Average Score on Knowledge Test

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Randall45

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Randall
What is the average score on the PPL knowledge test. Of course there is no official words on percentiles, etc.

Just curious. I got a 90 and my CFI didn't seem too thrilled. And how heavily do the examiners look at the score of the knowledge test?
 
You over studied by 20%.

Seriously, your CFI is not happy with 90%? If I was a CFI, I'd be satisfied with that and ready to review the missed items to help the student understand the question and what was missed.
 
Hah! Good one.

On that note, why is the knowledge test pass cutoff 70%? A bit low?

Are you suggesting that the stuff it tests is perhaps...not 100% germane to good flying?

And don't worry about the CFI...he's not the happy type. Great instructor...just not happy.
 
90% is a good score. The examiners can look skeptical if you come in with a 100% on the written, because it can look like you didn't actually learn the material you just memorized all the answers. Its not bad to know the answers for the written test but its important to make sure you understand the material.

PS: be happy with a 90% its not a bad score :goofy:
 
Did you do the self study for the test,or use the CFI for ground school? Don't see anything wrong with a score of 90% .good luck on the flight test.
 
Just for the record, I figured a 90 was a fine score. I just wanted to ensure the average wasn't a 98.

Good point on memorization versus understanding!

And I wish there were a ground school for me! I bought the Gleim prep book, read it through, took the test. At times this was incredibly tedious and I would have preferred a classroom setting. Oh well...
 
I was told the worse you do on the written, the harder the DPE will grill you.
90 is good IMO.
 
90 is a great score. I got a 94, but I had my Canadian license 34 years previously.
 
asgcpa said:
90 is a great score. I got a 94, but I had my Canadian license 34 years previously.
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Still really good. Written is a bit of rote memorization IMO.
34 year lapse and still got a 94? That's great!
 
I made a 90 something on my PPL written too...and my examiner rewarded me with a 3 hour oral and asked me everything.

It doesn't matter really. I think anything in the 80's and up is going to be fine. If you barely pass it might raise and eyebrow and same thing for getting a 100. But I don't think the examiners really pay that much attention to it.

The lady who ran my school had been a DPE. She told me she knew in the first 10 minutes if the person was going to pass the oral and her gut was about 98% right - it didn't matter what they got on the written.
 
Bravo for the 94--good memory!

And you all make good points. The written is an important constituent, but it's hardly the litmus test for success.
 
Magic 8 Ball said:
I was told the worse you do on the written, the harder the DPE will grill you.
90 is good IMO.
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I haven't been an examiner for a good many years now, but back in the olden days all we needed to see was a passing grade. Of course, we were expected to dig into the areas that the applicant did not do too well on, but that was hardly grilling.

Bob Gardner
 
Ryanb said:
90% is a good score. The examiners can look skeptical if you come in with a 100% on the written, because it can look like you didn't actually learn the material you just memorized all the answers.
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I can't remember my exact score, but I only missed one question. The DPE definitely played stump the chump with me, it was a very thorough verbal. He didn't relent until he found a handful of things I didn't know.
 
Know of a pilot that scored 98or96 on private & almost as well on instrument. But I wouldn't fly around the pattern with him on a calm clear day. He will be a smoking hole at some time because he thinks his book smarts makes him a competent pilot. Congrats on 90 , now go fly.
 
Anything over 70 is wasted effort :)

I've never scored lower than the mid 90's however.
 
90 is fine. I think I got around a 90. High 80's for the IR and 90 on the Commercial
 
I think there are two camps of students and therefore two scales that constitute a 'Good' score.

One camp studies the material and learns as much as they can. They talk with their CFI, maybe attend a ground school, go online, read many many books, etc.

The other camp buys a big red book with all the questions and answers verbatim.

So, what's a 'good' score? In my book if you're in the first camp I'd say 80% or better would be respectable. If you're in the second camp I'd say 95% or better would be okay. Personally, I'd rather fly with a guy who scored a 70 from the first camp than someone who aced the test from the second camp.

YMMV
 
I am in the first camp and still managed 90's.

Got my Private with a conventional "jeppesen sanderson" filmstrip enhanced ground school.
Did the instrument the first time with John and Martha on 7 convenient VHS cassettes.
 
The only thing that I care about as an instructor is that they passed. Beyond that, I'll prepare them for the practical test and the real world of flying without further consideration of the score.
 
flyingron said:
Anything over 70 is wasted effort :)
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That's exactly what my instructor said when I got a 72 on my private written (waaaaaay back when it really was a written exam).
 
100% on the PP, 97% (IIRC) on the IR written. Did that help? Probably not. 70% is passing. I have no idea what the average score is, all I know (and care about) is that I passed each on the first try. Cheaper that way. :D
 
Ron Levy said:
The only thing that I care about as an instructor is that they passed. Beyond that, I'll prepare them for the practical test and the real world of flying without further consideration of the score.
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If I have a student who simply passes, I'm not happy about it all and consider him or her to have inadequately learned the conceptual material. It's like graduating from college with a 2.0.
 
write-stuff said:
If I have a student who simply passes, I'm not happy about it all and consider him or her to have inadequately learned the conceptual material. It's like graduating from college with a 2.0.
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I resemble that remark. Well, not quite -- it was a 2.26 to be exact.

