FAA airman knowledge tests
·Updated August 2026
Every FAA written maps to free, public-domain FAA handbooks — the PHAK, the Instrument Flying Handbook, the Aviation Instructor's Handbook. exclam.ai sequences the right handbooks for your test into a dated daily plan with quizzes that trace back to the page.
Question counts and times from the FAA Airman Knowledge Testing Matrix; volumes and pass rates from the FAA CY2025 AKT Volume Report.
50 questions · 1.5 hours · CY2025 pass rate 99.07% · 14,846 tests
3 free FAA source documents · ~25h weighted plan
60 questions · 2.0 hours · CY2025 pass rate 94.38% · 27,143 tests
5 free FAA source documents · ~66h weighted plan
100 questions · 2.5 hours · CY2025 pass rate 99.17% · 20,530 tests
5 free FAA source documents · ~55h weighted plan
100 questions · 2.5 hours · CY2025 pass rate 95.35% · 14,736 tests
5 free FAA source documents · ~65h weighted plan
Preparing for the private written (PAR)? The same handbooks apply — upload the PHAK and Airplane Flying Handbook and exclam.ai builds the plan; a dedicated PAR page is coming.
FAA handbooks and the ACS are U.S. government works — free to download, free to study. The questions are written against these exact PDFs.
Private→commercial shares ~86% of material; instrument is ~88% new; FOI is its own world. exclam.ai weights the reading to what is actually new for your test.
Generated quizzes cite the handbook page they come from. No mystery question banks — when you miss, you read the source.
Pilots climb PAR → IRA → CAX. Instructor candidates add FOI and FIA, usually together — the FOI is the short learning-theory test and the FIA re-tests commercial airplane knowledge from the teaching seat.
Every question maps to a knowledge element in the FAA Airman Certification Standards, and every element cites the free FAA handbooks. Paid courses summarize these same public-domain PDFs.
Measured from the ACS documents: private and commercial share ~86% of knowledge material, the instrument written is ~88% new, and the FOI is ~99% disjoint from all pilot writtens. Study plans should be weighted accordingly — that is exactly what exclam.ai composes.
70% on every FAA airman knowledge test, without exception. Test results are valid for 24 calendar months for the corresponding practical test.
Pick your test, and exclam.ai turns the free FAA handbooks into a dated daily plan with source-linked practice.
Preparing for more than one exam? exclam.ai works across every major professional credential. Your flashcard history, spaced repetition data, and study preferences carry across verticals in a single account.