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FAQ > GroundSchool FAA Knowledge Test Prep
Approved Ground School?

For everything except for certain ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) certificates, there is no requirement to attend a formal, classroom-based ground school.

You may see a ground school course advertised at your local airport or community college. Such courses can be a nice way to meet interesting people and to get a direct point of contact to ask questions and explore ideas. However, for most certificates and ratings, including all Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, and Commercial Pilot certificates, there is absolutely no requirement to attend a formal, classroom ground school. You can do all the learning at home (or wherever) at your own schedule and pace using our test prep apps.

To take and pass an FAA knowledge (written) test you need only two things:

  • to have the knowledge in your head to take and pass the test
  • for many exams, an instructor "signoff" or signature.

The first one you can get, entirely, by using our test prep apps at home on your own time and at your own pace. This is part of what makes our apps so great. Get our app, study hard, learn not just the answers but also make sure you internalize our detailed explanations. Take several simulated practice tests using the app and score highly, and statistically speaking, you'll be all set with a very high chance of doing great.

For the second thing (the signoff) if you study hard using our prep, go to your local flight school and introduce yourself to an instructor. To any flight school or instructor, a well prepared student is like gold. Pretty much all flight schools and instructors will be thrilled to give a well prepared student an endorsement on the spot - it's quick and easy to do and for them it's good business since it opens the door to you being a customer / student of theirs. Getting such an endorsement really is a non-issue for pretty much everybody.

So - about those classroom-based ground schools. Necessary? No. Helpful sometimes? Yes. It's entirely your choice whether you want to attend one. Many classroom-based ground school instructors and classes use and recommend our test prep apps to help their students prepare for their tests. To such instructors / schools, we give a big thank you! This is a win-win combination in that this lets students study the 1000+ questions found in a typical FAA test efficiently on their own time while freeing up classroom time for questions and discussions on the finer points.