PPL Meteorology Exam

Meteorology is one of the larger revision subjects in the PPL course, and the size of the exam reflects this with 16 multiple choice questions to be answered in 50 minutes. At least 12 answers must be correct to meet the 75% pass mark.

The course itself covers one of the most important aspects of pre-flight planning, and in-flight decision making, namely: is the weather good enough to fly in? You'll learn how to read the information that is available to you including generally available pressure charts and weather forecasts as well as aviation-specific charts such as those published by the Met Office. You'll also learn about TAFs (Terminal Area Forecasts) and METARs (which are almost never referred to as Meteorological Aerodrome Reports), and that something such as:

METAR: EGSS 011420Z AUTO 03008KT 9999 BKN007 10/10 Q1024

gives a pilot a lot of information. In this case: very low clouds!

Although Meteorology is one of the larger subjects to revise for, it's one of the most important and worth devoting time to. If you feel ready for it, you can take it earlier in your flight training, although it often goes hand-in-hand with Navigation as you'll start to interpret TAFs and METARs as matter of course, even if your instructor will have the final say on whether it's safe to fly or not. However, given the difficulty of the Navigation exam, it's likely that you'll want to devote a separate sitting to study.

The PPL Exam Tutor app can help you to practice Meteorology exams and our revision content can help you to remember the difference between tropical maritime and tropical continental air masses. Try out Air Law for free first and, if it helps you to pass, we're sure you'll find the other eight subjects just as useful.

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