EPSO publishes a planner of the competitions it is preparing. The version updated on 22 September 2026 lists three more law competitions for the rest of 2026 and eight competitions for 2027, from law in February to IT in November. Here is the whole list, what each line means, and what you can do now, before any notice is published.
Still to come in 2026
Three law competitions remain on the 2026 planner. The first date is when the notice is due to be published, the second the application deadline. EPSO marks the last two with an asterisk: dates to be confirmed.
| Competition | Grade | Notice | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPSO/AD/431/26 — lawyer-linguists for the Court of Justice (Bulgarian, German, Greek, Spanish, Irish, Maltese, Dutch, Romanian) | AD 7 | 21 October | 25 November |
| EPSO/AD/432/26 — lawyer-linguists and legal revisers for the Parliament, the Council and the Commission (Spanish, Finnish, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Maltese, Portuguese, Swedish) | AD 7 | 4 November* | 8 December* |
| EPSO/AD/433/26 — lawyers in four fields: artificial intelligence law, criminal law, procurement law, litigation | AD 7 | 9 December* | 20 January 2027* |
One competition is open right now: EPSO/AST/158/26, 964 assistants (AST 3) in data processing, librarianship and records management, with applications until 11 November 2026 at 12.00 Brussels time.
The 2027 plan
For 2027 the planner gives a month, a domain and a function group, nothing more. EPSO marks every month with “dates to be confirmed” and every line with “fields and grades to be confirmed”.
| Planned month | Competition | Function group |
|---|---|---|
| February | Law — four fields | AD |
| March | Assistants in the field of parliamentary work | AST |
| April | Security, defence and international affairs | AD |
| May | Proofreaders/editors in Luxembourg — eight languages | AST |
| June | Translators — Bulgarian, German, Finnish, Irish, Croatian, Portuguese, Slovenian, Swedish | AD |
| July | Lawyer-linguists for the Parliament, the Council and the Commission | AD |
| September | Financial management | AD |
| November | ICT | AST |
AD posts are administrators, AST posts assistants. The grade decides how much experience you need, and the planner does not give grades for 2027 yet. Our grades explainer shows what each grade usually asks for.
Reading the list
It is a specialist year. Every 2027 line names a domain: law, parliamentary work, security and defence, languages, finance, IT. There is no generalist graduate (AD 5) competition on it. The current one, EPSO/AD/427/26, is still in its testing phase.
Languages run through it. Proofreaders in May, translators in June and lawyer-linguists in July are all language competitions. The translators’ list includes Croatian and Slovenian, which appear on neither of the two 2026 lawyer-linguist lists.
Two lines are worth watching. Security, defence and international affairs (April) and assistants in parliamentary work (March) are broad titles. What they test, and for which institutions, will only be known from the notices.
Contract staff are not on it. The planner covers permanent officials. Contract agents are recruited through separate selection procedures; see CAST Permanent and working for the EU without a competition.
How to prepare before the notice is out
A notice usually gives you about five weeks to apply: AST/158 opened on 6 October with an 11 November deadline, and AD/431 is planned from 21 October to 25 November. That is too short to start preparing from zero, and most of what decides a specialist competition can be prepared months ahead.
- Start the reasoning tests now. In the current competitions they come first and work as gates: in AST/158, verbal reasoning (20 questions in 35 minutes, pass mark 10/20) and numerical plus abstract reasoning (10 questions each, 20 and 10 minutes, a combined pass mark of 10/20). Fail them and nothing else you wrote is marked. They are the same kind of test at AD and AST level, and they reward weeks of practice, not a last-minute weekend. Our guides to verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning cover the formats.
- Work on your second language. In AST/158 the test that ranks candidates, the field-related multiple-choice test, and the essay are both sat in language 2, which needs to be at least B2. If your second language is your weaker one, that is where months of practice pay off most.
- Revise your field. The field-related test decides your place on the reserve list. Its content follows the field descriptions in the notice, so use the 2026 notices for the same domains as a guide: the law fields of AD/433, the IT fields of AD/430.
- Gather your documents. Eligibility is checked against documents, often months after the tests: diplomas with the date of the award decision, and employment certificates with exact start and end dates. Collect them now, while former employers are easy to reach.
- Turn on EPSO’s notifications. The upcoming opportunities page lets you sign up to be told when new competitions are published, and your EPSO account keeps your details ready for the application form. Our guide on how to apply walks through the form.
Start with the reasoning tests
Free practice in the EPSO format, with every answer explained.
Practise on EU Testing → Set 1 free with an account · first 5 questions of every Focus card freeFrequently asked questions
When will the 2027 EPSO competitions open?
EPSO’s planner, last updated on 22 September 2026, gives a month for each: law in February, parliamentary assistants in March, security and defence in April, proofreaders in May, translators in June, lawyer-linguists in July, financial management in September and ICT in November. All of these dates are marked as to be confirmed.
Is there an AD5 graduate competition in 2027?
Not on the planner as updated on 22 September 2026. Every 2027 line is a specialist competition. The current generalist AD 5 competition, EPSO/AD/427/26, is still in its testing phase.
How long do I have to apply once a notice is published?
Recent notices have given about five weeks: EPSO/AST/158/26 was published on 6 October 2026 with an 11 November deadline, and EPSO/AD/431/26 is planned from 21 October to 25 November.
What can I prepare before the notice is published?
The reasoning tests, which work as pass-or-fail gates in current competitions; your second language, in which the ranking test and the essay are sat; your field knowledge; and your documents, especially diplomas with the award date and employment certificates with exact dates.
Are the grades for the 2027 competitions known?
No. The planner gives only the function group, AD or AST, and marks fields and grades as to be confirmed. The grade, and so the experience required, will be set in each notice.
Based on EPSO’s upcoming opportunities page as last updated by EPSO on 22 September 2026, read on 12 October 2026.