CAA-B Air Law

It is aimed at student pilots working towards a UK private pilot licence, and at licence holders who need to sit or re-sit the air law subject. Your flight training organisation will confirm when in your course you should take it. Check current requirements with the CAA, as licensing rules change.

It is a multiple-choice theoretical knowledge examination covering air law. The source material reviewed for this page did not confirm the number of questions or the time allowed, so treat any figure you hear from other candidates with caution and confirm the format with the CAA or your school before you book.

The pass mark is not confirmed in the source material reviewed here, so it is shown as unknown rather than guessed. Ask your training organisation or check the current CAA guidance for the PPL examinations before you sit the paper, and do not rely on figures quoted in older study material.

Duration and fee are not confirmed in the source material reviewed for this page, so neither is stated here. Exam arrangements and charges are set by the CAA and can be revised, so confirm the current duration and fee with your training organisation or the CAA before booking.

Retake rules are not confirmed in the source material reviewed here. In practice, candidates who fail a PPL theoretical knowledge examination normally need to arrange a re-sit through their training organisation, sometimes after additional ground training. Confirm the current policy with your school or the CAA rather than assuming a number of attempts.

Start with legislation and rules of the air, because the other three areas build on it: licensing and registration, aerodromes and airspace, and operations and reporting. Learn the definitions and right-of-way rules thoroughly, then move to airspace classifications and aerodrome procedures, and finish with documents and accident reporting.

Common causes are shallow memorisation of definitions, confusion between similar airspace classes and weather minima, and weak knowledge of documents and reporting duties. Air law rewards precise recall, so practise applied questions rather than re-reading notes, and check every figure against current UK regulations rather than older study guides.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority publishes pilot licensing, training and publication information on its website, including Civil Aviation Publications. The specific PPL exams page was unavailable when this page was prepared, so use the CAA site search to locate the current guidance and confirm all exam parameters before booking.