For students and CFIs engaged in the training process, knowing what to focus on in their training can help them improve their testing outcomes. The FAA knowledge tests provide codes to students with their missed question topic areas, but how do we know what the most common of these are?
We really don’t from FAA data. But over the past few years I have been running a website (www.FAATestCodeLookup.com) that let’s CFIs, students, or DPEs look up the codes on their tests. And capturing the reports.
For the first time, I finally dug into that data and determined the top 10 codes that show up on the knowledge tests. Here is what that data showed!
Most commonly missed Private Pilot knowledge test codes:
I had a pretty robust data set for the private pilot knowledge test reports, with 4219 individual data request that resulted in the following data.
The next chart shows exactly what percentage of the test reports those particular codes show up on as a “missed question” subject area, and the specific ACS code description associated with those codes.
Most commonly missed Instrument Rating knowledge test codes:
The data set for the instrument rating was smaller, but a generally good sampling again, with 1887 individual data requests that resulted in the following data.
The next chart shows exactly what percentage of the test reports those particular codes show up on as a “missed question” subject area,on the Instrument Rating knowledge test and the specific ACS code description associated with those codes.
Most commonly missed Commercial Pilot knowledge test codes:
The data set for the instrument rating was smaller, but a generally good sampling again, with 1527 individual data requests that resulted in the following data.
The next chart shows exactly what percentage of the test reports those particular codes show up on as a “missed question” subject area on the Commercial Pilot knowledge test, and the specific ACS code description associated with those codes.
Most commonly missed ATP knowledge test codes:
My data set on the ATP knowledge test based on requests was much smaller, with only 281 report requests, but this is what the data showed as the most common codes generated.
The next chart shows exactly what percentage of the test reports those particular codes show up on as a “missed question” subject area on the ATP knowledge test, and the specific ACS code description associated with those codes.
If you are taking any of these tests, or preparing your students for them, these subject areas might just be worth a little more study time. Covering them will give you a leg up on the competition when it comes to passing the test!
Data source for these data points compiled from data collected on:
