 26 |
| Administration (SSC) | 62 |
| Logistics (SSC) | 6 |
| Accounts (SSC) | 7 |
| Education (SSC) | 3 |
| Meteorology (SSC) | 3 |
| GATE Score Entry AE(L) — PC and SSC | 17 |
| GATE Score Entry AE(M) — PC and SSC | 9 |
| Total | 379 |
Important dates
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Applications open (11:00) | Next upCompleted | |
| Applications close (23:30) | Next upCompleted | |
| Online AFCAT | Next upCompleted | |
| Final-year students submit proof of completing exams by | Next upCompleted |
Eligibility
- Age limit
- Flying Branch (AFCAT and NCC Special Entry): 20 to 24 years as on 1 July 2027 — born between 2 July 2003 and 1 July 2007, both dates inclusive. Ground Duty (Technical and Non-Technical) branches, including GATE Score Entry: 20 to 26 years as on 1 July 2027 — born between 2 July 2001 and 1 July 2007.
- Age relaxation
- For the Flying Branch, the upper limit is relaxable to 26 years for holders of a valid and current Commercial Pilot Licence issued by DGCA (India). Candidates must be unmarried at the start of the course.
- Qualification
- Flying: Mathematics and Physics at 10+2, plus a three-year degree in any discipline, a four-year BE/BTech, or Sections A and B of AMIE/ASI. Ground Duty (Technical): Physics and Mathematics at 10+2 and a four-year engineering degree in one of the listed disciplines (AE(L) also accepts MSc Electronics with BSc Physics). Non-technical branches differ by branch — see para 5.3 of the notification. Final-year students may apply with no current backlog.
- Exempt from the fee
- NCC Special Entry and GATE Score Entry applicants pay no fee.
About this notification
The Indian Air Force invited applications from Indian men and women for AFCAT 02/2026, for Group ‘A’ Gazetted Officer posts in the Flying Branch and the Ground Duty (Technical and Non-Technical) branches, plus NCC Special Entry and GATE Score Entry, for courses commencing in July 2027.
Vacancies. The notification lists branch-wise vacancies and calls them tentative. It does not print a total; adding up its table gives 379 — 353 through AFCAT and 26 through GATE Score Entry. NCC Special Entry takes 10% of CDSE vacancies for Permanent Commission and 10% of AFCAT vacancies for Short Service Commission, so it is not extra. Two Ground Duty (Non-Technical) seats are reserved for law graduates.
The exam was held online on Saturday, 8 August 2026: 100 questions for 300 marks in two hours, covering General Awareness, Verbal Ability in English, Numerical Ability, and Reasoning and Military Aptitude. Three marks for each correct answer, one deducted for each wrong one, nothing for unattempted questions. Marks are normalised when the exam runs in more than one shift.
After the exam. Candidates who reach the qualifying marks fixed by the Air Force choose their own Air Force Selection Board date and venue on the AFCAT portal — Dehradun, Mysuru, Gandhinagar, Varanasi or Guwahati. NCC Special Entry applicants and shortlisted GATE Score Entry applicants are called to the board directly. The notification advises reporting fit enough to run 1.6 km in ten minutes and do ten push-ups and three chin-ups.
Applications for this cycle are closed. The AFCAT portal also opened a window on 29–30 June 2026 for registered candidates to edit personal details.