Free GAF Officer Cadet Written Exam Exam Flashcards

For the 2026/2027 intake, Regular Cadet applicants must be at least 18 and not more than 26 years old by 18 February 2027. Short Service Commission streams use their own caps, such as not more than 30 by the same date for the engineering, signals and IT streams. Each new notice resets the reference date.

Regular Career Course applicants need a first degree not below Second Class Lower from an accredited university or institution, in a discipline that fits the chosen corps. Short Service Commission streams instead ask for a Master's degree or professional registration and work experience, depending on the stream.

The GAF enlistment portal lists 'Be Ghanaian citizen by birth' as a general eligibility rule for officer cadet applicants. Citizenship acquired later, for example by registration or naturalization, does not meet this rule.

The 'not married' rule applies only to Regular Cadet applicants, so Short Service Commission applicants may be married. The 'not bonded' rule applies to every officer cadet applicant: you must not still be tied to an existing service bond, such as one attached to sponsored training.

The 2026/2027 officer cadet eligibility list sets a minimum height of 1.68 m (5'6") for men and 1.60 m (5'2") for women. Military Police applicants need more: 1.75 m (5'9") for men and 1.70 m (5'7") for women. Height rules are republished each cycle.

GAF's general eligibility list requires every officer cadet applicant to pass the Pre-Joining Fitness Test, and the official phase order puts a Basic Fitness Test immediately after the written aptitude test. The written exam is not the last hurdle, so build running and strength fitness alongside exam study.

The GAF enlistment portal lists the officer phases in this order: documentation, body selection, aptitude test, Basic Fitness Test, Outdoor Leaderless Test, medical examination at 37 Military Hospital, vetting, and interview. The written aptitude test is the third phase, after your documents and physical standards are checked.

For the 2026/2027 cycle, applicants bought a GH₵200 electronic voucher at designated post offices (it was GH₵250 in 2025/26) and used its serial number and PIN to apply at apply.mil.gh. GAF tells applicants to keep the used voucher because it is inspected at every selection stage.

The Officer Cadet written exam belongs to the degree-holder pathway (Regular Career Course or Short Service Commission) that leads, after Ghana Military Academy training, to a commission as an officer. The enlisted-recruit pathway uses school-certificate entry requirements and a different aptitude test, and leads to soldier, rating or airman training.

GAF has not published a numeric pass mark or pass rate for any officer cadet phase. The Ghana Military Academy says candidates who meet the standard move on, performance across all stages is considered holistically, and places go to the strongest candidates. Applicants also compete for slots in specific roles and services.

A synonym item asks for the word closest in meaning to the given word. The right choice must match the given word's part of speech and its tone: 'frugal' (careful with money, a positive tone) is closer to 'thrifty' than to 'stingy', which is negative.

An antonym item asks for the word most nearly opposite in meaning. Watch for near-opposites and words that are merely unrelated rather than truly opposite — eliminate unrelated choices first, then compare the remaining contenders directly against each other.

Analogy items test the relationship between a pair of words, then ask you to complete a second pair with the same relationship (for example, part-to-whole, cause-to-effect, or tool-to-user). State the relationship in a short sentence first, then test each answer choice against that exact sentence.

A singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb, even when other words sit between them. Phrases like 'along with' or 'as well as' do not make a singular subject plural, so the verb still agrees with the original subject, not with the inserted phrase.

When a sentence-correction item presents several versions of the same sentence, first identify the specific grammar issue (agreement, tense, pronoun reference, parallel structure), then eliminate any choice that fixes that issue but introduces a new error elsewhere in the sentence.

A main-idea question asks what the passage is mostly about; a detail question asks about one specific fact stated in the passage. Do not answer a main-idea question with a true supporting detail — it may be accurate but too narrow to be the passage's overall point.

When a word has multiple possible meanings, use the surrounding sentence to pick the sense the author intends, not just the word's most familiar dictionary definition. Substitute your chosen answer back into the sentence and reread it to confirm the meaning still fits.

Word parts help you estimate an unfamiliar word's meaning under time pressure: 're-' usually means 'again', 'un-' often negates, and '-less' means 'without'. Prefixes can mislead: 'in-' sometimes means 'into' or intensifies, so 'inflammable' means the same as 'flammable'. Confirm with sentence context.

Words that sound alike but differ in meaning and spelling (such as 'their/there/they're' or 'its/it's') are a frequent source of sentence-correction and spelling errors. Identify the grammatical role each word plays in the sentence before choosing which spelling fits.

Identifying whether a blank needs a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb narrows your answer choices immediately, often before you even weigh meaning. An adverb typically modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb, while an adjective modifies only a noun or pronoun.

To find a percentage of a number, convert the percentage to a decimal and multiply (for example, 20% of 150 = 0.20 x 150 = 30). For percentage increase or decrease, apply the percentage to the original amount, not the final amount, unless the question specifically says otherwise.

A ratio compares two quantities in the same units (for example, 3:2); a proportion states that two ratios are equal. To solve a proportion, cross-multiply the two ratios and solve for the unknown — but first confirm both ratios list the quantities in the same order.

Simple interest = Principal x Rate x Time (I = PRT), where the rate is usually a decimal per year and time is in years. Simple interest is calculated only on the original principal, unlike compound interest, which also earns interest on previously accumulated interest.

Speed = Distance / Time, so Distance = Speed x Time and Time = Distance / Speed. Keep units consistent (for example, convert minutes to hours) before plugging numbers into the formula, since a unit mismatch is a common source of error in these problems.

Profit = Selling Price minus Cost Price; Loss = Cost Price minus Selling Price. Percentage profit or loss is calculated relative to the cost price, not the selling price, unless a question explicitly states otherwise.

