How the EPSO digital skills test works
The test assesses digital literacy, the ability to understand and use digital technologies, in line with the European Digital Competence Framework (DigComp). Questions come from five areas: information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, digital content creation, safety, and problem solving.
The AD5 2026 competition sets 40 questions in 30 minutes, with a pass mark of 20. Secretaries (AST/SC) also sit a digital skills test. You take it in your Language 2. In AD5 it is scored only if you passed the EU knowledge test.
EPSO’s sample questions are short and practical, such as which file extension is not an image or how to move emails from one sender into a folder automatically, with five options each. EPSO has also shown a click-on-the-screen question: find the part of a web page that shows the site is secure.
How to prepare
Cover each area with hands-on practice, not just reading:
- Information and data literacy: searching, judging sources, file and folder management.
- Communication and collaboration: email rules and filters, shared documents, permissions, video calls.
- Digital content creation: file formats, basic editing, copyright and licences.
- Safety: passwords, two-factor authentication, phishing, updates, privacy settings.
- Problem solving: connectivity, common error messages, choosing the right tool for a task.
Worked example
Safety: you receive an email from "IT Service Desk" asking you to confirm your password through a link, or your account will be closed today. What should you do first? A. Click the link and check whether the page looks genuine. B. Reply asking whether the message is real. C. Report it as phishing without clicking the link. D. Forward it to colleagues to warn them.
Answer: C. Urgency and a request for your password are classic signs of phishing. Clicking or replying engages with the sender, and forwarding spreads the link.
Tips for the real digital skills test
- Answer on the first read. At 45 seconds a question there is no time to deliberate.
- Revise all five areas, not only the ones you use at work. Each area is part of the test.
- Expect questions framed around common office software and everyday web use.
- If you do not recognise a term, choose your best option, bookmark it and move on.
- Leave nothing blank. Scores are a count of correct answers from 0 to 40.
Practise the EPSO digital skills test on CogniPrep
Our version is 40 questions on one 30-minute clock, eight from each DigComp area. Most are multiple choice with four options, and up to one in eight are click-on-the-screen questions on drawn mock-ups. You can move freely and bookmark. Every question is our own, written from official and vendor documentation and dated when it was checked. Your mark is out of 40 against EPSO’s pass mark of 20, with a breakdown by area.