The FAA Airman Knowledge Test is the computer-based written exam you must pass before earning most pilot certificates and ratings, from private pilot through airline transport pilot. You need at least 70 percent to pass, and your results stay valid for 24 calendar months, so the written exam and your practical test have to line up inside that window.
Who Has to Take One
Nearly every FAA pilot certificate and rating requires a knowledge test, though the length and depth scale with the certificate. The private pilot airplane test runs 60 questions in two hours. The commercial pilot airplane test moves up to 100 questions in two and a half hours. Instrument rating candidates sit for 60 questions in two hours, and the airline transport pilot multiengine exam is the longest at 125 questions across three and a half hours.1Federal Aviation Administration. FAA Airman Knowledge Testing Matrix Each exam pulls from a question bank matched to the certificate or rating you want.
The Part 107 remote pilot certificate for small drones runs on its own track. You must be at least 16, and no instructor endorsement is required to sit for the initial test. If you already hold a pilot certificate other than a student certificate and have a current flight review, you can skip the test entirely by completing an online training course.2eCFR. 14 CFR 107.61 – Eligibility
What You Need Before You Can Sit for It
Age and Language
You have to meet a minimum age. For most private pilot knowledge tests the age is 15; glider and balloon tests drop to 14. The certificate itself can’t be issued until you’re 17 for powered aircraft or 16 for gliders and balloons,3eCFR. 14 CFR 61.103 – Eligibility Requirements: General so taking the written a year or two before you’re eligible for the certificate is common.
You also need to read, speak, write, and understand English. If a medical condition prevents you from meeting one of those requirements, the FAA can attach operating limitations to your certificate rather than deny it outright.3eCFR. 14 CFR 61.103 – Eligibility Requirements: General
FAA Tracking Number
Before you can schedule, you need an FAA Tracking Number (FTN). You get one by registering on the Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application (IACRA) website. Every applicant for FAA certification needs an FTN, including mechanic applicants who don’t otherwise use IACRA.4Federal Aviation Administration. FAA Tracking Number (FTN) Frequently Asked Questions It’s free, and your FTN follows you through every certificate and rating you earn.
Instructor Endorsement
For most Part 61 certificates and ratings, you need a knowledge test endorsement from an authorized instructor before you can take the exam. The endorsement confirms you’ve completed the required ground training or a home-study course and that your instructor considers you ready.5Federal Aviation Administration. AC 61-65H – Certification: Pilots and Flight and Ground Instructors Without it, you can’t legally take the test. The endorsement requirement doesn’t apply to the initial Part 107 remote pilot exam.
Identification
On test day you need government-issued photo identification showing your photograph, signature, date of birth, and current residential address. A driver’s license, passport, military ID, or alien residency card works.6Federal Aviation Administration. What Do I Need to Bring With Me to Take the Aeronautical Knowledge Test If your permanent mailing address is a P.O. box, you’ll need to provide your actual residential address separately.7eCFR. 14 CFR 61.35 – Knowledge Test: Prerequisites and Passing Grades The details on your ID need to match your IACRA profile exactly, or you’ll lose time sorting it out at the counter.
What the Test Covers
Subjects
The topics track the certificate. The private pilot airplane test is a good baseline: applicable federal aviation regulations, airspace classifications, aircraft systems and performance, aerodynamic principles like lift, drag, and load factors, weight and balance calculations, weather theory and aviation weather reports, navigation, radio communication procedures, and aeronautical decision-making. It expects you to recognize hazardous conditions like wind shear and icing and to understand aerodynamic stalls.
Higher certificates add depth. The instrument rating test concentrates on instrument procedures, approach charts, and weather minimums. The commercial test goes further into performance planning and complex systems. The ATP exam covers airline-level operations and crew resource management.
Airman Certification Standards
The FAA uses the Airman Certification Standards (ACS) as the framework tying what you learn, what you’re tested on, and what the examiner evaluates during your checkride. The ACS replaced the older Practical Test Standards by folding knowledge, risk management, and skill elements into one document per certificate. Each task-specific standard has a unique code, something like PA.I.D.K4, that links directly to test questions and practical test expectations.8Federal Aviation Administration. Airman Certification Standards (ACS) Briefing Codes for questions you miss on the written map back to standards your examiner will probe during the oral portion of your practical test.
