| Test | Questions | Duration | Language | Scoring | Pass mark | Eliminatory | Ranked | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raisonnement verbal | 20 | 35 min | — | 1 pt/question | 10/20 | Yes | Yes | 35 % |
| Raisonnement numerique | 10 | 20 min | — | 1 pt/question | 10/20 (combined) | Yes | No | — |
| Raisonnement abstrait | 10 | 10 min | — | 1 pt/question | 10/20 (combined) | Yes | No | — |
The EPSO verbal reasoning test measures your ability to reason logically about a short text: 20 multiple choice questions in 35 minutes.
Each question gives a paragraph and four statements: only one can be deduced from the text, while the other three are true elsewhere, overstated, or absent from the paragraph.
The test is eliminatory: below 10/20, the application goes no further. Its score then counts for 35% of the ranking mark.
Verbal reasoning is the most widely used test in the EPSO system: it opens almost every competition, from generalist administrators to assistants, specialists and lawyer-linguists.
The parameters change from one competition to the next, and that is the trap: the number of questions, the duration and above all the way the pass mark is calculated are not the same everywhere. The table below sets out, competition by competition, what the Official Journal publishes.
Worth remembering: in some competitions verbal reasoning has its own pass mark, in others it is merged into a group pass mark with numerical and abstract reasoning. A weak verbal mark cannot be made up in the same way in both cases.
| Competition |
|---|
The questions below come from our practice bank, in the format of the test: one paragraph, four statements, only one deducible from the text, with the full worked answer and an analysis of every distractor.
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.
| Connaissances de l'Union europeenne | 30 | 40 min | L2 | 1 pt/question | 15/30 | Yes | Yes | 25 % |
|---|
| Competences numeriques | 40 | 30 min | L2 | 1 pt/question | 20/40 | Yes | Yes | 25 % |
|---|
| EUFTE (epreuve ecrite) | 1 | 40 min | L2 | 1 pt/question | — | Yes | Yes | 15 % |
|---|
| Questions |
|---|
| Duration |
|---|
| Language |
|---|
| Pass mark |
|---|
| Weight |
|---|
| Administrateurs generalistes (AD 5)EPSO/AD/427/26 | 20 | 35 min | — | 10/20 | 35 % |
| Assistants communication (AST 3)EPSO/AST/157/25 | 20 | 35 min | — | 10/20 | — |
| Administrateurs audit (AD 7)EPSO/AD/428/26 | 20 | 35 min | — | 10/20 | — |
| CAST Permanent (agents contractuels FG I a FG IV)CAST Permanent | 20 | 35 min | — | 10/20 | — |
| Administrateurs fiscalite (AD 6)EPSO/AD/422/25 | 20 | 35 min | — | 10/20 | — |
| Administrateurs gestion et connaissance des donnees (AD 7)EPSO/AD/426/25 | 20 | 35 min | — | 10/20 | — |
| Juristes-linguistes CJUE (AD 7)EPSO/AD/424/25 | 20 | 35 min | — | 20/40 (combined) | — |
| Juristes-linguistes / reviseurs juridiques PE-Conseil-Commission (AD 7)EPSO/AD/423/25 | 10 | 18 min | — | 15/30 (combined) | — |
| Administrateurs TIC (AD 7)EPSO/AD/429/26 | 20 | 35 min | — | 10/20 | — |
| Traducteurs (AD 5)EPSO/AD/414/24 a EPSO/AD/421/24 | 10 | 18 min | — | 22/40 (combined) | — |
The notice of competition publishes no sub-domains for verbal reasoning: it sets the number of questions, the duration and the pass mark, not a taxonomy. What follows is therefore not an official list, but the typology we draw from our own question bank, describing the five mechanisms candidates actually meet.
Typology established by Erudiam from its question bank. The official notice of competition publishes no sub-domains for this test: the only official figures on this page are those in the table and the banner, taken from the Official Journal.
Answer key — D
Statement D is supported by the third sentence. Statement A contradicts the first sentence: in force since 2021. Statement B contradicts the second sentence. Statement C contradicts the third sentence.
A. Wrong date: the Regulation has been in force since 1 January 2021, not 2018.
B. Wrong: the Court of Justice confirmed the Regulation's legality in February 2022; it did not annul it.
C. Wrong: the Regulation can and did lead to suspension of funds, as shown by the December 2022 measures against Hungary.
