The 13 subjects aren't what catches most EASA ATPL students out. The order you sit them in is.
You have 18 months and six sittings to clear all 13 theory exams. Sequence them well and each block of revision feeds the next. Sequence them badly and you waste a sitting, run down the clock, and end up cramming Flight Planning before you've understood the Meteorology and Navigation it depends on.
Here's how to build a sequence that works with the EASA rules instead of against them.
Before you plan an order, know the constraints. Exam administration for the EASA ATPL(A) theoretical knowledge exams is set out in Part-FCL, FCL.025, and the numbers are non-negotiable:
Read those again. Six sittings is generous; 18 months is not, if you start your clock before you're ready. The smart move is to group subjects so that each sitting is a coherent block you can revise together.
The 13 subjects fall into natural clusters. Revise and sit them together and the overlap does half your work.
Air Law (010), Human Performance and Limitations (040), Operational Procedures (070) and Communications (090) lean more on memory than on calculation. They build exam confidence early and share a lot of regulatory language. Communications draws directly on the radiotelephony and Air Law you've just learned.
General Navigation (061), Radio Navigation (062) and Meteorology (050) belong together. Meteorology feeds the wind, temperature and pressure problems you'll meet in General Navigation, and General Navigation gives you the track and plotting work that Radio Navigation assumes. Sit them in the same window and the concepts stay fresh across all three papers.
Principles of Flight (081), Aircraft General Knowledge (021), Instrumentation (022), Mass and Balance (031), Performance (032) and Flight Planning and Monitoring (033) form a chain. Principles of Flight explains the lift, drag and stall behaviour that Performance then quantifies. Mass and Balance feeds straight into Performance and Flight Planning. Leave Flight Planning until last in this block — it pulls together Meteorology, Navigation, Mass and Balance and Performance all at once.
Most students clear the 13 subjects comfortably in two or three sittings. Here's a clean three-sitting plan that respects the dependencies:
If your ATO splits the course into two sittings instead of three, keep the same logic: never sit Flight Planning before the Meteorology, Navigation and Mass and Balance it relies on.
A sitting is a resource. Don't waste one.
Get the order right and the 13 subjects stop feeling like 13 separate mountains. They become three connected ranges, each one easier because you've just climbed the last. Build your question practice around these blocks and sit each paper only when your scores say you're ready — that's how you pass first time, inside the window, at atpltraining.io.
Group subjects that reinforce each other: a foundation block (Air Law, Human Performance, Operational Procedures, Communications), a navigation block (Meteorology, General Navigation, Radio Navigation), and a technical block (Principles of Flight, Aircraft General Knowledge, Instrumentation, Mass and Balance, Performance, Flight Planning). Sit Flight Planning last, as it draws on the other subjects.
Under Part-FCL FCL.025 you have a maximum of six sittings and 18 months to pass all 13 theory subjects, with up to four attempts per subject and a 75% pass mark on each paper.
It's permitted but rarely wise. Splitting the subjects into two or three themed sittings lets you revise related papers together and keeps a sitting in reserve for any resit inside the 18-month window.
A completed set of ATPL theory passes is valid for 36 months for the issue of the associated CPL, IR or ATPL. If you don't gain the licence or rating within that time, the theory credit lapses.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
