Is the AD 5 translators competition still open?

No. Applications closed on 14 January 2025 at noon, Brussels time. The EPSO planning schedules a new translators cycle for June 2027, for BG, DE, FI, GA, HR, PT, SL and SV.

How many places did this competition offer?

1,177 successful candidates in total, spread over eight competitions: from 119 for Maltese to 180 for French.

Do you need professional experience to become an AD 5 translator?

No. The notice requires citizenship of a Member State, a diploma for university studies of at least three years and three languages: the target language at level C2, two others at level C1 minimum.

What tests does the translators competition include?

Three reasoning tests (combined pass mark 22/40), a language knowledge test (13/25), a comprehension test (6/12), a translation test (50/100) and a revision test (20/40). All of them are eliminatory.

How is the final ranking established?

Out of 152 points: comprehension (12), translation (100) and revision (40). Reasoning and language knowledge do not count towards this total.

Is there an oral test or an assessment centre?

No. The notice provides for no oral test, no interview and no assessment centre: all tests are taken online with remote proctoring.

Translators competition AD 5 (EPSO/AD/414/24 to 421/24): tests and timeline

How the tests are made up

Test parameters recorded by Erudiam

Test	Questions	Duration	Language	Scoring	Pass mark	Eliminatory	Ranked	Weight
Raisonnement verbal	10	18 min	-	0-20	22/40 (combined)	Yes	No	-
Raisonnement numérique	10	20 min	-	1 pt/question	22/40 (combined)	Yes	No	-
Raisonnement abstrait	10	20 min	-	1 pt/question	22/40 (combined)	Yes	No	-

Source: Erudiam databaseScroll the table sideways.

How the selection works

All tests are taken online with remote proctoring (section 4.3).
Verbal reasoning in language 1: 10 questions, 18 minutes, marked out of 20 (table 3).
Numerical reasoning: 10 questions, 20 minutes, marked out of 10; abstract reasoning: 10 questions, 20 minutes, marked out of 10 (table 3).
Combined pass mark across the three reasoning tests: 22/40. They are eliminatory and do not count towards the ranking (sections 4.3 and 4.5).
Language knowledge test in language 1: 25 questions, 25 minutes, pass mark 13/25 (table 4).
Language comprehension test in language 3: 12 questions, 25 minutes, pass mark 6/12 (table 5).
Translation test from language 2 into language 1: 60 minutes, marked out of 100, pass mark 50/100, with “some elements of localisation” (table 6).
Revision test of a text translated from language 2 into language 1: 30 minutes, marked out of 40, pass mark 20/40 (table 7).
Cascade marking: the selection board marks the translation test only for at most twice the number of successful candidates sought, taken in the order of the language knowledge marks (section 4.4).
Ranking out of 152 points: comprehension (12) + translation (100) + revision (40) (section 4.5).

Source: Publications Office of the EU : Notice of open competitions EPSO/AD/414/24 to EPSO/AD/421/24

Try a question

A question from our practice bank, in the format of the Verbal reasoning test.

See the Verbal reasoning test

The demographic ageing of developed countries results from the combination of two dynamics: the continuous lengthening of life expectancy and the persistent fall of fertility below the replacement threshold. In the European Union, the share of those aged 65 and over rose from around 14% of the population in 1990 to 21% in 2022, while the share of those under 15 declined over the same period. This twin movement profoundly alters needs for public services: health, long-term care, pensions, adapted housing. The social-protection models inherited from Esping-Andersen's typology (1990) - liberal, conservative-corporatist, social-democratic - respond to these challenges according to contrasting logics: the first privileges means-tested benefits, the second employment-linked insurance, the third universal services funded by taxation. None of these models is fully shielded from the budgetary tensions linked to ageing, but they do not respond to them with the same intergenerational fairness.

Which of the following statements is correct?AThe passage states that every model in Esping-Andersen's typology addresses ageing-linked budgetary tensions with an identical degree of intergenerational fairness.BIn the European Union, the share of those aged 65 and over rose from around 14% in 1990 to 21% in 2022, while the share of those under 15 declined over the same period.CThe passage attributes demographic ageing in developed countries solely to the persistent fall of fertility, independently of any change in life expectancy.DThe passage states that Esping-Andersen's typology distinguishes the liberal, the conservative-corporatist and a universalist-Anglo-Saxon social-protection model.

Answer key : B

Text: "In the European Union, the share of those aged 65 and over rose from around 14% of the population in 1990 to 21% in 2022, while the share of those under 15 declined over the same period".

A. Contradicts the passage: the models do not respond to ageing-related tensions "with the same intergenerational fairness".

B. Text: "In the European Union, the share of those aged 65 and over rose from around 14% of the population in 1990 to 21% in 2022, while the share of those under 15 declined over the same period".

C. Contradicts the passage: ageing results from "the combination of two dynamics: the continuous lengthening of life expectancy and the persistent fall of fertility", not fertility alone.

D. Contradicts the passage: the third model named is "social-democratic", not a "universalist-Anglo-Saxon" model.

Questions written by Erudiam from official EU sources; EPSO does not publish past papers.

Translators competition AD 5 (EPSO/AD/414/24 to 421/24): tests and timeline

Key dates

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Who can apply

Nature of the duties

Breakdown of successful candidates

How the tests are made up

How the selection works

What this competition does not include

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Frequently asked questions

Official reference and sources

Sources

Competition calendar