# EPSO Communication Specialist (AST3): Graphic, Social & Web Routes URL: https://eu-now.com/blog/epso-communication-specialist-competitions-guide Published: 2026-05-31 · Updated: 2026-08-27 Category: Specialist Competitions Tags: EPSO, Communication, AST3, Social Media, Webmaster, Graphic Design, DG COMM EPSO/AST/157/25 — 435 AST3 places across Graphic Design, Social Media, Webmaster. Eligibility, FRMCQ, EUFTE, why no AD parallel exists. ## Key takeaways - EPSO/AST/157/25 recruits 435 AST3 assistants — 159 in graphic design, 150 in social media and digital communication, 126 as webmasters - The 2025 cycle revived three fields cancelled in EPSO/AST/154/22 (2022) due to remote-proctoring and data-protection issues — third time lucky - Field-related MCQ is the sole ranking driver; EUFTE is a pass-or-fail gate at 5/10 - AD-level press, spokesperson and strategic communication roles are filled through temporary-staff calls in DG COMM and other Directorates-General rather than through the EPSO competition route - Eligibility paths are unusually flexible: post-secondary diploma plus three years of experience, or secondary diploma plus six years of experience ## A Third Attempt at a Bumpy Selection EPSO/AST/157/25 was published in **Official Journal C/2025/3565 of 25 June 2025**. The application window closed on 29 July 2025. Test day was 29 October 2025. Supporting documents had to be submitted by 14 November 2025. The 2025 competition revives three communication fields previously bundled in EPSO/AST/154/22 of 2022 — and cancelled in May 2023. The cancellation Notice, OJ 2023/C 166/06, attributed the cancellation to "accumulated difficulties … in particular regarding the implementation of remotely proctored tests, including technical dysfunctions and data protection concerns." The competition was not technically a failure of substance — eligibility and content were fine — but the operational rollout of remote testing in 2022–23 ran into problems serious enough to scrap the procedure entirely. EPSO/AST/154/22 had bundled the three communication fields with three financial-management fields. Those financial fields returned in EPSO/AST/156/24 in 2024 (Financial Management, Accounting and Treasury, Public Procurement, total reserve list 864). The communication fields followed a year later in EPSO/AST/157/25. The split into two separate cycles — financial in 2024, communication in 2025 — was administratively cleaner than the original combined approach. For a broader overview of specialist competitions across fields, see our [EPSO specialist competitions FRMCQ guide](/blog/epso-specialist-competitions-frmcq-guide). For the general AST track, see our [EPSO AST competition guide 2026](/blog/epso-ast-competition-guide-2026). ### The Three Fields and Their Reserve Lists | Field | Reserve list | |-------|-------------| | Field 1 — Graphic design and visual content production | 159 | | Field 2 — Social media and digital communication | 150 | | Field 3 — Webmaster | 126 | | **Total** | **435** | Candidates may apply to only one field. The profiles are operationally distinct: - **Field 1** recruits graphic designers and visual content producers responsible for institutional design output — campaign visuals, infographics, motion graphics, branded content for digital and print. - **Field 2** recruits social media managers and digital communication specialists — content planning across institutional social channels, community management, campaign measurement, KPI tracking. - **Field 3** recruits webmasters — institutional website management, accessibility, content management system administration, web analytics. These are production and execution roles, not strategy or policy roles. The work is hands-on: designing visuals, managing platforms, building and maintaining websites — at the AST grade. ### Eligibility — Two Routes for Each Field Section 3.3.1 of the Notice sets out the two eligibility paths. Verbatim for Field 1: - "Post-secondary studies of at least two years, attested by a diploma in graphic or motion design, visual communication, communication design, or communication, followed by at least three years of relevant professional experience." - OR: "A level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education, followed by at least six years of relevant professional experience." The same two-route logic applies to Fields 2 and 3 with field-appropriate diploma areas — for Field 2 (Social media), social media management, digital communication, marketing, journalism, or related fields; for Field 3 (Webmaster), web development, computer science, ICT, or related areas. The exact diploma lists per field appear in the Notice. The flexibility of the eligibility paths is striking. AST3 Communication is among the most accessible EPSO competitions — no university degree required, no rare professional certifications, just