Exam guide

Research Summary

• Verified from primary FAA, eCFR and PSI sources in September 2026. Every figure below is traceable to a document in the bibliography.

Exam Structure

• •Test code UAG, "Unmanned Aircraft General — Small". It is the aeronautical knowledge test required by 14 CFR 107.61(d)(1) for a Remote Pilot Certificate with a small UAS rating.
• •60 scored questions plus 5 unscored validation questions, so 65 items are presented and 60 count.
• •120 minutes (2.0 hours) total, which includes the time for the validation questions. That is about 1 minute 50 seconds per item.
• •Multiple choice with three options, A through C, one correct. Questions are independent of one another.
• •Delivered by computer at PSI test centers, year round, by appointment.
• •Passing score is 70 percent of the 60 scored questions, which is 42 correct.
• •Source: FAA Airman Knowledge Testing Matrix, 22 October 2025; PSI UAG Applicant Information Bulletin effective 29 September 2025.

Knowledge Areas And Weighting

• •The FAA replaced the weighting printed in its own Airman Certification Standards on 29 September 2025, after an industry-wide job task analysis. The percentage table in FAA-S-ACS-10B Appendix 1 is obsolete; the live blueprint is published in the PSI applicant bulletin.
• •I. Regulations — 48 percent, about 29 of 60 questions. Previously 15 to 25 percent.
• •II. Airspace Classification and Operating Requirements — 20 percent, about 12 questions. Previously 15 to 25 percent.
• •III. Weather — 5 percent, about 3 questions. Previously 11 to 16 percent.
• •IV. Loading and Performance — 2 percent, 1 to 2 questions. Previously 7 to 11 percent.
• •V. Operations — 25 percent, about 15 questions. Previously 35 to 45 percent.
• •The subject matter did not change, only how much of each is sampled. A study plan built on the old ACS table over-invests in weather and loading by a factor of three and under-invests in the regulations by about half.
• •FAA-S-ACS-10B, April 2021, still defines the five Areas of Operation and their 17 Tasks, and still supplies the ACS codes. There is no FAA-S-ACS-10C.
• •Source: FAA Airman Testing Community Advisory, August 2025; PSI UAG Applicant Information Bulletin.

Scoring And The Test Report

• •You leave the test center with a printed Airman Knowledge Test Report carrying the score, your FAA Tracking Number, a 17-digit Exam ID, and an ACS code for every knowledge element you missed.
• •ACS codes read UA.I.B.K10 — prefix, Area of Operation, Task, knowledge element — so a failed report names exactly what to restudy.
• •A passing report is valid 24 calendar months for applying for the certificate.
• •Fail and you wait 14 calendar days before retesting, under 14 CFR 107.71. The proctor collects and destroys the failed report, which serves as the retest authorization. No instructor endorsement is needed either time.

Pass Rates

• •Calendar year 2025: 73,914 UAG sittings, 82.96 percent pass rate, 79.31 percent average score.
• •Calendar year 2024: 67,576 sittings, 84.20 percent pass rate, 79.95 percent average score.
• •The all-test average across 293,516 FAA knowledge tests in 2025 was 89.56 percent, so UAG is harder than the typical FAA written.
• •The average passer clears the 70 percent cut by five or six questions. These are sittings rather than people, so retakes are counted and the eventual per-candidate pass rate is higher.
• •Source: FAA CY2025 and CY2024 Airman Knowledge Test Volume Reports.

What The Test Center Supplies

• •You bring nothing into the room. The proctor supplies the testing supplement, numbered blank scratch paper, and a writing instrument on request, and collects the supplement afterwards.
• •The supplement is FAA-CT-8080-2H, Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement for Sport Pilot, Recreational Pilot, Remote Pilot, and Private Pilot, 2018. Legend 1, the sectional chart legend, is the page that matters most.
• •Allowed: aviation-oriented calculators, simple arithmetic calculators, scales, straightedges, protractors, plotters, and mechanical navigation computers such as an E6B. Memory must be erasable and must be cleared in front of the proctor before and after.
• •Prohibited: any other written, printed or electronic material, dictionaries, devices with non-erasable memory, and instruction booklets for any permitted aid. Personal belongings go into storage outside the room.
• •Source: FAA Order 8080.6H, Conduct of Airman Knowledge Tests.

What Changes On 27 October 2026

• •From that date the UAG test includes image-based questions with sectional chart images embedded in the question itself, taken from current charts rather than from the printed supplement, and not previewable beforehand.
• •The supplement stays in test centers until the FAA sets a removal date, which it has not.
• •Question count, time, passing score and content weights are unchanged. Sectional reading has to be a general skill from that date rather than practice against a fixed set of numbered figures.
• •Source: FAA Airman Testing Community Advisory, June 2026.

Eligibility

• •To sit the test: 14 years old. To hold the certificate: 16 years old, per 14 CFR 107.61(a).
• •Able to read, speak, write and understand English.
• •No known physical or mental condition that would interfere with the safe operation of a small UAS.
• •No medical certificate is required anywhere in 14 CFR part 107 subpart C.

Registration And Cost

• •Step one is an IACRA profile at iacra.faa.gov, which issues your FAA Tracking Number. PSI validates only the FTN, first name and last name as they appear in IACRA, so fix any mismatch in IACRA rather than at PSI.
• •Step two is registering, scheduling and paying at faa.psiexams.com.
• •The fee is 175 dollars per attempt. It is a vendor charge, not a federal fee — no dollar figure for the knowledge test appears in 14 CFR — so confirm it when you book. A retest costs the full amount again.
• •Free at Joint Service Aviation Maintenance Technician Certification Council locations for active duty, guard and reserve members, their dependents, military retirees, and DoD or DHS civilians.
• •Identification must show, between all documents presented, a photo, date of birth, signature and physical residential address. A P.O. box, rural route, flight school or employer address is not accepted, which is why a U.S. passport on its own is not enough. Applicants under 18 without acceptable identification may be attested for by a parent or guardian presenting their own.
• •Appointments can be rescheduled or cancelled for a full refund up to 24 hours beforehand.

After You Pass

• •File FAA Form 8710-13 in IACRA using the 17-digit Exam ID, which can take up to 48 hours to appear.
• •Clear the TSA security background check. You then receive an email with instructions for printing a temporary certificate.
• •14 CFR 107.64 caps the temporary certificate at 120 calendar days, which is the effective ceiling on how long the permanent card can take to arrive.
• •The certificate must be easily accessible during all operations. After an address change you may not exercise its privileges more than 30 days without notifying the FAA, per 14 CFR 107.77(c).

Staying Current

• •The certificate itself never expires. What lapses is the privilege of acting as remote pilot in command.
• •14 CFR 107.65 requires, within the previous 24 calendar months, the initial knowledge test, the free online course ALC-677, or ALC-515 for part 107 holders who are also part 61 pilots with a current flight review.
• •The UGR recurrent knowledge test was withdrawn on 6 April 2021. There is no recurrent test, no application and no fee — just the free course.

If You Already Hold A Pilot Certificate

• •A part 61 certificate holder other than a student pilot, with a flight review current within 24 calendar months, takes the free FAASTeam course ALC-451 instead of the UAG test, covering the eight subject areas of 14 CFR 107.74.
• •That list is shorter than the 13 areas of 14 CFR 107.73: it drops airspace, radio procedures, physiology, aeronautical decision-making and airport operations.
• •Identity is then verified and the application signed at a Flight Standards District Office, or by a designated pilot examiner, an airman certification representative, or a certificated flight instructor. A CFI cannot issue a temporary certificate, so use one of the other three if you want to fly immediately.

Aircraft Registration And Remote ID

• •Every aircraft flown under part 107 must be registered individually, 5 dollars, valid three years, with the unique identifier legibly displayed on an external surface. 14 CFR 48.30, 48.100 and 48.205.
• •The 0.55-pound registration exemption in 14 CFR 48.15 applies only to recreational flying under 49 U.S.C. 44809. Part 107 has no weight floor: a 100-gram drone flown commercially must be registered.
• •Since 16 September 2023, 14 CFR 89.105 requires Remote ID by one of three routes: a standard Remote ID aircraft, a broadcast module, or flight inside an FAA-Recognized Identification Area. Both the module and the FRIA route require that you see the aircraft at all times. ADS-B Out is not a substitute.
• •The cash floor for a first-time commercial drone pilot in 2026 is 180 dollars: 175 for the test and 5 for one aircraft. Currency after that is free.

Study Resources

• •The regulatory text itself is the highest-yield material under the 48 percent Regulations weight: 14 CFR part 107 subparts A through E, part 89, and part 48, read from the eCFR.
• •FAA-S-ACS-10B, the Remote Pilot Airman Certification Standards, April 2021 — the map of what is tested, Area by Area and Task by Task.
• •AC 107-2A, 1 February 2021, editorially updated 26 May 2022 — the FAA's own explanation of part 107.
• •FAA-H-8083-25 Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, FAA-H-8083-2 Risk Management Handbook, and the Aeronautical Information Manual.
• •FAA-G-8082-22, the Remote Pilot Study Guide, is still the original August 2016 edition. It predates operations over people, Remote ID and routine night operations and covers none of them.
• •The FAA's one official practice artifact is the 46-question UAG Sample Questions PDF dated 10 August 2021, each item tagged with its ACS code. The interactive practice test now sits behind the PSI login, and the FAA does not release live questions.
• •Everything above is free from faa.gov.

References used in this site

262 sources cited across the question bank.