English is the language of the aviation industry. All over the world, regulations, aeronautical information and aircraft manuals are written in English. And the people who work in the aviation industry, wherever they are from, talk to each other in English.

Pilot training is very intensive – there is a lot to learn in a short time. During your course, you will read textbooks and other documents, you will listen to and talk with instructors, other students and training support staff, and you will complete exams, all in English. If your English isn’t good enough, you may struggle in your exams, or your instructors may ask you to repeat or even stop your training. Therefore, it’s important to have the right level of English from the start so you can learn quickly and avoid expensive delays.

In your practical training, when you start flying the aircraft, you will talk to your flight instructors in a noisy cockpit, and you will speak to air traffic controllers on the radio. So English is not only a key to successful training - it is also necessary for your safety, and for the safety of the people around you.

Before you begin your training, it’s a good idea to take an aviation English test (your flight school may ask you to do this!) A good test will help you understand if you are ready to begin flight training, and if you are not ready, what sort of language training you need to do.

We understand that pilot training is expensive, and that learning aviation English is an additional cost. But language training and testing is a very small part of your overall training fees – less than 0.5% of the price of a typical pilot training course. It is worth making this small investment now: You will need to achieve a minimum level of English (known as ICAO level 4) to get a job as a pilot when you finish training, and you will use English all the way through your future career in aviation. Remember: English will not only help you learn to fly – it is a skill for life.

If you are interested in studying our online aviation English course before or during flight school then visit our website for more information.