You don't study 13 subjects. You study four blocks. The EASA ATPL theory syllabus looks like a wall of 13 exams, but most of them lean on each other — so the order you take them in decides how hard they feel.
Here is a simple way to divide and sequence them.
Some subjects are foundations that make later ones click. Principles of Flight explains the physics behind Performance and Mass & Balance. General Navigation has to come before Radio Navigation. Meteorology feeds straight into Flight Planning. Study them in the wrong order and you memorise; study them in the right order and you understand.
Group the 13 subjects like this, and work through the blocks in order:
Air Law (010), Human Performance (040), Principles of Flight (081). Air Law and Human Performance are largely self-contained and memory-based — perfect for early momentum. Principles of Flight is the physics backbone you will reuse across almost every technical subject, so bank it early.
Aircraft General Knowledge – Airframe/Systems/Powerplant (021), Instrumentation (022), Mass & Balance (031). These build on Principles of Flight and describe the machine you are flying. Mass & Balance is short and sets you up for Performance next.
General Navigation (061), Meteorology (050), Radio Navigation (062). Do General Navigation before Radio Navigation, and get Meteorology solid before you touch Flight Planning — you will lean on both.
Performance (032), Flight Planning & Monitoring (033), Operational Procedures (070), Communications (091/092). These are the integrators. Performance uses Principles of Flight and Mass & Balance; Flight Planning pulls in Meteorology, Navigation and Performance. Leaving them last means you arrive with the tools already sharp.
Don't run all 13 at once. Two or three subjects in parallel is the sweet spot — and pair a heavy technical subject with a lighter memory one so your sessions stay varied.
How you eventually sit the exams — how many at a time, in which sittings — is a separate decision. But get the study order right and the exam plan gets far easier.
Want to lock each subject in? Practise EASA ATPL questions subject by subject at atpltraining.io.
Work in four blocks: foundations (Air Law, Human Performance, Principles of Flight), then the aircraft (Aircraft General Knowledge, Instrumentation, Mass & Balance), then navigation and weather (General Navigation, Meteorology, Radio Navigation), then the integrators (Performance, Flight Planning, Operational Procedures, Communications).
Yes — two or three in parallel works well. Pair a heavy technical subject with a lighter memory-based one so sessions stay varied and you avoid burning out on a single topic.
Air Law or Human Performance are good openers because they are largely self-contained and build early confidence. Bring in Principles of Flight early too, since it underpins the technical subjects that follow.
Most modular students take roughly six to twelve months, depending on whether they study full- or part-time and how consistently they use a question bank.
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