How the test works

The EU knowledge MCQ in Commission internal competitions: how it works and how to score

Last updated 24 October 2026

In the Commission’s 2026 generalist internal competitions, candidates who clear the cognitive gate sit two tests on the same day: a 30-question EU knowledge MCQ and a 90-minute written test. The MCQ decides more than a pass. Here is what is known about it, and how to prepare.

The format

• 30 questions, each with four options and one correct answer.
• 30 minutes at AD grades, 40 minutes at AST grades for the same 30 questions.
• Questions come in a fixed order. You cannot go back to one you have answered, and you cannot move on until you have chosen an option. There is no review screen.
• The test submits itself when time runs out. Submitting on the last question ends it early.
• Never press Exit. It ends the session for good, with no way back in and no points for the answers you have already given.
• You sit it online in your second language, which must be English, French or German.

The scoring, and the real bar

A correct answer scores one point. A wrong answer scores zero, with no penalty, so you should never leave a question to chance when you can eliminate an option. The pass mark reported in every 2026 generalist notice is 15/30.

Passing is not enough. Only the top MCQ scorers, up to two and a half times the number of places, have their written test marked: about 250 candidates for AD5’s 100 places and about 175 for AST3’s 70. No score distribution has ever been published, so nobody can tell you the cut-off score in advance. Aim well above 15.

The arithmetic of guessing helps: four options means a pure guess is right a quarter of the time, so a blind run scores about 7.5 out of 30. Every option you can rule out raises your odds on the rest.

What it covers

The Commission names four areas:

• the EU’s institutional set-up;
• the Commission’s roles and powers under the EU Treaties;
• the Commission’s governance, decision-making and procedures;
• the Commission’s policy priorities.

Every question rests on publicly available official EU sources, and nothing published after the start of the competition’s application period can be asked. For AD5 (COM/AD/108/2026) that date is 29 May 2026. For AD6 and AST2 it will be the opening of their own application period, in autumn 2026.

What to read first

There is no official reading list. The best return on reading time comes from a few blocks of Treaty text, then the documents that set the current Commission’s course:

1. The institutional articles of the Treaties: TEU Articles 5 and 13 to 20, and TFEU Articles 223 to 250, 285 to 299 and 310 to 324. About an hour and three quarters of reading.
2. The Political Guidelines 2024-2029 and the Commission’s priorities page.
3. The first-100-days package of early 2025: the Competitiveness Compass, the 2025 work programme, the communication on implementation and simplification, and the Clean Industrial Deal.
4. The Commission’s Rules of Procedure (Decision (EU) 2024/3080, which replaced the 2000 rules and renumbered them), the Financial Regulation recast (Regulation 2024/2509) and the Code of Conduct for the Members of the Commission.

Learn the exact figures. Candidates remember topics well and numbers badly, and the examiners build wrong options from real numbers that belong somewhere else: another article’s majority, another body’s term of office, the proposed budget instead of the current one.

A strategy for the clock

• Keep to about a minute a question (80 seconds at AST). A question you do not know will not come to you in the third minute.
• Eliminate before you guess. Two options can usually go, which turns a 25% guess into a 50% one.
• On “which is NOT” questions, mark each option true or false in your head and pick the one that fails.
• Read every word. Absolute words such as “always”, “only”, “never” or “all” often make an option wrong, and so does one changed number, institution or majority. Treat them as a warning to check the option, not as proof it is wrong.
• When you cannot recall the fact, reason from principle: does the option fit how the EU works (the Commission proposes, Parliament and the Council legislate, the Court of Justice rules on the law)? An option that contradicts a basic principle is rarely right.
• Answer every question. A blank scores the same as a wrong answer, and the screen will not let you skip anyway.

The written test, the same day

The written test lasts 90 minutes. You receive a set of documents and write a briefing, letter or note from them, using only the information provided. The documents sit on the left of the screen and your text box on the right, and copy and paste are disabled. Do not write your name. It is only marked if your MCQ score ranks high enough, which is why the MCQ deserves real preparation.

This guide is independent and unofficial. Concours Coach MCQ is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the European Commission, the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), any other EU institution, body or agency, or SHL Group. Always follow the instructions in your own invitation and on your candidate portal.