A fraction converts to a decimal by dividing the numerator by the denominator, and a decimal converts to a percentage by multiplying by 100. Moving quickly between these three forms lets you compare quantities that a question presents in different formats.

The average of a set of numbers is their sum divided by how many numbers there are. If a problem gives you the average and asks for a missing value, multiply the average by the count first to recover the total, then subtract the known values.

To solve for an unknown like x in an equation such as 3x + 5 = 20, isolate x by performing the same operation on both sides of the equation (subtract 5, then divide by 3). Always check your answer by substituting it back into the original equation.

Rectangle area = length x width; triangle area = half x base x height; circle area = pi x radius squared. Confirm which dimension a question gives you (radius vs. diameter, base vs. side) before applying a formula, since substituting the wrong one is a common error.

Before choosing a formula, list what the problem actually gives you and what it is asking for, then express the unknown as a variable. Many quantitative-aptitude errors come from applying a correct formula to the wrong numbers, not from using the wrong formula.

A number series question asks you to find the pattern connecting consecutive terms (a constant difference, a constant ratio, or alternating operations) and extend it. Test your pattern against at least three consecutive terms before committing, since a pattern that fits only the first two terms can still be wrong.

A letter series question applies a positional pattern to the alphabet, such as skipping a fixed number of letters or alternating forward and backward steps. Writing out alphabet positions as numbers (A=1, B=2, and so on) makes the underlying numeric pattern easier to spot.

A coding-decoding item hides a rule that converts letters, numbers, or words into a code, such as shifting each letter forward by a fixed amount. Decode a short, already-matched example first to find the rule, then apply that exact rule to the new item rather than guessing a different pattern.

A syllogism gives two or more statements treated as true and asks which conclusion must follow logically. A conclusion is only valid if it follows from the given statements alone — a conclusion that sounds true in real life but isn't actually guaranteed by the statements is not a valid answer.

A classification item asks which item in a group does not share the property that links the others. Identify the shared property of the majority first, then check which single item breaks that specific pattern, rather than picking any difference you happen to notice first.

A direction-sense item tracks someone's position after a series of turns and movements, such as turning left, walking forward, then turning right. Sketching a simple compass and plotting each step in order prevents the common error of losing track of which way is now 'forward.'

A blood-relation item describes family links in words and asks for the relationship. Draw a small family tree as you read each clue: for example, 'the son of my mother's only brother' is the son of my maternal uncle, which makes him my cousin.

A seating-arrangement item gives clues about who sits where, in a row or around a table, and asks you to deduce one or more final positions. Place the most specific clues first (an exact seat or a fixed neighbor), then use the remaining clues to narrow down what's left.

An assumption is an unstated idea the speaker must take for granted for the statement to make sense; it is different from a conclusion drawn afterwards. Test an option by negating it: if the statement then becomes pointless or illogical, the option is an implicit assumption.

If a person is ranked p-th from one end of a single line and q-th from the other end, the line holds p + q - 1 people, because the person is counted in both ranks. Example: 7th from the top and 12th from the bottom gives 7 + 12 - 1 = 18.

Ghana became independent from British colonial rule on 6 March 1957, widely described as the first sub-Saharan African colony to do so. Kwame Nkrumah led it as Prime Minister and became its first President when Ghana became a republic on 1 July 1960.

Ghana has 16 administrative regions. A referendum on 27 December 2018 approved six new regions (Ahafo, Bono East, North East, Oti, Savannah and Western North), carved out of four existing ones: Brong-Ahafo, Northern, Volta and Western. Constitutional instruments created them in February 2019, so older lists of 10 regions are outdated.

Accra is Ghana's capital city. The national currency is the Ghana cedi (symbol GH₵), which is divided into 100 pesewas. Distinguish the currency's name (cedi) from its subunit (pesewa) when a question asks for either.

The Ghana Armed Forces comprises three services: the Ghana Army, the Ghana Navy, and the Ghana Air Force. Officer cadets commission into one of these three services after training at the Ghana Military Academy, depending on the stream they applied and were selected for.

The President of Ghana serves as Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Ghana Armed Forces, the elected head of state holding ultimate command authority. The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is the senior uniformed officer and professional head of the Armed Forces, responsible for day-to-day military command. Do not confuse the two roles or assume the same person holds both.

The Ghana Military Academy trains officer cadets at Whistler Barracks, Teshie, in Greater Accra. Regular cadets first complete a 35-week Standard Military Course (SMC) phase, then a change-of-status parade makes them senior cadets on the Regular Career Course (RCC) phase before commissioning.

At the January 2026 commissioning, Regular Career Course graduates became Second Lieutenants (Army), Acting Sub Lieutenants (Navy) or Pilot Officers (Air Force). Short Service Commission officers entered higher, as Lieutenants, Sub Lieutenants or Flying Officers, or as Captains or the service equivalents for doctors, lawyers, architects and doctorate holders.

ECOWAS, founded by the 1975 Treaty of Lagos and based in Abuja, had 15 members until Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger stopped being members on 29 January 2025. These three now form the Alliance of Sahel States, and ECOWAS lists 12 member states. Material that still lists 15 is outdated.

Ghana's flag has three horizontal bands — red, gold, and green, from top to bottom — with a black five-pointed star centered on the gold band. Red commemorates those who died for independence, gold represents mineral wealth, green represents forests and natural resources, and the black star represents African emancipation and unity.

John Dramani Mahama was sworn in as President of Ghana on 7 January 2025, succeeding Nana Akufo-Addo. This is his second, non-consecutive term because he was also President from 2012 to 2017. Older material naming Akufo-Addo as the current President is out of date.