ACS, PTS & Oral Exam Guides

The Airman Certification Standards (ACS) adds Knowledge, Risk Management, and Skills elements to every task, while the older Practical Test Standards (PTS) only defines flight-proficiency performance metrics. The ACS has replaced the PTS for most certificates, though a few ratings still operate under the PTS during the conversion.

Most pilots use both. The ACS is the FAA standard your examiner grades you against and serves as your line-by-line roadmap, while an oral exam guide from ASA or Gleim reframes that standard as the questions a designated pilot examiner is likely to ask, so you can rehearse your answers aloud.

The FAA-G-ACS-2 is the FAA companion document that explains how the Airman Certification Standards are organized and applied across certificates and ratings. It is bundled with our current FAA ACS guides for the Private, Instrument, Commercial, and Flight Instructor certificates so you have the standard and its explanation together.

Work through the ACS task by task and be ready to discuss each element for two to three minutes, then use a matching oral exam guide to practice the question-and-answer format. Many pilots also run a mock oral with a neutral instructor to surface weak areas before the real checkride.

The initial CFI checkride is widely considered the hardest oral. A Private Pilot oral often runs about one and a half to two hours, while an initial CFI oral can run three to five hours because you must teach and defend each subject, not just answer questions, which demands much deeper knowledge.

Bring the current ACS or PTS for your rating, a FAR/AIM, current weather and NOTAMs, your logbook with endorsements, your aircraft documents, and a completed cross-country flight plan if required. Confirm the exact list with your examiner ahead of time, since requirements vary by certificate and aircraft.