How do you prepare for the PAF airman test?
The short answer
The PAF airman test is a timed computer-based paper at a PAF Information and Selection Centre with two parts: an intelligence test (verbal and non-verbal reasoning) and an academic test in the subjects your trade requires, which for aero and technical trades means intermediate-level Physics and Mathematics alongside English, and for non-technical trades means English, general knowledge, Pakistan Studies and Islamic Studies. Candidates who clear it go on to a physical test, a medical and an interview at the same centre, then final selection on merit and training at a PAF school. Preparation is straightforward because the content is the matric and intermediate syllabus you have already studied: four weeks of daily timed MCQ practice, with the intelligence section every day, is what separates candidates who clear the first day from those who go home.
What is an airman, and which trades recruit?
Airmen are the non-commissioned ranks of the Pakistan Air Force: the technicians who maintain aircraft and equipment, and the ground staff who run the bases. They are recruited far more often and in far larger numbers than officers, several times a year, through advertisements on the official PAF induction site. Each advertisement names the trades open and the eligibility for each.
| Trade group | Usual education | Academic test emphasis |
|---|---|---|
| Aero trades (aircraft, engine, avionics and related technical trades) | Intermediate, usually FSc pre-engineering, with the advertised minimum marks; sometimes matric with science for specific trades. | Physics, Mathematics, English, plus the intelligence test. |
| Ground technical trades (electrical, mechanical, IT, communications and similar) | Matric with science or intermediate, as advertised; diploma holders for some trades. | Physics, Mathematics, English, plus the intelligence test. |
| Non-technical ground trades (clerical, accounts, supply, provost, medical assistant and others) | Matric or intermediate, as advertised. | English, general knowledge, Pakistan Studies, Islamic Studies, plus the intelligence test. |
| Special categories (musician, sportsman, religious teacher and others) | As advertised, often with a skill test in place of part of the academic paper. | General paper plus the category's own assessment. |
Eligibility is set per advertisement
Age band, minimum marks, height, chest and the trades open all change between intakes and between trades. Read the advertisement for the intake you are registering for; a candidate who is under the mark for an aero trade is often eligible for a ground trade in the same intake.
What are the stages of airman selection?
Online registration
Register on the official PAF induction portal against the current airman intake, choose your trade group and your nearest Information and Selection Centre, and print the slip with your test date.
Initial tests at the centre
On the date given, report with documents and sit the computer-based tests: intelligence first, then the academic test for your trade group. Results are announced at the centre, usually the same day, and candidates who do not clear go home. This is where most of the field is eliminated.
Physical test
A run over a set distance in a set time, push-ups, sit-ups and chin-ups, with the standards stated in the advertisement. Held at the centre for candidates who cleared the written tests.
Medical examination
Height, weight, chest, vision, hearing, a general examination, and the trade-specific standard: aero trades in particular have vision and colour-vision requirements.
Interview
A short interview at the centre covering your background, education, why the PAF and the trade, and basic general awareness.
Final selection and training
Air Headquarters prepares the merit list from the test, physical, medical and interview results and issues call letters against vacancies in each trade. Training begins at a PAF school, with the length depending on the trade.
There is no ISSB for airmen
The Inter Services Selection Board is for officer entries only. Airman candidates are selected at the Information and Selection Centre through the stages above, which is one reason the written test carries so much weight.
What is the PAF airman test syllabus?
Two parts, both multiple choice, both timed on computer.
- Intelligence test. Verbal: number and letter series, analogies, odd one out, coding and decoding, relationships, simple arithmetic reasoning. Non-verbal: figure series, pattern completion, mirror and embedded figures. Every candidate sits this regardless of trade. Practise on Analytical Reasoning.
- Academic test, technical trades. Physics and Mathematics at matric and intermediate level: mechanics, electricity, heat, light, waves; algebra, trigonometry, basic geometry and arithmetic. Plus English: grammar, vocabulary, comprehension.
- Academic test, non-technical trades. English, General Knowledge including current affairs, Pakistan Studies and Islamic Studies at matric and intermediate level.
The level is school level. What eliminates candidates is the clock on the intelligence section and rusty fundamentals in Physics and Mathematics for candidates who finished school a year or two ago. The PAF Airman practice page draws all of these subjects from one bank, timed, with every answer explained.
How do you prepare in four weeks?
Week one: baseline and fundamentals
Sit one timed intelligence test on day one and note the score. Then revise the weakest academic subject by topic, untimed, until the basics are right. For technical trades that is usually Physics formulas and Mathematics operations; for non-technical trades it is English grammar and the recurring Pakistan Studies and Islamic Studies facts.
Weeks two and three: timed practice every day
Twenty minutes of timed intelligence questions daily, by weak type, and one timed academic set. Read every explanation on a wrong answer; the same question types repeat. Start the physical work now: a daily run building towards the advertised distance and time, plus push-ups, sit-ups and chin-ups.
Week four: full rehearsals and the rest of the process
Two full timed rehearsals of intelligence plus academic back to back. Check your vision and weight against the standard for your trade. Prepare the interview: your own history, why the PAF and this trade, the Air Chief, the PAF's main bases and aircraft in the news, and one week of current affairs.
The last three days: taper and documents
Stop hard physical training, sleep, and put every document on the call slip's list in a folder with copies. Documentation is checked before the test and a missing paper is a bad start.
What mistakes send prepared candidates home?
- Practising untimed. The intelligence section is a pace test. A candidate who can do every question in an hour and not in the time given has not prepared.
- Skipping the intelligence section to study Physics. Everyone sits the intelligence test and it is the first cut.
- Registering for a trade you are not eligible for. Marks, age or subjects. The advertisement lists them; the centre checks them.
- Ignoring the physical standard until the centre. The run has a time. Four weeks of daily running is enough for most candidates; four days is not.
- Not knowing the basics at interview. Why the PAF, why this trade, who leads the service. Ten minutes of reading.
If you are eligible for and considering the officer route instead, the stages and the extra assessments are in PAF initial test and selection stages. The officer route adds the four-day ISSB, described in what happens at ISSB; the airman route does not.