Internal vs External EPSO Competitions 2026: Don't Prepare the Wrong Test

"Internal" and "external" are two quiet little words that decide which exam you sit, which platform you log into, and whether you can even apply at all. In 2026, the gap between them has never been wider — and every few weeks a candidate tells us the same story: they downloaded a stack of EPSO verbal-reasoning practice, drilled A–E multiple choice for a month, and only then discovered their competition doesn't use any of it.

This guide draws the line clearly, so you train the right format from day one.

The same word, two very different exams

Both are called "competitions", both lead to an EU reserve list, both run under the Staff Regulations. That is where the resemblance ends.

An external competition — like EPSO/AD/427/26 (AD5 generalists) or EPSO/AD/428/26 (AD7 auditors) — is open to the public and run by EPSO on the TAO platform. An internal competition — COM/AD/107/2026, COM/AD/108/2026, COM/AST/109/2026 — is run by the Commission itself, reserved for people already inside, and it opens with a completely different kind of test. Confusing the two is the single most expensive mistake in EU-competition prep, because you can spend weeks mastering a format you will never see.

Dividing line #1: who can actually apply

An external competition is open to any national of an EU member state who meets the qualification (a degree for AD5; degree plus relevant experience for the AD7 audit profile). No prior link to the institutions is needed.

Internal is the opposite. The 2026 Commission internal competitions are open only to staff already employed: officials or temporary agents in the AD function group, or officials/agents in grade AST5 or above, with at least 12 consecutive months of service at the Commission (the last 6 in the relevant category). If you are not already inside, an internal competition is simply not a door you can open. One nuance for AD5: COM/AD/108/2026 is based on qualifications and does not require prior professional experience — but you still have to be serving staff.

Dividing line #2: the platform and the format

External EPSO 2026 runs on TAO, built by Open Assessment Technologies (OAT), in the classic multiple-choice shape you have seen for years — verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning, each a set of questions with options A to E — delivered online and remotely under the reformed 2026 model.

Internal is another world. The Commission's cognitive assessment is delivered by "an external company with recognised expertise in psychometric tests" — the official notice does not name it. Commercial trainers (JobTestPrep, EU Training) and staff unions (Generation 2004) converge on SHL — specifically the interactive SHL Verify Interactive G+ test (24 questions / 36 minutes, numerical + inductive + deductive, no A–E options). Note, though, that they steer candidates to their own paid practice packs, not to SHL's free official examples on SHL Direct. Whatever the label, the mechanics are distinctive: the test is interactive and adaptive, and across all three sections you build the answer instead of picking from A–E options — painting slots, dragging badges and handles, constructing figures.

Inside the internal cognitive test

24 questions, 36 minutes, three reasoning types in one continuous sitting:

• Numerical reasoning — workplace data (allowance rates, project revenues, team sizes) turned into interactive tasks, not A–E questions: rank people by dragging numbered badges, approve or reject each tab against a threshold, drag pie-chart handles until the percentages match, set bar totals and splits, plot a monthly series point by point. You build the answer on screen rather than picking an option.
• Inductive reasoning — 10 fully non-verbal items, shapes and figures only, spotting the underlying pattern. Mechanically close to EPSO abstract reasoning, but delivered interactively: you build or extend the figure by drag-and-drop rather than picking A–E.
• Deductive reasoning — rules and facts to reconcile (schedules, rankings, room plans), also interactive and mobile-enabled.

Three properties define the experience. It is adaptive: difficulty adjusts to your performance, item by item. There is no negative marking: wrong answers don't subtract — but you also can't skip or go back, and unanswered items score zero. And the pass mark is the 60th percentile, measured against a fixed benchmark set by the exercise's creator — not against the other candidates in your competition. That last point is liberating: you are not fighting your colleagues for a slice of a fixed pool, you are clearing a fixed bar. As the union analysis of COM/AD/107/2026 puts it, "the exercise creator set the level, not the other candidates."

Passing the cognitive test is only the gate. Internal candidates then face an EU-knowledge MCQ (30 questions, 30 minutes, pass mark 15/30, in language 2 — EN/FR/DE), a written test (a briefing, letter or note, 90 minutes, pass 30/50, built from a 15–25 page dossier), and finally an oral.

Inside the external EPSO tests

EPSO/AD/427/26 (AD5) on TAO combines reasoning tests, an EU-knowledge test, a digital-competency test and a written essay — the EUFTE (Free-Text Essay on EU Matters). According to preparation guides that have mapped the 2026 model, the reasoning block is verbal (20 questions / 35 min), numerical (10 / 20 min) and abstract (10 / 10 min), with reported final weightings of roughly verbal 35%, EU knowledge 25%, digital competency 25% and EUFTE 15% — figures worth confirming against the consolidated official notice, which EPSO re-issued around 30 June–1 July 2026. The scale is what you'd expect from an open competition: more than 174,000 candidates for a reserve list of 1,490. EPSO/AD/428/26 (AD7, audit) is a separate external competition, open to several institutions, with an application deadline of 19 May 2026.

Timeline 2026: two clocks running

Internal (indicative, drawn from candidate briefings — treat as approximate):

• COM/AD/107/2026 (AD7): applications closed 6 May; cognitive test in June; MCQ + written in July; final eligibility check in September; orals October–November; reserve list November–December 2026.
• COM/AD/108/2026 (AD5): applications closed 30 June; cognitive test expected around September 2026.
• COM/AST/109/2026 (AST3): applications open until 31 July 2026; tests to follow.

External:

• EPSO/AD/427/26 (AD5): published 5 February, first deadline 10 March, consolidated notice around 30 June–1 July 2026.
• EPSO/AD/428/26 (AD7, audit): application deadline 19 May 2026.

What transfers — and what doesn't

Good news first: the aptitude families overlap. Numerical reasoning, abstract/inductive pattern-spotting and deductive/verbal logic all appear on both sides, so generic EPSO reasoning practice is never wasted. The union analysis even notes that EPSO verbal-reasoning practice "can help you to practice" the internal deductive section.

What does not transfer is the response format and the platform. Drilling A–E multiple choice will not teach you to paint a calendar, drag ranking badges, or build a figure region by region under an adaptive engine with no back button. The internal deductive items "contain more details in less text" and are answered by drag-and-drop. So: prepare the family of skills anywhere; prepare the format specifically.

Prepare the right test — in your language

The most expensive mistake is training the wrong format. If you're sitting an internal Commission competition, you need the interactive, adaptive, percentile-scored cognitive test — not another stack of A–E papers.

That's exactly what we built. Try the format free: the SHL-style demo simulator gives you 12 interactive questions across numerical, inductive and deductive reasoning, with no account needed. When you're ready to train seriously, the full simulator runs the real shape — 24 questions in 36 minutes, adaptive difficulty selection, a section-by-section report — with dedicated trainers in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian, all in the 2026 Pass: €99 one-time, valid through the oral stage in January 2027 (see pricing). Sitting the external EPSO competition instead? Our TAO-style modules cover that classic A–E format too — so whichever competition is yours, you prepare the one that actually counts.

EU·Now is not affiliated with SHL Group Ltd or the European Commission. All practice items are original, created in the style of the assessment.