Autumn is the busiest stretch of the EPSO year. The 2026 AD5 graduate competition is moving from the application phase into testing, several specialist competitions are working through their own timetables, and the permanent CAST call keeps accepting applications in the background. This post summarises where the 2026 cycle stands as of August, what happens next, and what you can still apply to right now.
Where the 2026 EPSO cycle stands
Applications for the AD5 graduate administrators competition, the flagship entry route into the EU civil service, closed in March 2026. If you applied, the next milestone is the first round of tests, which EPSO has indicated will run in the autumn, currently expected in October or November. Exact dates are confirmed through your EPSO account, so check it regularly and make sure the email address on file is one you actually read. Invitations typically arrive a few weeks before the testing window opens.
Beyond AD5, the profiles announced for the 2026 cycle include auditors, IT and data specialists, and lawyer-linguists for the Court of Justice and the other institutions. Each of these competitions runs on its own timetable with its own notice of competition, published in the Official Journal and on the EPSO website. Our EPSO calendar page tracks the notices and deadlines we have verified, and updates as EPSO confirms dates.
What the AD5 tests look like in 2026
Since the 2023 reform of the selection procedure, EPSO competitions have been shorter and mostly remote. For the 2026 AD5 competition, candidates should expect computer-based tests taken from home under remote supervision: verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning, a test of knowledge about the European Union, a digital skills component, and a written exercise assessing drafting ability. The precise mix and weighting are set out in the notice of competition for your field, and that notice is the authoritative document: read it end to end before you sit anything.
Reasoning tests remain the great filter. They are not knowledge tests; they measure speed and accuracy under time pressure, and the difference between candidates who pass and candidates who nearly pass is usually practice volume. The EU knowledge test, reintroduced with the reformed procedure, rewards structured revision of how the institutions work: who proposes legislation, who adopts it, what each institution and agency actually does.
What you can still apply to right now
Missing the AD5 window does not mean waiting until 2027. The CAST permanent call is open all year for contract agent profiles in Function Groups II, III and IV, covering administration, finance, project management, IT, communication and more. You register in the candidate database, institutions and agencies search it when they have a vacancy, and testing is triggered when an employer shortlists you. It is slower and less predictable than a competition, but it is the single most common entry route into the institutions today.
The decentralised agencies also recruit continuously and directly, outside EPSO competitions entirely. Temporary agent and contract agent posts at agencies such as Europol, Frontex, EMA or the newer AMLA are published on each agency's own careers page, with their own deadlines, and most do not require a reserve list. We aggregate these vacancies daily; our guide to getting an EU job without EPSO explains how these procedures differ from competitions.
Key dates for the rest of 2026
Between now and the end of the year, the dates that matter are the AD5 testing window expected in October or November, the rolling deadlines of the specialist notices already published, and the annual salary adjustment that lands in December and updates the pay figures attached to every grade. Agency vacancies keep their usual rhythm, with a noticeable surge of new postings in September and October as hiring plans for the following year are approved. If a deadline matters to you, verify it against the notice of competition or the agency's vacancy page rather than any third-party summary, ours included.
How to prepare between now and October
Eight to ten weeks is enough time to prepare properly if you use it deliberately. A workable plan: two or three timed reasoning sessions per week, alternating verbal, numerical and abstract; one block per week on EU knowledge, organised by institution rather than by treaty article; and one written exercise per fortnight, drafted under time constraints and reviewed against the assessment criteria in the notice. Simulate the real conditions early, including the remote proctoring setup, a quiet room, a wired connection and the identity checks, so that nothing about the logistics is new on test day.
The most common mistakes are also the most avoidable: practising untimed and building a false sense of accuracy, ignoring the EU knowledge syllabus until the final week, and never rehearsing the written exercise because reasoning practice feels more measurable. Balanced preparation across all components beats excellence in one.
After the tests: reserve lists and recruitment
Passing a competition places you on a reserve list, typically valid for a year and usually extended. Being listed is not a job offer; institutions recruit from the list as posts open, and candidates who actively apply to published vacancies, contact units in their field and keep their profile current are recruited noticeably faster than those who wait. While you wait, agency vacancies at your grade remain open to you, and time spent in a temporary agent or contract agent post counts as exactly the kind of experience recruiting units want to see.
We track every stage of the cycle: browse live AD5 level vacancies on the grade page, follow confirmed dates on the EPSO calendar, and subscribe to alerts to hear when new notices are published.