Every FAA airman knowledge test in Los Angeles is delivered by PSI at an authorized knowledge testing center, and you book it yourself at faa.psiexams.com rather than through your flight school. The test costs approximately $175, paid to the testing center, and before you can sit it you need three things: an FAA Tracking Number from IACRA, an instructor endorsement, and acceptable photo identification. This page covers the booking process, the identification rules, how to find the centers nearest you, and what the day itself looks like.
If you have not yet studied for the exam, start with our guide to the private pilot written exam, which covers the subject areas and how to build a study plan, and our free 40-question practice test.
Three Things You Need Before You Can Book
An FAA Tracking Number
The FTN is the number that ties your test result to your airman record. You obtain it by registering for an account in IACRA, the FAA's Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application system, at iacra.faa.gov. Registration is free and takes a few minutes. Without an FTN the result cannot be attached to you, so this is the step to do first rather than on the morning of the test. Our page on the IACRA student pilot certificate walks through the same system if you have not used it before.
An Instructor Endorsement
14 CFR 61.35(a) requires an endorsement from an authorized instructor certifying that you have accomplished the appropriate ground training or home-study course for the certificate or rating sought and that you are prepared for the knowledge test. Your instructor writes it in your logbook. Some instructors will want to see consistent practice-test scores first, which is reasonable: the endorsement is a professional statement about your readiness, not a formality.
Acceptable Identification
61.35(a) also sets out what your identification must show: a photograph, your signature, and your date of birth, so that your age can be verified against the period in which the test report remains valid. If your permanent mailing address is a post office box, the identification must also show your current residential address. A current US driver's license normally satisfies all of this. A passport does not show a residential address, so bring a second document if you are relying on one.
How To Book Your Test At PSI
The FAA's testing page directs candidates to faa.psiexams.com. The process runs in this order.
- Create a PSI account and enter your FTN and your name exactly as it appears in IACRA. A mismatch between your IACRA name, your identification and your PSI registration is the single most common reason candidates are turned away at the door.
- Select the test. For a private pilot airplane candidate that is the Private Pilot Airplane knowledge test; for a sport pilot candidate it is the sport pilot equivalent. Each FAA test has its own code, and your instructor will tell you which one applies.
- Search for a testing center by postal code or city. The site lists the centers that hold current authorization, with the dates and times each has free.
- Choose a slot and pay. The fee is charged at booking.
- Read the confirmation carefully and note the arrival time, which is typically earlier than the test time, and the center's own rules about what may be brought into the room.
Book earlier than you think you need to. Popular Los Angeles centers fill up several weeks ahead, particularly at weekends, and the slot you can get often decides when your checkride can be scheduled. Our page on DPE checkride fees and wait times in Southern California covers the same problem at the next stage.
Finding A Testing Center Near You
We have deliberately not printed a list of Los Angeles testing centers on this page, and the reason is worth stating plainly: center authorizations change, locations open and close, and a list published today will be quietly wrong within a year. A page that tells you to drive to a center that no longer tests is worse than no page at all.
The authoritative list is the one inside the booking system, and it takes about a minute to read.
- Search from your own postal code in the PSI scheduling site rather than from central Los Angeles. Centers sit in ordinary office parks and training buildings across the Valley, the Westside, the South Bay and the Inland Empire, and the nearest one to Van Nuys is frequently not the one you would have guessed.
- Sort by the first available date, not only by distance. Driving 40 minutes to sit the test two weeks earlier is usually the better trade, because the knowledge test result gates everything after it.
- Check the center's own arrival and identification instructions in the booking confirmation. Individual centers add requirements, such as arriving 30 minutes early or leaving bags in a locker.
- Ask your instructor which centers our students have used recently. That is current knowledge rather than published knowledge, and it is free.
If you want help with this step, call us on (818) 330-1318 and we will talk you through where our students have been testing lately.
What The Test Itself Involves
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Delivered by | PSI, at authorized knowledge testing centers |
| Booked at | faa.psiexams.com |
| Fee | Approximately $175, paid to the testing center |
| Private pilot airplane test | 60 multiple-choice questions, 2 hours 30 minutes |
| Pass mark | 70 percent |
| Format | Computer-delivered, one question at a time, with the ability to mark and revisit |
| Supplied at the center | The FAA testing supplement with the figures, and scratch material |
| Result | Airman Knowledge Test Report, issued at the center, valid 24 calendar months |
What To Bring, And What To Leave In The Car
Bring your identification, your logbook or a copy of the endorsement, your FTN, and an approved calculator, plotter and flight computer if you use your own. Electronic flight computers must have their memory cleared, and the proctor may ask you to demonstrate that. The testing supplement containing the charts and figures is provided at the center, so do not bring your own copy.
Leave behind anything with notes on it. Personal study material, annotated kneeboards, phones and smart watches all stay outside the room. The rules on this are enforced strictly, and the consequence of breaking them is not a warning.
