Which EASA Authority Should You Sit Your ATPL Exams With?
Choosing which national aviation authority to sit your ATPL theory exams with is a decision you make once, before you book anything — and it fixes your costs, your travel, your sitting structure and your resit logistics for the entire theory phase. The EASA-wide rules are identical everywhere; almost everything else is not. This guide compares the authorities candidates most commonly choose, and is honest about which figures we have verified and which we have not.
Last updated
The number nobody publishes plainly
Austro Control’s own fee is €69.60 per ATPL paper, including VAT — raised from €45.60 on 1 April 2026 by BGBl. II Nr. 65/2026. Across 13 subjects that is €904.80 to the authority alone. The exam centres that actually deliver the exams charge their own fee as well, and whether that sits on top of this or already includes it is something we have not confirmed in writing — so treat €69.60 as the floor, not the total, and ask your centre for an all-in figure. And no-shows are still invoiced.
What is identical with every authority
The examination rules themselves come from FCL.025 of Reg. (EU) 1178/2011 and do not change with your choice of authority:
- Pass mark 75% per paper — and "No penalty marking shall be applied", so never leave a question blank.
- A maximum of 4 attempts per examination paper.
- A maximum of 6 sittings for ATPL-level theory.
- All papers passed within 18 months, counted from the end of the calendar month of your first attempt.
- Miss any of those limits and you retake the complete set of examination papers, after further training at an ATO or DTO.
The exact quotes and the validity periods for your passes are on the dedicated sittings & limits page.
“What is a sitting?” — the question Part-FCL never answers
FCL.025 caps you at 6 sittings, but Part-FCL never defines the word — FCL.010’s definitions contain no entry for “sitting”. Each authority defines it itself, and the spread is 2×: the UK CAA works to 10 days, Transport Malta to 5 consecutive working days (with “Only one attempt at each examination paper is allowed in one sitting”), and the DGAC to 5 consecutive days for ATPL/CPL.
That difference changes how many subjects you can group into one exam-centre visit, and therefore how many trips your whole theory phase takes. One caution: the UK CAA’s own page attributes its 10-day definition to FCL.025 — which contains no such definition. The 10 days is real; the attribution is their error.
Authority comparison
Cells marked ⚠️ Not yet verified are exactly that: we have not yet confirmed them against a primary source, and we would rather show you the gap than fill it with a plausible number. Verified figures carry their caveats inline.
Fees are reviewed each January and April — both the UK CAA and the IAA changed fees on 1 January / 1 April 2026.
| Authority | Cost per subject | Sitting definition | Exam language | ATO requirement | Exam-day conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austro ControlAustriaWhat the external centres charge on top is currently unverified: one Austro-approved centre now advertises €116.95 per subject and describes the Austro fee as a component of it, which would make it all-in rather than additional. Until that is confirmed with a centre in writing, treat the authority fee as the floor, not the total. | €69.60 per ATPL paper, incl. VAT — read from Austro Control’s own examination page. Raised from €45.60 on 1 April 2026, the date BGBl. II Nr. 65/2026 amending the Austro Control-Gebührenverordnung came into force. Across 13 subjects that is €904.80 to the authority alone. External exam centres charge their own fee on top of, or inclusive of, this — see the note. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | From 1 October 2026, personal calculators are no longer permitted at any pilot theory exam in Vienna; Austro Control supplies a standard model. If you have drilled your own calculator’s keystrokes for 032, 033 or 061, practise on the supplied model before exam day. No-shows are still invoiced. |
| UK CAAUnited KingdomPost-Brexit the UK CAA is no longer an EASA authority — a UK pass counts towards a UK licence, not an EASA one. Fees changed on 1 January and 1 April 2026; check the current scheme of charges. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | A sitting spans 10 days. (The CAA’s own page attributes this definition to FCL.025 — which contains no such definition. The 10 days is their rule; the attribution is their error.) | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. |
| ENACItalyMoving to ECQB 2026 EM 2 on 1 October 2026. | €40 per subject — plus administrative charges, so not an all-in figure. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ ATO attestation requirement not yet verified. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. |
| DGACFrance | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | 5 consecutive days for ATPL/CPL; 3 for the IR. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. |
| Transport MaltaMalta | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | 5 consecutive working days — and "Only one attempt at each examination paper is allowed in one sitting." | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. |
| AESASpain | ⚠️ 2026 tariff not yet verified. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. |
| LBAGermanyExam locations and fees not yet verified. | ⚠️ Fees not yet verified. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | For applications received from 1 July 2026 the LBA computes your exam duration with a break factor of 1.15 instead of 1.3 — roughly 20 minutes between sections rather than an hour. Shorter days on site, and often one night less of accommodation. The LBA’s stated reason is that the scheduled breaks were largely going unused. |
| IAAIrelandImplemented ECQB 2026 on 1 August 2026 (ECQB 2024 until 31 July). Fees changed on 1 January / 1 April 2026; check the current schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. | ⚠️ Not yet verified — check the authority’s current published schedule. |
One more thing your authority determines: your ECQB version
All EASA authorities draw exam questions from the same central bank, but they migrate to new ECQB editions on their own timetables — the IAA moved to ECQB 2026 on 1 August 2026, ENAC moves on 1 October 2026, and there is no central EASA register of who is on what. Before you commit to an authority, read which ECQB version is your exam?
