Official Exams

It's useful to know what to expect of the official exams before you go anywhwere near them, so we've put together the following guidance for you to alleviate any concerns you may have, and to give you some guidance on best tips and exam practice.

Before you are allowed to sit an official written exam, you will need to be in possession of an Exam Readiness Certificate. To find out more about this first, click here.

You will be required to sit our on-line exams in order to obtain your Exam Readiness Certificate. By doing these exams, you will stand absolutely every chance of passing the official exams for that subject.

Rule number one: Don't Panic.

To obtain more information, click on one of the headings below, or to expand/collapse all headings, click

Type of Exam

PPL(A) Licence

All official exams (at present) are paper based, and are only available at authorised locations (usually your flight training organisation will also be an authorised written exam location).

Each authorised location has three different exam papers per subject. The allocation of which exam paper for a given subject you are set is random.

It is important that you do not write on the exam paper, since you will be using the original exam paper, and not a copy! Each question in the exam will have four possible answers shown (A to D), and you must select the most correct answer.

Remember: The pass mark is 75% for each exam.

You indicate your answers against each question on the answer paper provided by placing an "X" in the correct box using a pen (not a pencil). If you change your mind over an answer, you must block out the box and place the "X" in the box associated with your new choice. See the sample answer paper by clicking the PDF image to the left.

However, in the very near future, these official exams will move to an on-line format. By using Easy PPL Ground School and our On-line Tests & Exams as part of your study, you will become very familiar with the style of on-line format you will use for the official exams.

IMC-IR(R) Rating

The official exams (at present) is paper based, and is only available at authorised locations (usually your flight training organisation will also be an authorised written exam location).

Each authorised location has three different exam papers for this subject. The allocation of which exam paper you are set is random.

Remember: The pass mark is 75% for this exam.

Infringement Avoidance Course

There is no official exam for this course, other than using this course as a pre-requisite for the on-line CAA Infringement Test.

Number of Questions & Duration

PPL(A) Licence

The number of questions and the time you have available to answer them depends on the subject of the exam. Generally speaking, if you know your subject, you will not be time constrained. We've listed the information below for reference.

Subject	No. of Questions	Duration
Air Law & ATC Procedures	16	35 minutes
Operational Procedures	12	30 minutes
Aircraft General Knowledge	16	35 minutes
Principles of Flight	12	35 minutes
Meteorology	16	50 minutes
Human Performance & Limitations	12	25 minutes
Navigation	12	45 minutes
Communications (Radio Telephony)	12	20 minutes
Flight Performance & Planning	12	45 minutes

In addition, you will also need to pass the following practical (oral) exam:

Subject	Duration
Communications (Radio Telephony)	Approx. 30 minutes

This is an oral test with a Radiotelephony Examiner. You will need to have a separate revision/preparation session for this exam. We have a 100% success rate for candidates we prepare. To book your preparation/revision session with us, visit our Easy PPL Online Shop, select the "Easy PPL Communications Practical Exam Preparation" item and we will contact you to arrange suitable dates and times to prepare you.

IMC-IR(R) Rating

This exam will be time-constrained for most people. You will need to be in extremely good practice with the Flight Comouter (Whizz Wheel) in order to alow enough time to answer the subsequent questions! We've listed the information below for reference.

Subject	No. of Questions	Duration
IMC-IR(R) Rating	25	120 minutes

Infringement Avoidance Course

Subject	No. of Questions	Duration
Infringment Course Asssessment	20 (long answer)	15 minutes

Top Tips

You will do well to read these tips before undertaking any of the written exams. Please beware that at present, some exam questions test more of your ability to understand English grammar than the subject in question.

Read the question carefully. Note in particular what actually requires answering.
Make sure you read all the answers before selecting. Remember you need to select the most correct answer.
Make sure you place your "X" against the correct box on the answer paper. Do not get confused when the correct answer refers to a point on a graph marked as "A", and then the multiple choice answer which states that "A" is the correct point is actually allocated against multiple choice answer C !
If you have difficulty with a question, leave it, and come back to it at the end.
If unsure of the correct answer, try to definitely decide which of the choices are wrong. This then gives you better odds at guessing from what's left!
Remember that an exam with less questions means each question is worth more percentage mark, so you must answer more questions correctly to pass. In other words, you must know all of the subject material to be able to answer questions in any area.