Defence | AFCAT
AFCAT sets 25 Reasoning Ability questions for 75 marks in the AFCAT Online Test, so it is worth planning your preparation around the topics below.
The puzzles and seating arrangements carry the most marks and take the most time, so the skill is choosing which set to attempt and which to leave. Clear the quick scoring topics — inequality, syllogism, coding-decoding, blood relations — first, then spend the remaining time on one or two puzzles you can actually finish.
How much Reasoning Ability is worth in each AFCAT stage, from the official pattern.
| Stage | Questions | Marks | Time | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFCAT Online Test | 25 | 75 | — | 25% |
Every topic in the official syllabus. The linked ones open a set of solved questions you can practise straight away.
Written to the AFCAT pattern, with the answer key and the method behind it — a look at how the section is actually set before you drill the full topic sets.
Direction sense · solved example
A person starts from a point and walks 11 km towards the south, then 2 km towards the east, then 1 km towards the south, then 3 km towards the east. How far (in km) is the person now from the starting point?
Solution
The moves net to 5 km east and 12 km south. The straight-line distance is √(5²+12²) = 13 km.
Direction sense · solved example
A person starts from a point and walks 4 km towards the south, then 1 km towards the east, then 4 km towards the south, then 5 km towards the east. How far (in km) is the person now from the starting point?
Solution
The moves net to 6 km east and 8 km south. The straight-line distance is √(6²+8²) = 10 km.
Ranking · solved example
In a class of 22 students, a boy ranks 19th from the top. What is his rank from the bottom?
Solution
Rank from bottom = total − rank from top + 1 = 22 − 19 + 1 = 4.
Ranking · solved example
In a row of 34 people, A is 10th from the left end and B is 3rd from the right end. How many people sit between A and B?
Solution
Positions occupied from the two ends are 10 and 3; those between them number 34 − 10 − 3 = 21.
Advertisement
Untimed drills with the method shown after every question — the step between learning a topic and sitting it under a clock.
Analogy and classification
81 questions, instant feedback
Blood relations and direction sense
108 questions, instant feedback
Seating arrangement
93 questions, instant feedback
Coding, decoding and series
135 questions, instant feedback
Order and ranking
69 questions, instant feedback
Puzzles
99 questions, instant feedback
Syllogism and inequality
126 questions, instant feedback
Reasoning Ability shows up in every AFCAT mock test, in the same interface, with sectional locking and negative marking.
AFCAT: 28-question practice mock
28 questions | 28 min
AFCAT AFCAT 02/2026 sets 25 Reasoning Ability questions for 75 marks in the AFCAT Online Test.
Yes. AFCAT deducts one third of a mark for each wrong answer, Reasoning Ability included, so unsure guesses cost you. Three marks are awarded for a correct answer and one mark is deducted for a wrong answer (one third of the marks for the question). Unanswered questions carry no penalty.
The AFCAT syllabus lists Verbal and non-verbal reasoning, Coding-decoding and analogies, Series, odd-one-out and pattern completion, Military aptitude and spatial reasoning. Weight your revision towards the ones you are weakest on and confirm the emphasis against the paper analysis for recent cycles.
Every Reasoning Ability question on this site is free and written to the exam pattern. Use the topic drills for instant-feedback practice, the daily quiz to keep the section warm, and the AFCAT mock tests to sit it under a real clock with negative marking.