relevant qualification and experience. This is consistent with the operational nature of the roles: institutions need practitioners who can execute, not policy theorists. The language regime follows the current EPSO standard: C1 in any of the 24 official EU languages for Language 1; B2 in any other of the 24 for Language 2. Language 1 covers the reasoning tests. Language 2 covers the field-related MCQ and the EUFTE. ### Test Day — Single Online Session EPSO/AST/157/25 uses the post-2024 EPSO model. All testing is remotely proctored: | Test | Language | Questions | Time | Pass mark | Counts toward ranking? | |------|----------|-----------|------|-----------|------------------------| | Verbal reasoning | L1 | 20 | 35 min | 10/20 (combined with NR) | No | | Numerical reasoning | L1 | 10 | 20 min | combined with VR | No | | Abstract reasoning | L1 | 10 | 10 min | own pass | No | | Field-related MCQ | L2 | 30 | 40 min | 15/30 | **Yes — sole ranking** | | EUFTE essay | L2 | 1 | 40 min | 5/10 | No (pass gate only) | The Notice is explicit on what determines the reserve list. Verbatim: > "The scores of candidates who obtained at least the required pass score will be used to create a ranking according candidates' performance." The EUFTE is pass-or-fail at 5/10. The threshold for invitation to EUFTE scoring is set as follows, verbatim: > "In principle not exceed 1.5 times the number of successful candidates sought per field. However, it may be increased by the Selection Board in view of the number of candidates with equal scores." So the FRMCQ score determines ranking. The reasoning tests are eligibility gates. The EUFTE is a pass-or-fail gate. Final reserve list order: descending FRMCQ score among candidates who passed the EUFTE and the eligibility check. ### What the EUFTE Actually Is The Notice describes the EUFTE in similar wording across all 2025 specialist competitions. The essay is 40 minutes in Language 2. It tests written communication skills. It is not a language test. It is not a test of factual knowledge. The assignment draws on documentation related to EU matters that EPSO publishes ahead of the test date. The scoring uses specific anchors published on the EPSO website. For Communication candidates, the temptation may be to treat the EUFTE as a press-release or web-article drafting exercise. The Notice does not authorise that interpretation. The EUFTE is a general written communication assessment tied to a pre-published EU topic. It is not a simulation of the field-specific writing the AST3 Communication role will require. ### The Implicit Syllabus — Field 2 as Example Annex II of the Notice does not enumerate a topic list for the FRMCQ. Instead it describes typical duties. For Field 2 (Social media and digital communication), the verbatim duty anchor is: > "Content planning and creation … Participating in the development and implementation of social media schedules in alignment with organisations' communication strategies." The knowledge areas that this duty cluster implies — and that candidates should prepare against — include EU institutional communication framework, social platform management and community management, content production (text, visual, short-form video), visual editing tools, social media campaign design and measurement, data analysis for communication, content creator collaboration, digital trends and platform evolution, multilingualism in EU communication, accessibility of digital content, brand and visual-identity rules, and GDPR considerations for community management. These are inferences from the duty description, not Annex II verbatim text. Specific EU regulations sometimes cited by candidates as syllabus — the Audiovisual Media Services Directive 2018/1808, the Digital Services Act, the EU Pact for Communication, the EU's multilingualism policy — are not in the Notice. They are reasonable preparation territory and may well appear in FRMCQ questions, but the Notice does not name them. ### AST3 versus AD: Why There Is No Parallel AD Communication Competition The most consequential thing to understand about EPSO Communication recruitment today is the asymmetry between the AST and AD tracks. At AST3, the field is currently open, with 435 reserve list places, and the test structure is well defined. At AD level the route is different. The AD5 Graduates 2026 competition (EPSO/AD/427/26) is a generalist competition with no Communication specialty track, and AD-grade communication posts have historically been filled through DG COMM temporary-staff calls and internal mobility rather than through a dedicated EPSO competition. For what EPSO has open or announced when you read this, the [competitions page](/vacancies) is updated daily. AD-grade communication recruitment at the EU institutions happens through three channels, none of which is EPSO: - **DG COMM temporary-staff calls** for