AFCAT 2018 Question Paper & Answer Key PDF; AFCAT 1 & AFCAT 2
AFCAT 2018 was conducted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in two cycles, AFCAT 1 2018 on February 25, and AFCAT 2 2018 on August 18 and 19. Both cycles recruited Class-I Gazetted Officers into the Flying and Ground Duty (Technical and Non-Technical) branches through the same AFCAT online test. Candidates revising for an upcoming AFCAT cycle can use the AFCAT 2018 question paper and answer key below to see how the paper was structured before.
AFCAT 2018 Practice Paper PDF
AFCAT 2018 Exam Pattern: Marks, Duration and Negative Marking
The core structure of the AFCAT exam pattern has stayed largely unchanged since 2018, a single online objective paper, scored out of 300, with a fixed penalty for wrong answers.
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Exam Mode | Online, Computer-Based Test |
| Question Type | Objective (MCQ) |
| Medium | English only |
| Total Questions | 100 |
| Total Marks | 300 |
| Duration | 2 Hours (120 Minutes) |
| Marking Scheme | +3 for correct answer, -1 for incorrect answer |
| Unattempted Questions | No marks awarded or deducted |
AFCAT 2018 EKT Pattern for Ground Duty Technical Branch
Candidates who applied under the Ground Duty (Technical) branch in 2018 had to sit for the EKT as well, held right after the main AFCAT paper on the same day.
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Applicable For | Ground Duty (Technical) branch aspirants only |
| Total Questions | 50 |
| Total Marks | 150 |
| Duration | 45 Minutes |
| Marking Scheme | +3 for correct answer, -1 for incorrect answer |
AFCAT 2018 Section-wise Weightage and Topics Asked
AFCAT 1 2018 paper was split into four sections, though they carried slightly different names than the current General Awareness / Verbal Ability / Numerical Ability / Reasoning & Military Aptitude split. The table below shows how the 100 questions were distributed in the AFCAT syllabus sections.
| Section (2018 naming) | Questions | Topics Covered |
|---|---|---|
| English Language | 25 | Comprehension, Synonyms, Antonyms, One Word Substitution, Correctly Spelt Words, Cloze Test |
| General Intelligence | 32 | Odd Man Out, Analogy, Embedded Figures, Series Completion, Coding, Syllogism, Classification |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 18 | Percentages, Profit & Loss, Average, Number System, Time & Work, Simple Interest, Simplification |
| General Awareness | 25 | History, Geography, Science, Polity, Sports, Persons & Places, Prizes & Awards, Books & Authors |
| Total | 100 | — |
A closer look at two of the heavier sections shows how granular the question split was within each topic:
| English Language Topic | Qs | General Intelligence Topic | Qs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloze Test | 6 | Choose Analogous Pair | 5 |
| One Word Substitution | 5 | Analogy | 4 |
| English Comprehension | 4 | Completion of an Incomplete Pattern | 4 |
| Correctly Spelt Words | 5 | Classification | 4 |
| Antonyms | 3 | Simple Analogy | 3 |
| Synonyms | 2 | Letter Series Test | 3 |
Note: “General Intelligence” in 2018 corresponds closely to what is now called Reasoning & Military Aptitude Test, and both carried the same 32 question weightage.
AFCAT 2018 Paper Difficulty Level and Good Attempts
Based on candidate feedback collected right after AFCAT 1 2018, here is how each section played out in terms of difficulty and a realistic attempt count, given the same -1 negative marking that applies today.
| Section | Difficulty Level | Good Attempts |
|---|---|---|
| English Language | Easy to Moderate | 16 - 18 |
| General Intelligence | Easy to Moderate | 25 - 28 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | Easy | 14 - 16 |
| General Awareness | Moderate | 14 - 17 |
| Overall (out of 100) | Moderate | 64 - 68 |
| Relevant Links | ||
|---|---|---|
| AFCAT Admit Card | AFCAT Answer Key | AFCAT Result |
| AFCAT Eligibility | AFCAT Cutoff | AFCAT Question Paper 2013 |
| AFCAT Question Paper 2015 | AFCAT Application Proess | AFCAT Question Paper 2014 |
AFCAT 2 2018 (Aug 18 to 19) followed this same overall pattern and marking scheme; General Intelligence and English Language continued to carry the highest combined weightage across both shifts.
AFCAT 2018 was the first cycle held on a computer screen instead of an OMR sheet, and the last one to use section labels like English Language and General Intelligence before they were renamed to their current form. For candidates today, what matters less is the vocabulary used and more the underlying question types, which have carried through largely unchanged into the current AFCAT exam pattern. Candidates can use these Memory Based Papers to strengthen English, General Awareness, and Reasoning fundamentals first, then move on to a full-length online AFCAT Mock Tests so the exam day experience matches the current computer-based format and time pressure.
AFCAT 2018 Question Paper FAQs
Ques: Did AFCAT 2018 use the same section names as the current AFCAT paper?
Ans: Not exactly. The 2018 paper listed its sections as English Language, General Intelligence, Quantitative Aptitude, and General Awareness, whereas current papers label these as Verbal Ability in English, Reasoning & Military Aptitude Test, Numerical Ability, and General Awareness. The topics tested are largely the same.
Ques: Was AFCAT 1 2018 conducted over multiple days like the current exam?
Ans: No. AFCAT 1 2018 was held on a single day, February 25, 2018, across two shifts, unlike the three-day format used in recent AFCAT cycles.
Ques: What was the shift timing for AFCAT 2 2018?
Ans: AFCAT 2 2018 was held on August 18 and 19, 2018, with Shift 1 starting at 8:00 AM and Shift 2 at 1:00 PM on both days.
Ques: Is the EKT compulsory for every AFCAT 2018 applicant?
Ans: No. The EKT applied only to candidates who applied under the Ground Duty (Technical) branch; Flying and Ground Duty (Non-Technical) applicants only had to sit for the main AFCAT paper.
Ques: Can the AFCAT 2018 paper still be used to prepare for the current AFCAT exam?
Ans: Yes, for practising the exam format, time management, and recurring topics like General Intelligence and English Language. However, always cross-check the latest AFCAT syllabus, since a few topic weightages have shifted since 2018.
Ques: Was normalization applied to AFCAT 2018 scores across different shifts?
Ans: The IAF has applied a normalization formula for multi-shift AFCAT cycles in most recent years to adjust for difficulty differences between shifts; candidates should refer to the official 2018 notification for the exact policy that applied that year.
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