EASA A1/A3 study plan

List the main security threats to a UAS flight (control-link interference, GNSS jamming or spoofing, unauthorised access to the ground station, theft or tampering on site) and state one practical countermeasure for each.

Distinguish a soft geo-zone from a hard geo-zone and explain how geo-awareness and U-space services reduce the risk of an airspace infringement.

Classify ten described locations into the correct airspace type (prohibited, restricted, danger area, control zone, aerodrome traffic zone, radio mandatory zone) and state the consequence for the remote pilot in each case.

Identify where a remote pilot checks for temporary restrictions before flight (aeronautical information publications, notices to airmen, national UAS portal or app) and state the action to take for each source.

State the open-category limits (maximum take-off mass, 120 m distance from the closest point of the earth's surface, visual line of sight, no carriage of dangerous goods, no dropping of material) and apply them to five short scenarios.

Distinguish the obligations of the UAS operator from those of the remote pilot, including operator registration, remote pilot competency and minimum age rules.

Explain the practical difference between the A1 and A3 subcategories in terms of proximity to uninvolved persons and the environment flown over.

Apply a simple risk-assessment sequence (identify hazard, estimate severity and likelihood, apply mitigation, re-check) to one worked example in three sentences.

Sequence a full pre-flight routine covering site survey, airspace check, weather and wind limits, equipment and battery condition, people and crowd assessment, and the emergency plan.

Describe the in-flight monitoring tasks of the remote pilot and state three concrete decision triggers for aborting, holding or returning to home.

Explain battery management practices (storage charge level, temperature effects, voltage sag under load, cycle ageing) and link each to a flight-safety consequence.

Distinguish the expected aircraft response for loss of control link, low battery and loss of GNSS, and state what the remote pilot should do in each case.

Explain how situational awareness, complacency, fatigue and workload degrade remote-pilot performance, and name one mitigation for each.

Recognise four hazardous attitudes (for example impulsivity, machismo, resignation, invulnerability) and state the antidote in a remote-pilot context.

State the core data-protection principles (lawfulness, purpose limitation, minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity and confidentiality, accountability) and apply them to aerial imaging.

Distinguish the practical privacy duties of a remote pilot: informing affected people, avoiding unnecessary capture of identifiable persons, secure storage and defined retention of footage, and checking whether national rules are stricter.

State what third-party liability insurance covers in UAS operations and explain why it is different from hull or equipment cover.

Explain that EU-level aviation insurance requirements generally do not cover small unmanned aircraft, so the obligation comes from national law, and identify where to verify the requirement for the country of operation.

Compare two sample policy summaries against the criteria that matter for a drone operator (covered mass or class, geographic scope, named insured, validity dates, exclusions).

Explain how a remote pilot confirms coverage is in force before a flight and what to do when a planned flight falls outside the covered scope.

Apply regulation and operational-procedure knowledge to ten mixed scenarios and justify each decision in one sentence with the governing rule.

Re-teach the eight weakest questions from weeks 1 to 5 from source material and record the corrected rule for each.

Complete a timed 20-question mixed set at exam pace and review every error the same day.

Identify two recurring error patterns in your own answers and write a specific countermeasure for each.

Consolidate drone-safety content by mapping each fail-safe behaviour to the flight phase in which it matters most.

Re-check privacy and insurance content against national rules for the country you will fly in and note any differences from the EU baseline.

Rank all nine domains by your current mock-exam accuracy and allocate the remaining study time to the three weakest.

Complete one full-length mock exam under timed conditions with no notes.

Complete two full-length timed mock exams and score at least 75 per cent in each.

Re-drill the highest-frequency rule failures (airspace classes, open-category limits, operator versus pilot duties) until two consecutive perfect runs are achieved.

Verify exam-day logistics: identification document, registration number if held, test platform requirements and the pass mark for the specific exam.

Write a personal one-page summary sheet of the 20 rules you are most likely to be tested on.