COM/AST/109/2026: the AST3 internal competition

Last checked against sources: 26 October 2026. The notice is on the Commission's intranet only, so the facts below come from vendors and a staff union that quote it, and each carries a label: reported or estimated.

Status at a glance

Who could apply

As reported by EPSOHQ, the competition was open to Commission officials and temporary agents in the AST/SC or AST function group, and to contract agents in function group IV. The qualification routes were a post-secondary diploma plus two years' relevant experience, a secondary diploma giving access to higher education plus four years, or equivalent vocational training plus two, with C1 in one language and B2 in English, French or German. One vendor listing gave 80 places; every other source, including the vendors' main pages, gives 70.

The EU knowledge test: 40 minutes for 30 questions

AST3 candidates have 40 minutes for 30 questions, against 30 minutes at AD grades: 80 seconds a question. A vendor and a Commission staff union's briefing both give the 40 minutes. Whether AST3 and AD5 candidates see the same questions is not public; because the timer differs, they cannot sit an identical paper. AD vs AST timing sets out a pacing plan for each timer.

In the 2026 competitions, the Commission's guidance to candidates has described a forward-only screen: questions answered in order, no going back, and no moving on without choosing an option. A wrong answer scores zero, the same as a blank. The pass mark is 15/30, but only the highest scorers, up to 175 for 70 places, have their written test marked (reported). See how scoring and the 2.5x rule work.

When the test is sat

No public source gives the date of the AST3 knowledge test and written test, and we do not give one. A Commission staff union reports that HR has committed to announce each test at least two weeks before it takes place. Whether AST3 sits on the same day as the internal AD5 competition is not public.

What is in scope: the content cut-off

The 2026 rule, from the Commission's guidance to candidates, is publicly available official EU sources only, and nothing published after the application period opened. No public source gives the day the AST3 notice opened; a Commission staff union announced its AST3 information session on 30 June 2026, so we estimate mid to late June.

That leaves one grey zone. Omnibus XI (taxation) and Omnibus XII (energy product legislation), which the Commission presented on 24 June 2026, are in scope only if the notice opened after that day. Until the date is known, treat them as uncertain for AST3. Documents up to 29 May 2026, the internal AD5 cut-off, are safely in scope for both. The content cut-off guide has the full comparison, and the source register can be filtered to this competition.

After the knowledge test

The written test is sat the same day: 90 minutes, pass 26/50 (reported). That pass mark sits between AST2's 25/50 and the AD grades' 30/50; it rests on a vendor page and a staff union's slides, so check it against your own notice. The oral lasts up to 60 minutes and passes at 25/50 (reported by EPSOHQ).

If you are aiming at the next competition

The next AST competition with the same test is COM/AST/112/2026 (AST2), which closes on 30 October 2026 (reported). Its cognitive gate comes first; epsoshlprep.com offers practice for it. Our free 30-question test offers the Commission's forward-only rules with the 40-minute AST timer, in English, French or German. The format is explained in how the EU knowledge test works, and changes to our pages are logged in the corrections log.