ATPL theory: 13 exams, 18 months, and the rules that catch people out
The ATPL theory exams are the part of professional pilot training most often underestimated. They are not conceptually harder than a science degree. They are broad, and they come with time limits that cannot be negotiated afterwards.
What you sit
Thirteen papers: Air Law; Aircraft General Knowledge; Instrumentation; Mass and Balance; Performance; Flight Planning and Monitoring; Human Performance; Meteorology; General Navigation; Radio Navigation; Operational Procedures; Principles of Flight; and Communications. The pass mark is 75 per cent in each.
You cannot simply book them. You must complete an approved theory course first, at least 650 hours of instruction on the modular route, and the school must recommend you for the exams.
The limits
- 18 months. All thirteen must be passed within 18 months, counted from the end of the month in which you first sat an exam.
- Six sittings. You have a maximum of six exam sittings to get through all thirteen.
- Four attempts per paper. Fail any one paper four times and you start again.
Miss any of these and every pass is lost: you return to the school for further training and resit all thirteen.
The clock continues after you pass. The passes are valid for 36 months for the issue of a CPL or an instrument rating. Once you hold an instrument rating, they stay valid for the ATPL itself for seven years from the rating's last validity date.
Why the limits matter in practice
Because life interrupts. When Pilot Flight Academy in Norway went bankrupt in January 2026, students who were mid-way through their exams faced the 18-month limit with no school. Norway's Civil Aviation Authority granted up to six extra months to those who continued at another approved school. That was a decision by one authority in one exceptional case. It is not something to plan on.
How to plan
- Do not sit the first paper until you are ready to sit several. The 18 months start with the first attempt, not with the start of the course.
- Group the subjects. A common approach is to sit them in a few blocks, pairing heavy subjects with lighter ones.
- Keep a sitting in reserve. If your plan uses all six sittings with no failures, it has no room for one.
- Learn the material, not only the question bank. Schools also assess knowledge, skills and attitudes during the course, and airline technical interviews draw on the same subjects two years later.
- Sequence the flying. The 36-month validity means your CPL and instrument rating training need to follow without a long gap.
On a staged route the theory phase is where the overall plan matters most. It is one of the things FlyEASA maps with a student before any enrolment.
