How the FAA Part 107 test works: 60 questions, 120 minutes, 70 percent

The FAA Part 107 knowledge test is the written exam you pass to become a certificated remote pilot, the certificate that lets you fly a small drone for work. It is a 60-question, two-hour, multiple-choice test taken at a commercial test center, and 70 percent is passing. This guide explains how the test is built, who can take it, how to schedule it, what the score report tells you, and what keeps the certificate valid afterward. Every figure here comes from 14 CFR Part 107, the FAA's Airman Certification Standards, or the test administrator's own bulletin.

The format: 60 scored questions, 5 unscored, 120 minutes

The test the FAA calls "Unmanned Aircraft General, Small," with the test code UAG, is delivered by PSI at FAA-approved Knowledge Testing Centers. According to PSI's information bulletin for the UAG, effective 29 September 2025, the test has 60 scored questions plus 5 unscored validation questions, a 120-minute time limit, and a 70 percent passing score. All questions are multiple choice with three answer options, which is one fewer than most certification exams. The validation questions are new items the FAA is evaluating; they are mixed in with the scored ones and you are not told which they are, so treat every question as if it counts.

Three options instead of four changes the arithmetic of guessing, but it also changes the kind of distractor you see. FAA items tend to put two plausible regulatory numbers next to the correct one: the manned-aircraft cloud clearance next to the Part 107 figure, the old daylight-only rule next to the current night rule. Knowing the number is not enough; you need to know which rule set the number belongs to.

No instructor endorsement is required for the Part 107 test. That is a real difference from most FAA knowledge tests, and it is why Part 107 is open to people who have never been near a flight school.

What the test covers: five areas and the 2025 weights

Regulation 14 CFR 107.73 lists the thirteen subjects an initial knowledge test and recurrent training must cover: applicable regulations, airspace classification and operating requirements, aviation weather sources and effects, small unmanned aircraft loading, emergency procedures, crew resource management, radio communication procedures, determining performance, the physiological effects of drugs and alcohol, aeronautical decision-making and judgment, airport operations, maintenance and preflight inspection, and operation at night.

The FAA organizes those subjects into five Areas of Operation in the Remote Pilot Airman Certification Standards (FAA-S-ACS-10B, effective April 2021). Each area is broken into tasks, and each task into numbered knowledge elements with codes like UA.I.B.K21b. Those codes matter because your score report lists the codes of the questions you missed.

The weights changed on 29 September 2025. Based on a 2025 job task analysis, the FAA moved the test heavily toward regulations. The current distribution, published in PSI's bulletin, is:

Before that date, the ACS showed ranges such as 15 to 25 percent for airspace, 11 to 16 percent for weather, and 35 to 45 percent for operations. Older prep material still teaches to those ranges. If your course spends a third of its time on weather theory, it is preparing you for the old test. Nearly half of the current test is the regulation itself: Part 107, the over-people categories in Subpart D, Remote ID in Part 89, and registration in Part 48.

Who can take the test

Eligibility is set by 14 CFR 107.61. To be eligible for a remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating, you must be at least 16 years old; be able to read, speak, write, and understand English (the FAA can place operating limitations on the certificate if a medical reason prevents one of these); not know or have reason to know of a physical or mental condition that would interfere with safe operation of a small unmanned aircraft system; and demonstrate aeronautical knowledge by one of two routes.

The first route is passing the initial aeronautical knowledge test. The second is for people who already hold a pilot certificate issued under Part 61 (other than a student pilot certificate) and meet the flight review requirement of 14 CFR 61.56; they complete training covering the knowledge areas in 107.74 instead of testing. That training is a free online course. Everyone else takes the test.

There is no medical certificate for Part 107 and no minimum flight experience, because the test is about knowledge. The practical skills of flying the aircraft are your responsibility under the rules, not something the FAA examines.

Scheduling: the FAA Tracking Number, IACRA, and PSI

The scheduling steps, in order, as the FAA describes them on its Become a Drone Pilot page:

1. Create an account in IACRA, the FAA's Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application system, to get an FAA Tracking Number (FTN). You need the FTN before you can book a test.
2. Schedule the UAG test at an FAA-approved Knowledge Testing Center through PSI. Bring a government-issued photo ID that shows your name, date of birth, and signature; test centers also check that your IACRA profile matches your ID.
3. Take the test. PSI provides the reference figures the questions use, either in a printed supplement or embedded in the question, so you do not bring charts or calculators of your own unless the center allows them.
4. After passing, complete FAA Form 8710-13 in IACRA for the remote pilot certificate. Your test results appear in IACRA within about 48 hours of testing, and you attach them to the application.
5. The application goes through TSA security vetting. Once it clears, you receive a temporary certificate by email, and the permanent card follows by mail.