spokesperson, campaign manager, press officer, and strategic communication officer roles. These follow Article 2(a)–(f) of the Conditions of Employment, with applications submitted directly to the Directorate-General concerned. Recent examples include COMM/COM/2025/2728 (Information and Communication Officer, AD5/AD7) and EC-2026-CLIMA-387198 (DG CLIMA Communication Officer, Press and Media). - **AD5 generalist competition** — candidates who land on the generalist reserve list can be assigned to communication roles in any DG, with subsequent internal mobility into DG COMM, the spokesperson service, or institutional communication units. - **Direct EU institutional vacancies** posted on the EU Careers portal as ad hoc openings. For candidates with AD-grade communication ambitions there are two routes worth working in parallel: apply to the AD5 generalist when it next opens and move into a communication role through internal mobility, and follow DG COMM's vacancy notices directly. ### The Functional Difference Between AST3 and AD Communication Work | Aspect | AST3 Communication (current) | AD Communication (no EPSO open) | |--------|-----------------------------|---------------------------------| | Profile | Production, execution, technical operation | Strategy, spokesperson, policy communication, crisis communication | | Eligibility | Post-secondary or secondary plus experience | University degree of three to four years plus experience | | Typical role | Graphic designer, social media community manager, webmaster, content producer, visual editor | Strategic communicator, spokesperson, head of unit, campaign strategy lead, public diplomacy officer | | Recruitment | EPSO open competition | DG COMM temporary-staff calls + generalist AD5 mobility | | Salary | AST 3 step 1, ~€4,580 indicative (subject to current salary scale) | AD 5 step 1, ~€5,500; AD 7 step 1, ~€7,100 indicative | The AST3 Communication competition is genuinely the recruitment instrument for those who want to do execution work. Candidates who instead aspire to lead institutional communication strategy, become a Commission spokesperson, or shape EU public diplomacy should plan a different career trajectory. ### Candidate Volume — Context EPSO does not publish field-level applicant counts for EPSO/AST/157/25 in machine-readable form as of May 2026 (the reserve lists are still in finalisation). The EPSO Annual Activity Report 2024 reports 844 successful candidates added to reserve lists across all 2024-finalised competitions, with 50% recruited within seven months of being placed on a reserve list, and 65% overall candidate satisfaction. These are not Communication-specific numbers but they give a sense of the institutional throughput. The cancelled EPSO/AST/154/22 of 2022 produced no laureates, since the competition was cancelled before scoring. The 2024 EPSO/AST/156/24 finance cycle attracted high application volumes — though field-level numbers are not in the AAR public summary. ### What to Read Eligibility documentation is verified strictly — see our [EPSO eligibility requirements complete guide](/blog/epso-eligibility-requirements-complete-guide) before you compile your supporting documents. For candidates preparing for the AST3 Communication FRMCQ, the substantive preparation begins with the EU's institutional communication framework — how the Commission, the Parliament, the Council, and the EEAS structure their communication, what the institutional brand rules say, how multilingualism shapes content production. For Field 1 candidates: the EU's visual identity guidelines, the institutional brand and accessibility standards, the European Commission's design system documentation, content production standards for digital and print. For Field 2 candidates: institutional social media policy, community management standards, accessibility guidance for digital content, data protection in social media context, campaign measurement frameworks. For Field 3 candidates: web accessibility (Directive (EU) 2016/2102 on the accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies), institutional CMS practice, EU portal architecture, web analytics. For all candidates: the EU's New Pact for Communication, the multilingualism policy, the GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) in its communication-relevant applications. None of these is named in Annex II, but all are reasonable preparation territory. This competition is one of several specialist tracks opening in 2026 — the [complete guide to EPSO specialist competitions](/blog/epso-specialist-competitions-2026-complete-guide) compares places, deadlines and eligibility across all of them. ### References and Sources All factual claims in this article are grounded in official sources: - [EPSO/AST/157/25 — OJ C/2025/3565, 25.6.2025](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/3565/oj/eng) - [EPSO/AST/154/22 