EASA ATPL theory consists of 13 written exams, one per subject, covering everything from Air Law to Communications. Each exam is multiple-choice, drawn from the European Central Question Bank (ECQB), and requires a minimum score of 75% to pass. This guide explains every subject — its code, what it covers, the exam format — and how to plan your study around the ECQB 2026 syllabus.
Before the subjects themselves, the rules of the game:
With that framework in mind, here are the 13 subjects in syllabus order.
Exam: 40 questions · 60 minutes. The legal framework of international aviation: ICAO conventions, EASA regulations, Air Traffic Services, aerodromes, search and rescue, and accident investigation. Mostly memorisation — definitions, separation minima, and licence privileges — which makes it a popular first exam and one of the more approachable subjects.
Exam: 80 questions · 120 minutes. The largest subject by syllabus volume. Covers airframe structures, hydraulics, fuel systems, pressurisation, ice and rain protection, fire protection, oxygen systems, electrics, and both piston and turbine engines. The breadth is the challenge here: plan more study hours for 021 than for any other subject.
Exam: 60 questions · 90 minutes. Flight instruments and avionics: pitot-static instruments, altimeters, ASI, VSI, gyroscopic instruments, ADI, HSI, magnetism and compasses, navigation systems, and warning and recording systems. Expect conceptual questions about instrument errors and failure modes rather than pure recall.
Exam: 25 questions · 60 minutes. A short, numerical exam: aircraft weighing, centre-of-gravity calculations, load sheets, forward and aft limits, loading, zero fuel weight, and maximum take-off and landing weights. Almost every question is a calculation, so accuracy and speed with the load-sheet method are what you train for.
Exam: 35 questions · 60 minutes. Aircraft performance through every phase of flight: take-off and landing distances, climb and descent performance, engine-failure scenarios, en-route performance, and obstacle clearance. Heavy use of graphs and tables from the exam annexes — practising chart-reading under time pressure pays off directly.
Exam: 43 questions · 120 minutes. Practical route planning: ICAO and ATC flight plans, fuel planning, alternate selection, en-route planning, ETOPS, and the North Atlantic track system. Together with General Navigation it is one of the most workload-intensive exams — long, multi-step calculations where one early mistake cascades.
Exam: 50 questions · 75 minutes. The human side of flying: flight physiology, hypoxia, hyperventilation, spatial disorientation, vision, stress, fatigue, decision making, and crew resource management. Generally considered one of the most straightforward subjects, but do not under-prepare — the syllabus is wide and the questions can be subtly worded.
Exam: 84 questions · 120 minutes. The biggest exam by question count: the atmosphere, temperature, pressure, wind, clouds, precipitation, icing, thunderstorms, METAR and TAF weather reports, and significant weather charts. Meteorology mixes theory with chart interpretation and is consistently ranked among the hardest ATPL subjects.
Exam: 60 questions · 120 minutes. Great-circle and rhumb-line navigation, map projections, time, compasses, dead reckoning, GPS, inertial navigation, and RNAV. General Navigation has the lowest pass rates of all 13 subjects — the mathematics is not advanced, but the time pressure is severe. Train every question type until the methods are automatic.
Exam: 66 questions · 90 minutes. Radio navigation aids and surveillance: VOR, NDB, ADF, ILS, DME, MLS, GNSS, radar, transponders, TCAS/ACAS, and hyperbolic systems. A blend of theory (frequencies, ranges, errors) and applied questions (interpreting bearings and radials).
Exam: 45 questions · 75 minutes. Day-to-day airline operations: noise abatement, wake turbulence, fuel and oil requirements, emergency procedures, RVSM, MNPS, windshear, ATIS, SIGMET, and NOTAMs. Overlaps usefully with Air Law and Meteorology, so many candidates schedule it in a later sitting where that cross-knowledge compounds.
Exam: 44 questions · 60 minutes. Aerodynamics from first principles: aerofoil theory, drag, stall, spin, stability and control, high-speed flight, swept wings, compressibility, and propellers. The most conceptual of the 13 subjects — if you understand why an aircraft behaves as it does, the questions answer themselves; pure memorisation tends to fail here.
Exam: 34 questions · 45 minutes. Since ECQB 2020, VFR and IFR Communications are combined into a single subject: VHF communication, frequency management, SELCAL, ACARS, radiotelephony procedures, IFR phraseology, emergency procedures, and CPDLC. The shortest exam, usually treated as a low-risk addition to any sitting.
A structure that works for most self-study and distance-learning candidates:
Most candidates complete all 13 exams in 9 to 14 months alongside other commitments; full-time students can compress that to around 6 months.
ATPL Training combines all of this — a 28,000+ question ECQB 2026-aligned bank, structured lessons for all 13 subjects, a real-conditions exam simulator, spaced-repetition review, and AI explanations on every question — in one subscription from €9.90/month. See plans and pricing.
There are 13 EASA ATPL theory exams, one per subject: Air Law (010), Airframe & Systems (021), Instrumentation (022), Mass & Balance (031), Performance (032), Flight Planning & Monitoring (033), Human Performance & Limitations (040), Meteorology (050), General Navigation (061), Radio Navigation (062), Operational Procedures (070), Principles of Flight (081), and Communications (090).
The pass mark is 75% in every subject. Each exam must be passed individually — there is no averaging between subjects.
Under EASA FCL.025 you may attempt each subject a maximum of 4 times, within a maximum of 6 examination sittings overall, and you must pass all 13 exams within 18 months counted from the end of the calendar month of your first exam attempt.
General Navigation (061) consistently has the lowest pass rates and is widely considered the hardest subject, mainly because of severe time pressure on multi-step calculations. Meteorology (050) and Flight Planning & Monitoring (033) are also regarded as among the most demanding.
Most candidates studying alongside work or flight training complete all 13 exams in 9 to 14 months. Full-time ground-school students typically finish in around 6 months. All exams must in any case be completed within the 18-month regulatory window once you start.
The ECQB (European Central Question Bank) is the official EASA database from which all certified ATPL exam questions are drawn. The 2026 update introduced significant syllabus revisions and reworded large parts of the bank, so study materials and question banks need to be explicitly aligned to ECQB 2026 to reflect the real exams.
Yes — many candidates pass all 13 exams through distance learning. You must still be enrolled with an Approved Training Organisation (ATO) to sit the official exams, but the study itself can be done entirely online with structured lessons, a question bank, and an exam simulator.
28,000+ ECQB 2026-aligned questions, lessons for all 13 subjects, and a real-conditions exam simulator — from €9.90/month.
