There are 9 theory subjects for the PPL, each with between 12 and 16 multiple choice questions. The fee is around £50 per exam, and these are now taken online as e-exams at your flying school. You get the result by email within minutes of finishing the exam.
There is no prescribed amount of study time, but reckon on around 100 hours to cover all the subjects. All exams must be passed before taking the Skills Test. The syllabus can be found here (scroll to the bottom of the page, and look for Learning Objectives for the GA theoretical e-Exams) but it is very high level and you may not find it very helpful in terms of what to learn.
The rules
The rules are set by the CAA. You must…..
• Pass all the exams in 18 months. The 18 months starts from the end of the month in which you take your first exam (pass or fail!). (There used to be a rule that you had to take all 9 exams in 6 ‘sittings’. This is no longer the case).
• Be recommended by your training organisation / instructor as ready for the exam, after completing the necessary training.
• Complete your training, skills test and licence application within 24 months of passing the last of the 9 exams. This means that when planning exams, you need to think about how quickly you plan to complete the practical training, which is dictated by weather, your budget and time availability.
We encourage you to understand the subjects, not just to learn enough ‘stuff’ to tick the box and pass the exams. It’s about becoming a better informed and safer pilot. Furthermore, the CAA take the view that any topic within the syllabus is fair game for the e-exams, even if it may have little relevance at your stage of training or future ambitions. If you see a PPL as a stepping stone to a commercial licence, then the time spent understanding PPL theory will pay back when you start the more demanding CPL / ATPL studies.
Study options
People like to study in different ways, so there are several ways you can prepare for the exams.
1. Buy the theory books (e.g. books 2,3,4,6,7 in The Air Pilots manual series) and study at home. AFE publish a handy set of revision guides with practice papers and a summary of the essential theory. At approx £7 each, these books are good value for exam preparation, but they don’t cover the subject in as much depth. Even if this is your preferred learning style, I recommend doing some online practice papers (see below) in order to get familiar with the content and format of the e-exams.
2. Sign up for an online course – several providers offer online courses, which include learning materials (which can replace the text books), progress quizzes and online practice papers. These have become the preferred choice for many students. Quality and completeness vary, so ask me for recommendations. You typically get billed by the subject or by the month.
3. Join evening Ground Sc
hool classes if your flying school offer them. Many people find this more fun than studying alone; the support and questions from other students can be helpful. These days, with the advent of online courses, there is less demand for classroom ground-school. Some instructors offer ground-school over Zoom as a very effective alternative.
4. Get some ad hoc one-to-one teaching with your instructor, either by arrangement, or in place of a flying lesson which is prevented by bad weather. This is a good way of tackling anything which you ‘don’t get’ from reading the book or online course. An alternative to ad hoc one to one and intensive courses could be half a day or a whole day to ‘break the back’ of the subject and prpare you for furtehr practice online.
5. Attend an intensive course, which take you from ‘zero to hero’ in 1 or 2 full-time periods of nearly a week each. A few stand-alone instructors and schools offer these, either on a one-to-one or small group basis. They are not inexpensive – you are after all paying the instructor for his / her time, materials and experience in teaching in a very focussed manner. They are an option for people with busy lives or too many distractions to study successfully part-time at home.
6. An alternative to ad hoc one-to-one and intensive courses could be an intensive day or half day to ‘break the back’ of the subject and prepare you for further practice online. That will work best if you’ve already spent a few hours getting to know the subject.
Whichever route(s) you follow, feel free to get in touch for advice. The subjects and the links or overlaps between them, are shown here.You will find ground-school materials on the Downloads part of this website. I make these available to my own students and to others for a small fee.
When to start?
Once you have done the first few flying lessons and are sure that want to get your PPL, now is the time to start on the theory! You may not be keen on study and exams but they can’t be avoided! Set aside some time each week for study. You don’t want to get into the situation where you solo flying is impeded because you’ve not passed the required theory exams.
What order should I follow for the theory exams?
Many flying schools expect you to pass Air Law before your first solo circuit. Many require you to have passed several subjects (Air Law, Operational procedures, Navigation, Communications and Human performance) before your first solo cross-country. You might take Air Law as the first exam, but the subject matter is quite daunting. As a gentler introduction to the theory and e-exams, you might consider doing Human Performance first, then Air Law.
Within the constraints set by flying schools, to some extent the order of exams can also be governed by your own interests. All the theory subjects will help your practical flying in some way, and there are links and overlaps between the different subjects. For example, Meteorology helps in figuring out whether your lesson will go ahead, and whether the day is suitable for cross-country flying. Communications will hep with your radio calls. Navigation theory will help you plan your cross-country flights. Some students find that the theory, especially Communications and Navigation, makes more sense after some practical flying experience.
Various subjects overlap, so it makes sense to study these together – for example Air Law + Op procs, Principles of Flight + Aircraft General Knowledge. The more challenging subjects (Meteorology, Navigation, Flight Planning & Performance) are generally best taken towards the end of your study.
Anything else?
An RT practical exam is also required in addition to the 9 theory subjects. It does not have to be completed within the 18 months and can be done before or after the skills test (but you can’t apply for your licence until you have passed it). We recommend that you take the RT practical exam just before or soon after your qualifying cross-country (QXC) flight.