But the real problem is the FAA written tests don't adequately test your knowledge of the relevant conceptual material (and they do test a lot of nonconceptual material that isn't relevant), and even if they did, what's really important is your ability to apply the information.
 
Ron Levy said:
I resemble that remark. Well, not quite -- it was a 2.26 to be exact.

But the real problem is the FAA written tests don't adequately test your knowledge of the relevant conceptual material (and they do test a lot of nonconceptual material that isn't relevant), and even if they did, what's really important is your ability to apply the information.
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and to pile on, some people are very good at multiple-guess questions, others not so much.
 
Ron Levy said:
, what's really important is your ability to apply the information.
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I agree fully with that statement, but with only one caveat.... wouldn't you agree that a prerequisite of proper application is knowing the information? :yes:

I've found that my greatest challenge, is the retention of what I've read & learned throughout my life.... without the knowledge, there's trouble in them thar woods. :eek:
 
arejay said:
I agree fully with that statement, but with only one caveat.... wouldn't you agree that a prerequisite of proper application is knowing the information? :yes:
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Not quite. I think I would say that "a prerequisite of proper application is knowing the relevant information", and too much of what's in the FAA writtens isn't relevant, while much relevant information isn't included.
 
The FAA asks poorly worded questions as well as questions on obsolete material. For example, they still make you interpret a TAF with BECMG in it, when that format has not been used for an entire decade. The meaning doesn't even appear in the Aviation Weather Services AC.
 
Ron Levy said:
But the real problem is the FAA written tests don't adequately test your knowledge of the relevant conceptual material (and they do test a lot of nonconceptual material that isn't relevant), and even if they did, what's really important is your ability to apply the information.
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That's the truth. There's a pilot on another board that continuosly spews his PPL experience (even though it has to have been over 5 years ago), rarely flys, but hangs out on the boards ... I wouldn't let him transport my dog, but I'm sure he had a high written.
 
dmspilot said:
The FAA asks poorly worded questions as well as questions on obsolete material. For example, they still make you interpret a TAF with BECMG in it, when that format has not been used for an entire decade. The meaning doesn't even appear in the Aviation Weather Services AC.
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Hi dmspilot - Just FYI, and maybe it's a different source or something, but I still occasionally see BECMG in the TAFs in my DUAT reports. Joe
 
Ron Levy said:
Not quite. I think I would say that "a prerequisite of proper application is knowing the relevant information", and too much of what's in the FAA writtens isn't relevant, while much relevant information isn't included.
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Touche.... So sounds like the FAA tests are like Microsoft Cert tests.... lots of "by the book" information that is rarely if ever used in the "real world".

That makes me wonder (as I try to ram all this info into my noggin... and make it stick) How would I go about being able to sort the important and relevant information to concentrate my efforts? Is this something a good CFI should be driving home?
 
register@teamandras.com said:
Hi dmspilot - Just FYI, and maybe it's a different source or something, but I still occasionally see BECMG in the TAFs in my DUAT reports. Joe
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Only in the military ones in the USA, but they are in those. Nevertheless, there are a lot of other things in the test which really are obsolete, and in 43 years of instrument flying, I've never found any use for the technique of determining time-to-station by timing bearing drift off an ADF/RMI. In fact, if I were hit with that question today, I'd have to derive the formula trigonometrically before solving it, and that ain't happening in flight.
 
arejay said:
Touche.... So sounds like the FAA tests are like Microsoft Cert tests.... lots of "by the book" information that is rarely if ever used in the "real world".
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True, unfortunately.

That makes me wonder (as I try to ram all this info into my noggin... and make it stick) How would I go about being able to sort the important and relevant information to concentrate my efforts? Is this something a good CFI should be driving home?
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Yes, it is.
 
Ron Levy said:
Only in the military ones in the USA,
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Ah. I see. Thanks. I Just looked at some old ones I saved and BECMG often showed up in the TAFs, but only for KRIV which is March Air Force Reserve Base not too far away from me.

For what it's worth, I also see that BECMG is frequently used in in the broader Area Forecast (AF) section that covers multiple states.
 
Captain said:
I think there are two camps of students and therefore two scales that constitute a 'Good' score.

One camp studies the material and learns as much as they can. They talk with their CFI, maybe attend a ground school, go online, read many many books, etc.

The other camp buys a big red book with all the questions and answers verbatim.
Click to expand...

Although pithy, I think there is a flaw in this line of thinking. The situation isn't binary--you can study for the test and be an inquisitive pilot. The consensus here is basically that the written isn't 100% reflective on the ability/capacity to be a pilot.

Just as you say it's no good to just study the answers to the test, it is also no good to ask your CFI questions but get a 50 on the exam
 
The instructor signing you off for you checkride needs to review the stuff you got wrong on the written. If you only get a 70, you'll probably have over a dozen "subject codes" that need to be addressed. If you get a 95 or whatever, you'll probably have only one or two.
 
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