EPSO AD5 & AD7 2026: when are the tests?
Applications for AD5 Graduate Administrators, AD7 Auditors and AD7 ICT Experts have all closed. Here is what EPSO has actually confirmed about 2026 testing dates, and what is still an estimate from candidates and specialised trackers.
AD5 Graduate Administrators (EPSO/AD/427/26)
Applications closed on 10 March 2026 with 174,727 candidates — the largest single EPSO competition in years, for a reserve list of 1,490 places. EPSO has confirmed that testing starts in autumn 2026, run in two stages: reasoning first (verbal, numerical and abstract), with EU knowledge, digital skills and the EUFTE essay following in a second stage.
No exact dates have been published yet. Based on the most recent tracking available, the reasoning tests are expected late October or early November 2026, with the second stage pushed into 2027. There is no situational judgement test in this round. Candidates need two EU languages: Language 1 (any official EU language, C1) for the reasoning and EU knowledge tests, and Language 2 (English, French or German, B2) for the EUFTE essay. Supporting documents are due by 7 October 2026.
AD7 Auditors (EPSO/AD/428/26)
Applications closed on 19 May 2026, with more than 7,000 candidates competing for 448 positions. EPSO has not announced an exact test date. A test before the August break is considered unlikely, since EPSO typically gives candidates three to four weeks' notice before a testing window — late September 2026 is currently seen as the more realistic estimate.
AD7 ICT Experts (EPSO/AD/429/26)
Applications closed on 10 June 2026, with roughly 8,020 candidates applying across four specialist fields, for 782 reserve-list places in total. As with the other 2026 AD7 competitions, testing is expected in autumn 2026, but no exact date has been published.
What else is coming later in 2026
EPSO's official Upcoming opportunities page now lists tentative publication and application-deadline dates for five competitions being prepared for 2026 (all marked by EPSO as subject to change):
| Competition | Publication | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| ICT experts(EPSO/AD/430/26, grade AD8) — Artificial Intelligence & Cybersecurity | 8 Sept* | 13 Oct* |
| Data Management experts(EPSO/AST/158/26, grade AST3) — data processing/analytics/statistics, librarianship, or records & archives management | 6 Oct* | 11 Nov* |
| Lawyer-Linguists, Court of Justice (EPSO/AD/431/26, grade AD7) — Bulgarian, German, Greek, Spanish, Irish, Maltese, Dutch or Romanian | 21 Oct* | 25 Nov* |
| Lawyer-Linguists, Parliament/Council/Commission (EPSO/AD/432/26, grade AD7) — Spanish, Finnish, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Maltese, Portuguese or Swedish | 4 Nov* | 8 Dec* |
| Lawyers (EPSO/AD/433/26, grade AD7) — AI law, Criminal law, Procurement law, or Litigation | 9 Dec* | 20 Jan* |
* All dates above are marked by EPSO itself as tentative ("dates to be confirmed") and can still change.
EPSO also lists 7 further competitions expected in 2027 (month and date to be confirmed): Assistants for the Parliamentary body, Lawyers on 4 fields (Competition, Financial, Economic and monetary union, and Energy law), a second Lawyers competition on 4 different fields (Artificial intelligence, Criminal, Procurement law, and Litigation), International Affairs specialists, Translators, ICT experts on 3 fields, and Nuclear inspectors.
A quick note on how confirmed these dates are
EPSO has not yet published official test dates for AD5, AD7 Auditors or AD7 ICT — only "autumn 2026" has been confirmed directly by EPSO. The more specific windows given earlier on this page (late October/early November for AD5, late September for AD7 Auditors) come from specialised EPSO-preparation trackers monitoring the competition calendar, not from an official EPSO announcement, and can still change. The table above, however, comes directly from EPSO's own Upcoming opportunities page — though EPSO itself marks every one of those dates as provisional. Always check your EPSO Single Candidate Portal account and eu-careers.europa.eu directly for the latest updates.
Prepare for the reasoning tests now
Whatever the exact date turns out to be, verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning come first for AD5 — and are a pass/fail gate for AD7 as well. That makes reasoning the highest-leverage area to start practising today, regardless of when EPSO confirms the calendar.