Before you commit: the pre-booking checklist
Important: Authority fees, locations and session arrangements change; the Austro Control fee schedule cited above is dated 01.07.2022, and several cells in the comparison are still marked unverified. Always confirm the current published figures with the authority itself before booking. Where this page says a figure is unverified, treat that literally.
Frequently asked questions
Does it matter which EASA authority I sit my ATPL exams with?
The FCL.025 rules — 75% pass mark, 4 attempts per paper, 6 sittings, the 18-month window — are identical with every EASA authority, and your passes go towards the same EASA licence. What differs is everything practical: cost per subject, where the exam centres are, how a "sitting" is defined, session frequency, language options and booking logistics.
How much do Austro Control ATPL exams really cost?
Austro Control’s own fee is €69.60 per ATPL paper including VAT, up from €45.60 on 1 April 2026, the date BGBl. II Nr. 65/2026 amending the Austro Control-Gebührenverordnung came into force. Across 13 subjects that is €904.80 to the authority alone, before anything an exam centre charges. The exams are delivered by external centres that charge their own fee, and whether that fee includes or sits on top of the authority’s is not something we have confirmed in writing — one Austro-approved centre now advertises €116.95 per subject and describes the Austro fee as a component of it. Treat €69.60 as the floor rather than the total, and ask your centre for an all-in figure. Note also that no-shows are still invoiced.
Can I bring my own calculator to an Austro Control exam?
Not from 1 October 2026. Austro Control has stated that personal calculators are no longer permitted at any pilot theory exam in Vienna from that date, and that a standard model is supplied in the examination room instead. If you have drilled your own calculator’s keystroke sequences — which matters most in 032 Performance, 033 Flight Planning and 061 General Navigation — practise on the supplied model before exam day rather than discovering it on the morning. We have not yet confirmed whether the ban extends to Austro Control’s external centres outside Vienna.
What counts as one "sitting"?
Part-FCL never defines it — FCL.010 has no entry for "sitting", so each authority defines it themselves. The UK CAA works to 10 days, Transport Malta to 5 consecutive working days, and the French DGAC to 5 consecutive days for ATPL/CPL. That two-fold spread changes how many subjects you can group per sitting.
Can I switch authorities halfway through my ATPL exams?
Theory passes are tied to the authority you sit with, so switching mid-way is at best an administrative process and at worst a restart — confirm the position with both authorities before assuming anything transfers. This is exactly why the authority decision is worth making carefully before your first booking.
Are the ATPL exam questions different at different authorities?
All EASA member-state authorities draw their questions from EASA’s European Central Question Bank (ECQB). However, states migrate to new ECQB editions on their own timetables, so which edition you face depends on your authority and your exam date — ask them which version they are examining from.
More in this series
Whichever authority you choose, the syllabus is the same
Practise all 13 subjects with questions organised by the EASA syllabus, mock exams at the real 75% pass mark, and per-topic readiness tracking.