cancellation Notice — OJ 2023/C 166/06](https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/92660b85-ef95-11ed-a05c-01aa75ed71a1) - EU Careers — Assistants in the field of communication - [EU Careers — Assistants Social Media and Digital Communication](https://eu-careers.europa.eu/en/job-opportunities/assistants-social-media-and-digital-communication) - [EPSO Annual Activity Report 2024 (PDF)](https://eu-careers.europa.eu/system/files/2025-06/EPSO_AAR_2024.pdf) - [Information Note — EPSO's New Competition Model (2023, PDF)](https://eu-careers.europa.eu/system/files/2023-02/Information_Note_New_Competition_Model.pdf) - [EPSO upcoming selection procedures](https://eu-careers.europa.eu/en/upcoming-selection-procedures) EU regulations and directives referenced above are accessible through [EUR-Lex](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/). ## FAQ ### Can I apply for EPSO/AST/157/25 without a university degree? Yes. The Notice explicitly allows two routes. The first requires a post-secondary diploma of at least two years in a field related to the chosen profile (for example, graphic or motion design for Field 1) plus three years of relevant experience. The second requires only a secondary education diploma giving access to post-secondary studies, plus six years of relevant experience. This makes the AST3 Communication track one of the more accessible EPSO entry points for candidates without a university degree. ### Is there an AD-level Communication competition open at EPSO? AD-level communication roles — spokesperson, campaign manager, press officer, strategic communication officer — have historically been filled by DG COMM and other Directorates-General through temporary-staff calls (for example COMM/COM/2025/2728 for an Information and Communication Officer) rather than through the EPSO competition route. The two practical paths for AD-grade ambitions in communication: apply to the AD5 generalist competition and move into a comms role through internal mobility, or watch DG COMM's vacancy notices directly. What EPSO has open or announced is on the [competitions page](/vacancies), updated daily. ### Why was EPSO/AST/154/22 cancelled? The cancellation Notice in OJ 2023/C 166/06 of 11 May 2023 attributed the cancellation to 'accumulated difficulties … in particular regarding the implementation of remotely proctored tests, including technical dysfunctions and data protection concerns.' EPSO/AST/154/22 had bundled six fields, including the three communication fields revived in EPSO/AST/157/25 and three financial fields recovered in EPSO/AST/156/24. The 2025 cycle is the second attempt to fill the cancelled communication reserve lists. ### Is there a press release or written drafting exercise as part of EPSO/AST/157/25? No. The 2025 Notice has no case-study or press-release drafting test. EPSO retired the assessment centre under the 2023 new competition model. The only written assessment besides the FRMCQ is the EUFTE essay, which the Notice describes as a test of written communication skills, not a press-release drafting test. ### What languages can I take the tests in? Verbatim from Section 4.2: 'a candidate must have a thorough knowledge (minimum C1 level) of at least one of the 24 official EU languages and a satisfactory knowledge (minimum B2 level) of a different language.' Language 1 (C1) is used for the reasoning tests. Language 2 (B2) is used for the field-related MCQ and the EUFTE. There is no restriction to English or French — any two of the 24 official languages can be selected. ## Official sources - EPSO/AST/157/25 — OJ C/2025/3565, 25.6.2025: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/3565/oj/eng - EPSO/AST/154/22 cancellation Notice — OJ 2023/C 166/06: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/92660b85-ef95-11ed-a05c-01aa75ed71a1 - EU Careers — Assistants Social Media and Digital Communication: https://eu-careers.europa.eu/en/job-opportunities/assistants-social-media-and-digital-communication - EPSO Annual Activity Report 2024 (PDF): https://eu-careers.europa.eu/system/files/2025-06/EPSO_AAR_2024.pdf - Information Note — EPSO's New Competition Model (2023, PDF): https://eu-careers.europa.eu/system/files/2023-02/Information_Note_New_Competition_Model.pdf ## This article in other languages - French: https://eu-now.com/fr/blog/epso-communication-specialist-competitions-guide/llms.txt - German: https://eu-now.com/de/blog/epso-communication-specialist-competitions-guide/llms.txt - Spanish: https://eu-now.com/es/blog/epso-communication-specialist-competitions-guide/llms.txt - Italian: https://eu-now.com/it/blog/epso-communication-specialist-competitions-guide/llms.txt Source of record: https://eu-now.com/blog/epso-communication-specialist-competitions-guide — published by EU-now (eu-now.com), which is not EPSO and not affiliated with the European Commission.