The FAA does not publish a fee for the test. The fee is set by the test center, and centers commonly quote about 175 dollars. Confirm the current amount with the specific PSI location when you book. There is no FAA fee for the certificate application itself.

What the score report tells you

A passing score is 70 percent of the scored questions, which is 42 of 60. You see your result at the test center. The score report also lists the ACS knowledge codes for the questions you missed. That list is useful even if you passed, because the recurrent training two years later covers the same areas, and it is the only feedback you get on where your understanding was thin.

If you do not pass, you retake the test; the FAA's general knowledge test rules apply to the wait and the retest procedure, and the test center can explain the current retake process when you schedule. Because the codes on the report map directly to ACS tasks, a failed attempt gives you a precise study list rather than a vague instruction to review everything.

After you pass: recency and recurrent training

Passing the test once is not enough to keep flying indefinitely. Under 14 CFR 107.65, you may not exercise the privileges of a remote pilot in command unless, within the previous 24 calendar months, you have done one of the following: passed the initial aeronautical knowledge test, completed recurrent training covering the 107.73 knowledge areas, or, for Part 61 pilots with a current flight review, completed the 107.74 training.

"Calendar months" is an FAA term with a specific meaning: a test passed on 10 March 2026 keeps you current through 31 March 2028, not 10 March 2028.

The recurrent requirement used to be a second knowledge test. That changed in April 2021. The FAA Safety Team put the recurrent training online ahead of the 21 April 2021 effective date of the updated rule, and the recurrent knowledge test ended. Remote pilots who are not Part 61 pilots take the online course "Part 107 Small UAS Recurrent, Non-Part 61 Pilots" (course ALC-677); it is free, it ends with a short quiz you can retake, and completion renews your 24-month window. The FAA also made completing the updated training a condition for flying at night: 14 CFR 107.29 requires that the remote pilot in command have completed the initial test or training under 107.65 after 6 April 2021 before operating at night.

The certificate itself does not expire and does not need to be renewed. What lapses is your currency. If more than 24 calendar months pass, you simply complete the recurrent training before your next flight as remote pilot in command.

How to prepare for a test that is half regulations

Because the Regulations area carries 48 percent of the questions, the single highest-value study activity is reading Part 107 itself. It is short, about 60 sections, and the questions turn on the numbers and conditions written in it: the 55-pound definition of a small unmanned aircraft, the 400-foot and 87-knot limits in 107.51, the 3-statute-mile visibility and the 500-foot-below, 2,000-foot-horizontal cloud clearance, the 10-day accident reporting rule in 107.9, the 8-hour and 0.04 alcohol limits incorporated from 91.17, the anti-collision light visible for 3 statute miles in 107.29, and the four categories of operations over people in Subpart D.

For the Airspace area, learn the sectional chart symbols from the FAA's Aeronautical Chart User's Guide and know which airspace classes require authorization under 107.41: Class B, C, and D, and the surface area of Class E designated for an airport. Questions in this area usually show a chart excerpt and ask what a symbol means, what the floor of an airspace shelf is, or whether a flight at a given spot needs authorization.

The Operations area draws on the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and Advisory Circular 107-2A: the five hazardous attitudes and their antidotes, scanning technique, how to handle a lost link, lithium battery handling, and what a preflight inspection must cover under 107.49.

Weather and loading together are about 7 percent, so study them, but in proportion. Know how to decode a METAR and a TAF, what density altitude does to performance, and how load factor rises in a turn. Three or four questions is still three or four questions.

Study All's practice questions for this test are written from these public sources, carry the ACS code for every item, and use the FAA's three-option format, so the practice feels like the test. Start with the free set, then work through the full bank by area in the order the test weights them.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions are on the Part 107 test?

The Part 107 knowledge test has 60 scored multiple-choice questions plus 5 unscored validation questions, 65 in total. You are not told which five are unscored. The time limit is 120 minutes.

What is the passing score on the Part 107 test?

Seventy percent of the scored questions, which is 42 correct out of 60. The score report lists the ACS codes for every missed question.

How much does the Part 107 test cost?

The FAA does not set or publish the fee; the test center does. Test centers commonly quote about 175 dollars. The certificate application has no FAA fee, and the recurrent training is free.

Do you need a pilot's license to take the Part 107 test?

No. The test exists for people who are not manned-aircraft pilots. Part 61 pilots with a current flight review can take free online training instead of the test.

How long is a Part 107 certificate good for?

The certificate does not expire, but under 14 CFR 107.65 you must have passed the test or completed recurrent training within the previous 24 calendar months to act as remote pilot in command. The recurrent training is a free online course, and since April 2021 there is no recurrent test.