Find out what you need when sitting your pilot instructor rating exam including permitted materials and pass rates.
You have 2 hours to complete the exam to pass, you will need to get at least 75% of the marks.
These exams cost $189.53 each ($124.53 invigilator fee and $65 CASA fee).
Pre-qualifications and syllabus
Holding a valid Australian PPL, CPL or ATPL licence, of either aeroplane or helicopter category, is a pre-requisite for this exam.
If you do not hold an Australian PPL or CPL or ATPL licence or Certificate of Validation (CoV), then any pass obtained in this exam won’t be valid.
The exam will test your knowledge on the syllabus in Part 61 Manual of Standards (MOS) schedule 3.
Permitted materials
You may use either the Airservices or Jeppesen list of permitted materials.
You cannot use a combination of materials from both the Airservices list and the Jeppesen list.
Airservices list
- Part 61 of CASR
- CASR Part 61 Guide for aeroplane category flight crew licensing – Note 1
- CASR Part 61 Guide for helicopter category flight crew licensing – Note 1
Jeppesen list
- Part 61 of CASR
- CASR Part 61 Guide for aeroplane category flight crew licensing – Note 1
- CASR Part 61 Guide for helicopter category flight crew licensing – Note 1
Note 1: The Plain English Guides may not have current information. If you choose to use these documents, make sure you also have other materials to help with current laws and procedures.
These ‘guides’ include the following notice:
Disclaimer: The guide has been prepared by CASA for information purposes only, and while every effort has been made to ensure that the contents accurately conform to the civil aviation legislation, this guide is not the law. CASA accepts no liability for damages or liability of any kind resulting from its use. You should ensure you are using the most current version of the guide, which can be found on the CASA website.
Your invigilator will give you some things before the exam, which you must hand back at the end. These include:
- pen
- pencil
- ruler
- eraser
- scribble pad.
Pass rates
You can see how candidates performed in their PIRC exam.
| Year | 0 - 54% | 55 - 59% | 60 - 64% | 65 - 69% | 70 - 74% | 75 - 79% | 80+% | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 0.37 | 0.73 | 2.94 | 3.85 | 14.85 | 14.68 | 62.57 | 77.25% |
| 2021 | 0.00 | 1.35 | 2.16 | 5.66 | 12.94 | 14.56 | 63.34 | 77.90% |
| 2022 | 0.45 | 0.68 | 2.25 | 2.25 | 15.09 | 13.96 | 65.32 | 79.28% |
| 2023 | 0.62 | 0.82 | 2.05 | 4.31 | 16.22 | 17.45 | 58.52 | 75.98% |
| 2024 | 0.58 | 0.58 | 2.32 | 5.41 | 13.90 | 17.37 | 59.85 | 77.22% |
| 2025 | 0.54 | 0.90 | 2.17 | 5.61 | 14.65 | 16.09 | 60.04 | 76.13% |
Check the results of candidates from previous years.
Common errors
The following areas have been weak areas for candidates:
- requirements for Part 141 / 142 operators
- adult learning issues
- performance based outcomes
- questioning techniques.
7 May 2026