How does PAF selection work, from the initial test to the academy?
The short answer
PAF officer selection runs in a fixed order: online registration for an advertised course, the initial tests at a PAF Information and Selection Centre (intelligence tests, then an academic test in the subjects your branch requires), an initial medical and a preliminary interview at the same centre, then ISSB, then a central medical board and final selection on merit before training at the PAF Academy. Most candidates are eliminated at the initial tests, which are timed and taken on computer at the centre, so that is where preparation pays. GD Pilot applicants additionally face stricter medical and vision standards and, for those who reach it, further aptitude assessment; the ground branches are selected on the same tests with their own academic subjects.
Which branch are you applying for, and what does it change?
The PAF commissions officers into several branches, each advertised separately with its own eligibility, and the branch decides your academic test subjects and your medical standard. The advertisement on the official PAF induction site is the only authority on eligibility for a given course; ages, marks and heights below are the usual pattern and have varied between courses.
| Branch | Usual academic background | Academic test emphasis |
|---|---|---|
| GD (Pilot) | Intermediate, usually pre-engineering or pre-medical with a strong percentage; age band in the late teens to early twenties; unmarried. | English, Physics and Mathematics, plus the intelligence tests. Stricter vision and medical standards than any other branch. |
| Aeronautical Engineering | Intermediate pre-engineering with a strong percentage, or a relevant engineering degree for graduate entries. | English, Physics, Mathematics. |
| Air Defence / other operations branches | Intermediate, often pre-engineering. | English, Physics, Mathematics or general subjects as advertised. |
| Ground branches (Admin and Special Duties, Education, Logistics, Accounts, IT, Meteorology and others) | Usually a bachelor's or master's degree in the relevant field. | English, general knowledge and the relevant subject, as advertised. |
The non-commissioned airman entries are recruited separately, more often and in larger numbers, with their own test and no ISSB: see PAF airman test preparation.
Read the current advertisement before anything else
Age limits, minimum marks, height and the subject requirements differ by branch and have changed between courses. Registering for a branch you are not eligible for wastes the attempt. The advertisement also states whether the course is for men, women or both.
What are the stages, in order?
Online registration
Register on the official PAF induction portal against a specific advertised course, choose your branch and your nearest Information and Selection Centre, and print the registration slip. Registration windows are short.
Initial tests at the Information and Selection Centre
On your allotted date you report with documents and sit the tests on computer: intelligence tests first, then the academic test for your branch. Results are usually announced the same day, and candidates who do not clear go home.
Initial medical and preliminary interview
Candidates who clear the tests have a preliminary medical examination at the centre, and for most branches a short interview. GD Pilot candidates face the detailed vision and physical standards here for the first time.
ISSB
The four-day Inter Services Selection Board, common to all three services. What happens there, day by day, is in the ISSB process explained.
Central medical board
A full medical at a PAF medical establishment for candidates recommended by ISSB. This is where the aircrew medical is applied in full and where a number of GD Pilot candidates are found unfit.
Final selection and training
Air Headquarters prepares the merit list from the ISSB result, the medical and the academic record, and issues call-ups against vacancies. Selected candidates report to the PAF Academy Asghar Khan at Risalpur.
What is in the PAF initial test?
Two parts, taken at the centre on computer, both timed and both eliminating.
- Intelligence tests. Verbal (series, analogies, odd one out, coding, simple reasoning) and non-verbal (figure series, pattern completion, mirror and embedded figures). Volume against the clock. Practise on Analytical Reasoning.
- Academic test. Multiple choice in the subjects your branch requires: for GD Pilot and the engineering branches, English, Physics and Mathematics at intermediate level; for ground branches, English, general knowledge and the relevant degree subject. Practise on English, Physics and Mathematics.
The level is the syllabus you already studied. What defeats candidates is pace and the breadth of the intelligence tests, and both respond to timed practice. The PAF practice page draws the initial-test subjects from one bank, timed, with every answer explained.
What is different for GD Pilot?
- Medical and vision. The aircrew standard is the strictest in the forces. Uncorrected vision, colour vision, height and sitting height, weight and a range of medical conditions are all assessed, first at the centre and fully at the central medical board. A candidate can clear every test and be found unfit here; there is no appeal that changes the standard.
- Aptitude. GD Pilot candidates may face further computer-based aptitude assessment at the PAF's aircrew selection facility, testing coordination, reaction and multitasking rather than knowledge.
- Motivation at interview. ISSB and the PAF interviewers ask why flying, and follow up. A candidate who wants a uniform and picked Pilot because it sounds best reads exactly that way.
Get your eyes checked before you register
If the vision standard is going to end your Pilot application, an optometrist can tell you in fifteen minutes and you can register for a branch you are eligible for instead. Ground and engineering branches have their own medical standards and they are less severe.
How do you prepare?
- Timed intelligence practice daily for a month before the centre date. It is the biggest cut and it is pure practice.
- Revise intermediate Physics, Mathematics and English by topic, then do timed sets. Formulas and definitions come back quickly; speed takes longer.
- Sort the medical early. Vision, weight and any known condition. There is nothing to prepare for a medical except knowing where you stand.
- Start ISSB preparation in parallel, because the gap between clearing the centre and reporting to the board can be short. The six-week plan is in how to prepare for ISSB.
- Learn the service. The Air Chief, the Academy, the branch you applied for and what it does. It is asked at the centre interview and at ISSB.