D. Third sentence supports this.
Answer key — A
Text: "Launched by NASA on 5 September 1977" and "In 2012, NASA confirmed that Voyager 1 had crossed the heliopause".
A. Text: "Launched by NASA on 5 September 1977" and "In 2012, NASA confirmed that Voyager 1 had crossed the heliopause".
B. The paragraph states Voyager 1 flew past Jupiter in 1979, not Mars.
C. The paragraph states the probe is powered by a plutonium radioisotope thermoelectric generator, not solar panels.
D. The paragraph states the probe is still transmitting scientific data in 2025.
Answer key — C
The text notes: "this forced exile ensured the global influence of Bauhaus principles". Statement C paraphrases faithfully.
A. A contradicts the text: the Bauhaus motto expressed "a rejection of gratuitous ornament", not a taste for ornamented design.
B. B contradicts the text: the school was "closed in 1933 under pressure from the Nazi regime", not kept running throughout the century.
C. The text notes: "this forced exile ensured the global influence of Bauhaus principles". Statement C paraphrases faithfully.
D. D contradicts the text: the Bauhaus was founded in Weimar in 1919, not in Berlin in 1933, which is when it closed.
Answer key — D
Text: "the Ingenuity helicopter, the first vehicle to perform a controlled powered flight on another planet, in April 2021".
A. The paragraph states Curiosity confirmed an aqueous environment "without however detecting any traces" of microbial life.
B. The paragraph states no return of Martian samples to Earth has yet been carried out to date.
C. The paragraph states China became the second country, not the first, to land a rover on Mars.
D. Text: "the Ingenuity helicopter, the first vehicle to perform a controlled powered flight on another planet, in April 2021".
Answer key — A
Statement A is supported by the third sentence. Statement B contradicts the second sentence: any nationality. Statement C contradicts the fourth sentence: more than 13,000. Statement D contradicts the fifth sentence: around 16 billion euros.
A. Third sentence supports this.
B. The paragraph states the ERC funds researchers of any nationality, not only EU nationals.
C. The paragraph states more than 13,000 projects have been supported as of 2024, not around 1,300.
D. The paragraph gives the ERC budget under Horizon Europe as around 16 billion euros, not 5 billion.
The most common mistake is answering from what you know. A statement that is accurate about the European Union but absent from the paragraph is marked wrong: the only question asked is whether the text says so.
The second is reading the paragraph before the question. The other way round, you know what to look for, and targeted rereading costs a few seconds instead of a minute. With 20 questions in 35 minutes, those seconds make the mark.
The third is refusing to let go. One blocking question costs two easy ones; flagging it and moving on beats gaining one point and losing two.
The method that works: first identify the quantifiers and connectors in each option, eliminate anything that goes beyond the text, then check the remaining option word by word against the paragraph.
Every question is worked through option by option: you see why the correct answer can be deduced, and above all by which mechanism each of the three distractors fails.
Spaced repetition (the FSRS algorithm) reschedules the mechanisms you get wrong, rather than having you run through full tests in which you mostly rework what you already know.
The readiness index (ERI) aggregates coverage, regularity and success rate to show whether you are ready, on this test as on the others in the competition.
Timed mock tests reproduce the time pressure of the real thing: that is where the difference shows between knowing the answer and knowing it within a minute.
20 multiple choice questions in 35 minutes for the generalist administrator competition, according to the official notice (reference at the foot of the page). The parameters differ between competitions: the table on this page compares them.
10 points out of 20 for this competition. The test is eliminatory and its score counts for 35% of the final mark used to draw up the reserve list.
We do not state that here. The official parameters we recorded set a language regime for EU knowledge, digital skills and the written test, but not for verbal reasoning. Your individual invitation and the notice of the competition concerned remain the only reference.
In almost every one. It is the most widely used test in the system: it appears from generalist administrator competitions to assistants, specialists and lawyer-linguists. The table on this page lists those we track, with their exact parameters.
No, and assuming otherwise is a classic trap. The paragraph contains everything you need; a statement that is true in reality but absent from the text is marked wrong.
By working on the distractor mechanisms rather than running through full tests: first identify which ones catch you out, practise them separately, then return to timed conditions to check that it holds under time pressure.
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