There is no officially mandated order for the 13 EASA ATPL theory subjects — but there is a sensible one, because some subjects build on others and some pairs share so much material that studying them together is nearly free. This guide lays out the order we recommend, why, and the one sequencing mistake that reliably costs people time.
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Air Law (010) and Principles of Flight (081) are the two subjects much of the rest of the syllabus builds on. Air Law gives you the regulatory vocabulary that Operational Procedures and Communications assume; Principles of Flight gives you the aerodynamics that Performance — and a good deal of the technical material — leans on.
Both are also self-contained: you can study them from a standing start with no prerequisites, which is exactly what you want from your first exams.
Some pairs overlap so much that studying them together is nearly free. These are the affinity groups we recommend building your sittings around — the same groupings our in-app planner uses:
031 + 032
Mass & Balance + Performance
Both are calculation subjects working from the same aircraft data and limitations; the exam-technique overlap is large.
061 + 062
General Navigation + Radio Navigation
Two halves of the navigation picture — the chartwork and maths of 061 sit naturally alongside the systems and aids of 062.
010 + 070 + 090
Air Law + Operational Procedures + Communications
The regulatory-and-procedures cluster: heavy on rules and phraseology, light on calculation, and full of overlapping material.
081 + 032
Principles of Flight + Performance
Performance is applied Principles of Flight — the aerodynamics you learn in 081 is the "why" behind every 032 calculation.
How many subjects fit into one sitting depends on how your authority defines a sitting — the definitions differ by a factor of two. See sittings & limits and choosing an authority.
Flight Planning (033) depends on material from Meteorology (050), Mass & Balance (031) and Performance (032). Sit it early and you end up learning fragments of three other subjects out of context just to answer 033 questions — then learning them again properly later. Sit it after those three and much of the work is already done.
Communications (090) is the subject students most reliably underestimate. One student in our community source group scored 92% in Operational Procedures and 85% in Communications — a pass, but their own verdict was blunt: “I had greatly underestimated the subject.” Budget real study time for the phraseology, especially IFR.
If you already fly professionally — for instance, if you are converting an ICAO ATPL to an EASA one — the operational subjects will feel familiar, and that familiarity is a trap in both directions. Front-load the exam-specific maths of Mass & Balance, Performance and Flight Planning — knowing how to load an aircraft on the line is not the same as answering EASA exam questions about it. And still prepare the procedural subjects properly: the exam tests the EASA-syllabus version of procedures, not your company’s SOPs.
Every subject has its own difficulty profile, memorise-vs-understand balance and common traps — we cover each one in the per-subject difficulty guides.
Important: If you study through an ATO, its module structure may fix your order for you — this guide is for candidates with a free choice (distance-learning and self-paced routes). The FCL.025 limits apply regardless of order: all papers within 18 months, 6 sittings, 4 attempts per paper.
Start with Air Law (010) and Principles of Flight (081). They are foundations: much of the rest of the syllabus builds on them — Air Law underpins the whole regulatory-and-procedures cluster, and Principles of Flight is the "why" behind Performance and much of the technical material.
Natural affinity groups are Mass & Balance with Performance (031+032), General Navigation with Radio Navigation (061+062), Air Law with Operational Procedures and Communications (010+070+090), and Principles of Flight with Performance (081+032). Pairing subjects that share material lets one study block serve two exams.
Late. Flight Planning depends on material from Meteorology (050), Mass & Balance (031) and Performance (032) — sitting it before those is inefficient, because you end up learning fragments of three other subjects out of context just to answer 033 questions.
It is routinely underestimated — which is not the same as easy. One student in the community source group scored 92% in Operational Procedures and 85% in Communications, and wrote afterwards: "I had greatly underestimated the subject." Give it real study time, especially the IFR phraseology.
The principle changes: for line pilots the operational subjects feel familiar, while the exam-specific maths of Mass & Balance, Performance and Flight Planning does not. Front-load the calculation subjects you have not done in exam form, and do not let familiarity talk you out of properly preparing the procedural ones.
Structured lessons and practice questions for all 13 subjects, with per-topic readiness tracking so you know when a subject is actually exam-ready.