Testing Supplements
You don’t have to memorize every chart. The FAA provides a testing supplement (the CT-8080 series) during the exam with the figures, charts, airport diagrams, and weather graphics you need for certain questions. Separate supplements cover private pilot, commercial pilot, instrument rating, ATP, and maintenance technician tests.9Federal Aviation Administration. Computer Testing Supplements They’re posted on the FAA website, so you can study from the same materials you’ll see on test day. That’s worth doing, because some questions are nearly impossible without knowing where the answer lives in the supplement.
Scheduling and Test Day Rules
You schedule through the PSI testing portal at faa.psiexams.com using your FTN.10Talogy. FAA Airman Knowledge Testing You create an account, set up multi-factor authentication, and pay at the time of booking. Fees vary by testing center.
The testing environment is tightly controlled. You can bring scales, straightedges, protractors, plotters, navigation computers like the E6B, and aviation-oriented calculators. Manufacturer’s instructions permanently inscribed on those tools, including formulas, conversion tables, and holding pattern diagrams, are allowed.11Federal Aviation Administration. AC 60-11C – Test Aids and Materials That May Be Used by Airman Knowledge Testing Applicants
What you can’t bring: phones, smartwatches, electronic planners, any device that records, written materials, dictionaries, and calculators with permanent memory that can’t be erased. The proctor has final say and can deny any device that doesn’t meet the standard. Personal items go in your car or a secure storage area before you enter, and the room itself must be free of aviation posters or media that could help answer questions.12Federal Aviation Administration. Order 8080.6H – Conduct of Airman Knowledge Tests
Passing Score and How Long It Lasts
You need at least 70 percent to pass.5Federal Aviation Administration. AC 61-65H – Certification: Pilots and Flight and Ground Instructors The system generates your Airman Knowledge Test Report immediately after you finish. It lists your score and the ACS codes for any questions you missed. Those codes aren’t only for study. Your designated pilot examiner is required to evaluate those weak areas during the oral portion of your practical test.13Federal Aviation Administration. Learning Statement Reference Guide for Airman Knowledge Testing Passing at 72 percent with several missed weather questions means your checkride will include extra scrutiny on weather decision-making.
You have to present the original test report to your examiner at the practical test. The examiner keeps it and attaches it to your certification file.5Federal Aviation Administration. AC 61-65H – Certification: Pilots and Flight and Ground Instructors Losing it means a slow replacement process before your checkride can happen.
For most certificates and ratings, knowledge test results are valid for 24 calendar months. You have to complete the practical test inside that window or the knowledge test expires and you’ll retake it. The exception is the ATP certificate with a multiengine class rating after the required certification training program, where results last 60 calendar months.14eCFR. 14 CFR 61.39 – Prerequisites for Practical Tests The 24-month clock starts the month you pass. Plenty of students pass the written early and then run out of runway on flight hours.
What Happens If You Fail
Failing under 70 percent doesn’t let you just rebook. Federal regulations require additional training from an authorized instructor who determines you’re ready to pass, and that instructor has to give you a written endorsement documenting the additional training before you can schedule a retest.15eCFR. 14 CFR 61.49 – Retesting After Failure The endorsement isn’t a formality. Use the ACS codes on your test report to target your review with your instructor. Booking another attempt without actually closing those gaps usually produces the same score.
Cheating and Unauthorized Conduct
The FAA handles cheating on a knowledge test as a federal enforcement matter. If the Administrator determines you cheated or engaged in unauthorized conduct during the test, you face a one-year ban from applying for any FAA certificate, rating, or authorization, and from taking any test under the same chapter of regulations. Any certificate or rating you already hold can also be suspended or revoked.16eCFR. 14 CFR 61.37 – Knowledge Tests: Cheating or Other Unauthorized Conduct A proctor who suspects cheating stops the exam, collects the materials, and reports it. The one-year ban plus potential action against certificates you already hold can end an aviation career, so no single question is worth the risk.