Your Result And What It Means
You leave the center with an Airman Knowledge Test Report showing your score and, if you missed any questions, a list of Airman Certification Standards codes for the subject areas involved. Keep that report safe. You must present it to the examiner at your practical test, and the examiner is expected to cover the coded areas during the oral, so the report is effectively a preview of part of your checkride.
The report is valid for 24 calendar months. You must pass the practical test inside that window or take the written again. That deadline is the reason we advise students not to sit the knowledge test until flight training is properly under way; passing it in month one of a training program that then stretches over two years is a wasted $175.
If you do not pass, you may retake the test after receiving additional ground training and a new endorsement from an authorized instructor certifying that you are prepared. There is no limit on the number of attempts, but each one carries the full fee, and a failed attempt appears on the record you hand the examiner.
Testing Near Van Nuys: The Practical Considerations
Three things matter more in Los Angeles than they would elsewhere, and all three are about traffic rather than aviation.
The first is the arrival time. Testing centers schedule tightly and a late arrival is usually a forfeited slot and a forfeited fee. If the center is across the basin from you, look at what the drive takes at that hour of that day rather than what a map says it takes at three in the morning. A 9 AM slot on the Westside from the Valley is a different drive from a 2 PM slot at the same address.
The second is the time of day you test well. The exam is two and a half hours of concentration, and for most people that is better done in the morning. If the only morning slot is far away and the afternoon slot is close, the morning slot is usually still the better booking.
The third is what you do straight afterwards. Students routinely plan a lesson for the same day and then find they are too cooked to fly well. Give yourself the rest of the day, and book the debrief for the day after, when you can go through the Airman Certification Standards codes on your test report with an instructor while they are still fresh.
Where Testing Fits In The Training Sequence
The order that works, in our experience with students at Van Nuys, is this. Start flying. Work through ground training alongside the flying rather than before it, because the two reinforce each other. Take practice tests from about the point you begin cross-country training. Get the endorsement and sit the knowledge test once you are consistently scoring in the mid-eighties. Then finish the flight training, do the three hours of test preparation required by 14 CFR 61.109(a)(4) within the two calendar months before the practical test, and take the checkride.
Two failure modes are common. Sitting the written far too early wastes the 24-month window. Leaving it until the flying is finished creates a delay of several weeks at exactly the point when the student is sharpest and most ready. Somewhere in the middle is right.
Related Reading
- Private pilot written exam — subject areas, endorsements, results and study planning.
- Private pilot written exam practice test — 40 free questions with explanations.
- Ground school in Los Angeles — structured ground instruction at $110 per hour.
- IACRA student pilot certificate — how to register and get your FTN.
- What to expect on an FAA checkride — the practical test the written leads to.
- Student pilot resources — every step of the paperwork, in order.
FAA Written Test In Los Angeles FAQ
Where Do You Take The FAA Written Test In Los Angeles?
At a PSI authorized knowledge testing center. Find and book one at faa.psiexams.com by searching from your own postal code; centers are spread across the Valley, the Westside, the South Bay and the Inland Empire, and the list inside the booking system is the only current one.
How Do You Schedule An FAA Knowledge Test?
Register an account at faa.psiexams.com using your FAA Tracking Number from IACRA and your name exactly as it appears there, select the test, search for a center, choose a slot and pay. You also need an instructor endorsement under 14 CFR 61.35(a) before you sit it.
How Much Does The FAA Written Test Cost?
Approximately $175, charged by the testing center at booking. It is not part of any flight school package and is not paid to us.
What Identification Do You Need For The FAA Written Test?
Identification showing a photograph, your signature and your date of birth. If your permanent mailing address is a post office box, it must also show your current residential address. A current US driver's license usually satisfies all of this; a passport alone does not show a residential address.
Do You Need An Endorsement To Take The FAA Written Test?
Yes. 14 CFR 61.35(a) requires an endorsement from an authorized instructor certifying that you have completed the appropriate ground training or home-study course and are prepared for the test.
How Long Does The Private Pilot Written Test Take?
Two hours and thirty minutes for 60 multiple-choice questions. Most candidates finish inside two hours, and the software lets you mark questions and return to them before submitting.
Can You Bring Your Own E6B Or Plotter?
Yes. Approved calculators, plotters and flight computers are permitted, and electronic flight computers must have their memory cleared before the test. The figures supplement is provided at the center, and no personal notes of any kind may enter the room.
How Long Is The Written Test Valid For?
The Airman Knowledge Test Report is valid for 24 calendar months, and the practical test must be passed within that window.
Get The Flying Done Around It
The written is a hurdle, not a destination, and it is the part of the certificate you can do from your sofa. The flying takes a schedule and an instructor. If you have not started, a discovery flight is $229 for 60 minutes, you fly it from the left seat, and enrolling within 24 hours credits it in full toward your course. If you are studying and want an instructor to review your practice-test results before endorsing you, book a free consultation or call (818) 330-1318 any day between 9 AM and 9 PM. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406, on Van Nuys Airport.