The EPSO selection process, step by step

This page describes the process as set out in the official sources as at 4 August 2026. It also points out frankly where those sources are silent or contradict one another.

Only one binding text: the notice of competition

The notice of competition is not a promotional brochure; it is the text that has force of law. The notice for the AD 5 administrator competition published on 5 February 2026 states this expressly: “This notice of competition and its annexes, including Annex I ‘General rules’, form the legally binding framework for this competition.”

The consequence is simple, and it applies to this page too: no third-party information, no preparation site, no forum, Erudiam included, has the slightest binding force. Before the Selection Board, only the notice counts.

• The notice is published in the Official Journal of the European Union and on the EPSO website, in all the official languages, on the first day of the application period.
• It sets the profile sought, the admission conditions, the structure of the tests, the language regime and the number of successful candidates sought.
• It may be amended during the procedure by a corrigendum published in the Official Journal. Rereading the notice before each deadline is not excessive caution.
• On the two recent notices we checked, the application period lasted about five weeks. That is an observation drawn from two cases, not a rule.
• The numerical parameters of the tests change from one competition to the next. We do not copy them out here: our competition pages display them from our database, and the notice remains the reference.

What has changed: the assessment centre is gone

EPSO’s interinstitutional Management Board decided to abolish the oral tests. The first competition organised under the new model was published on 22 June 2023. Since then, EPSO states that all tests take place online with remote proctoring, in a single testing session, and therefore on a single day per candidate.

EPSO has set itself an objective: to complete a competition in six months, from publication of the notice to establishment of the reserve list. It is an objective, not a commitment, and the facts published by EPSO itself show that it is not always met.

The AD 5 administrator competition opened in 2026 illustrates the point: notice published on 5 February 2026, applications closed on 10 March, more than 174,000 applications received, the first part of the tests announced for October and November 2026, the second part postponed to 2027. Between publication of the notice and the final tests, more than a year will have passed.

• Preparing for a European competition therefore means preparing for a distant and shifting deadline, not an exam in six weeks’ time.
• The test dates do not appear in the notice: they are announced later, in news items on the EPSO website. Keeping an eye on those news items is part of preparing.
• The timetable may be split partway through, as it was for the 2026 AD 5 competition.
• For the EU knowledge test, EPSO undertakes to publish the sources used about two months before the date of the test. This is the only content material EPSO undertakes to publish.

The stages, in order

EPSO describes the following sequence for an open competition. The order in which the tests are organised may differ from the order in which they are listed: the notice for the 2026 AD 5 competition states this explicitly.

An EPSO account is compulsory. All notifications are sent through it, and it is up to candidates to check them.

• Publication of the notice of competition, then submission of the application via the EPSO account.
• Optional self-assessment, offered by EPSO under the name EASI.
• Verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning tests, taken in the first language declared.
• Knowledge test, on the European Union for generalist profiles or on the field for specialists, taken in the second language.
• Digital skills test, where the institutions require it.
• Written communication test, also in the second language.
• Eligibility check, including the language and qualification conditions.
• Publication of the reserve list, then the window for requesting a review.

The reserve list guarantees nothing

This is the most widely misunderstood aspect of the system, and the notice of competition leaves no ambiguity: “Inclusion on a reserve list does not confer any right to or guarantee of recruitment.”

The list is a pool. Institutions, bodies and agencies look there for the profiles matching their needs, then invite the people selected to an interview. A successful candidate may be contacted by several institutions, or by none. They may also apply on their own initiative for vacancies published in their account.

We publish no average recruitment time: we found no verifiable official figure, and a plausible but unverifiable figure is worth no more than an honest silence.

• The period of validity of the list is set competition by competition. EPSO’s frequently asked questions give one year in general and three years for specialist competitions, with possible extensions: check the notice for your competition.
• Successful candidates’ CVs and availability information are visible to the institutions in the database of successful candidates.
• Recruitment is carried out by the institutions themselves, not by EPSO.

Challenging a decision: four avenues, four deadlines

The deadlines for challenging a decision are short and are counted in calendar days, not working days. The values below come from the official EPSO pages consulted on 4 August 2026; the notice of competition may lay down its own deadlines, in which case the notice prevails.

One practical point is often overlooked: the administrative complaint must not be lodged before the reply to the request for review has been received. It is that reply which sets the three-month period running.

• Request for review by the Selection Board, against a decision to exclude or a test result: 5 calendar days from the decision.
• Administrative complaint to the appointing authority, against any decision affecting the legal position of the candidate: 3 months from notification.
• Complaint to the European Ombudsman, in the event of alleged maladministration: 2 years from becoming aware of the facts.
• Action before the General Court of the European Union: 3 months and 10 days from notification. The Court may annul a decision but cannot alter it.
• Incidents arising during the test, a technical problem or a challenge to a question: 3 calendar days after the date of the test, under the complaints handling policy published by EPSO.