IAF entrance test to go online

The Indian Air Force is all set to make its entrance test for officers and men online from January 2018, widening the recruitment network.

As a consequence, the number of examination centres would go up to 760 from the existing list of 100 odd centres for conducting the Air Force Common Admission Test (AFCAT) for the officer's cadre and only 14 centres to conduct the Scheduled Test for Airmen Recruitment (STAR) for airmen cadre.

In Karnataka, the examination centres would be in Belagavi, Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mangaluru. The number of centres in each of these cities would depend on the number of applicants from the area, said an officer.

The online examination software has been created by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing – the information technology laboratory, which created India's first super computer, Param.

The new system will provide an opportunity to nearly four lakh candidates to sit for the airmen selection test and nearly two lakh candidates for the officer's selection twice a year.

The IAF became the first service to go completely online in recruiting their men and a large number of officers.

The officers in the IAF come from three routes – National Defence Academy (NDA), Combined Defence Services (CDS) and AFCAT. Online registration would commence from December 15.