EU AD and AST grades: a practical guide for applicants

AD and AST are function groups in the EU civil service. AD stands for administrator. AST stands for assistant. A vacancy’s function group and grade describe the level and type of work; the vacancy also states whether the employer is recruiting an official, a temporary agent or another category of servant.

That last point prevents a common mistake. AD does not always mean permanent. EU institutions employ permanent officials in AD grades, and they also recruit temporary staff into AD posts. The same applies to AST.

The AD career

The official EU Careers explanation of administrator grades gives an AD career range of AD5 to AD16.

AD5 is the normal entry grade for graduate administrators. A general AD5 competition may accept graduates from any field and require no professional experience. The exact notice controls. The 2026 graduate administrator competition, for example, requires EU nationality, two EU languages and at least three years of completed university study attested by a diploma.

Specialist recruitment can start at AD6 or AD7. These competitions ask for relevant experience because the institution is recruiting into a defined field, such as law, economics, audit or information technology. An applicant with ten years of experience cannot choose a higher grade when the notice is for AD6. Recruitment takes place at the grade in the notice.

EU Careers identifies AD9 to AD12 as the range used for middle-management recruitment. Prior management experience is required for those selections. This does not mean that every AD9 employee manages a unit or that AD8 is a universal senior-specialist ceiling. Duties are attached to the post, and careers can include technical as well as managerial work.

AD13 to AD16 are the upper grades of the administrator function group. Senior management appointments have their own procedures and post requirements. Applicants should avoid translating these grades into UN Director grades. The EU and UN systems were created under different staff regulations.

The AST career

The EU Careers AST grade page gives a range of AST1 to AST11. Assistants work in executive, technical and administrative roles. The label covers much more than diary management. Depending on the competition, an AST post may involve finance, laboratory work, information systems, document production or operational support.

New staff usually enter at AST1 or AST3. EU Careers says AST1 candidates need completed secondary education with relevant experience, or a relevant vocational qualification. AST3 recruitment normally asks for secondary education, a vocational qualification and/or several years of relevant experience. The notice of competition sets the exact combination.

AST/SC is a separate function group for secretaries and clerks. Its grades run from AST/SC1 to AST/SC6. A database field that shortens AST/SC to AST loses useful information, since the two careers have different grade ranges.

Grade, step and job title

Each grade contains salary steps. Grade and step together determine basic salary under the Staff Regulations. Staff normally move through steps according to the applicable rules, while promotion to a higher grade is a separate decision.

The EU publishes updated salary figures in the Official Journal. The 2025 remuneration update lists basic monthly amounts by grade and step. Those figures are a starting point. Correction coefficients and allowances can change the amount paid, and deductions apply under EU rules.

A title such as policy officer or programme assistant does not have a fixed grade throughout the institutions. Read the grade printed in the notice. The same title can appear at different levels when the scope of the post changes.

Permanent officials and temporary staff

Permanent officials are normally selected through an open competition. Passing a competition places a successful candidate on a reserve list. It does not itself create an appointment. Recruiting services use the list to fill posts.

EU Careers describes temporary staff as people recruited for a fixed period, from a few months to several years. Temporary vacancies can cover AD work or AST work and state the grade in the notice. Their selection is usually run for a particular vacancy, outside the broad permanent-official competition route.

The contract category affects duration and legal status. The grade still governs the level of the post and salary scale. Thus AD6 temporary agent and AD6 official share an AD classification, while their appointment basis and career terms differ.

Choosing which notices to pursue

For AD5, verify the diploma and language deadline in the competition notice. For specialist AD recruitment, calculate relevant professional experience exactly as the notice instructs. Work completed before the qualifying diploma may be treated differently.

For AST competitions, show that your qualifications and experience match the stated duties. A university degree does not automatically make an AST application stronger. EU Careers warns that an over-qualified candidate can only be recruited at the grade advertised.

Use the Notice of Competition for permanent recruitment and the vacancy notice for temporary posts as the final authority. Both identify the function group, grade, eligibility rules and documents that the selection board will apply.