How hard is the Instrument Rating Airplane written test?
The steadiest exam in the system. Its pass rate barely moves, and the FAA names no single dominant miss. It ranks 6th-hardest of 7 exams in this index.
The test at a glance
Four numbers that tell you what you are walking into.
Down 0.2 points vs 2023. 6th-hardest of 7.
Mean score of everyone who sat it in 2024.
Up 46% since 2020.
Aviator IQ's read of the pass rate.
60 questions70% to pass (42 correct)~2.5 hr at the testing centerBuilt from FAA-G-8082-13
Close to two-thirds of the Instrument written leans on figures: approach plates, charts, and instrument depictions. The FAA's printed versions are famously hard to read. Aviator IQ lets you zoom into clean, official figures, so you only lose points to a knowledge gap, never a blurry photocopy.
How the Instrument is trending
Pass rate, average score, and test volume by year. Flip between them.
The lighter final bar is the preliminary 2025 figure, which the FAA has not yet finalized. Source: FAA Airman Knowledge Test statistics.
Our read on it
Volume is up here too, 27,143 in 2025 against 17,547 in 2020 (+55%), riding the same airline-hiring wave lifting the whole industry. But the Instrument behaves nothing like the mechanic and drone tests.
Pilot candidates are self-selected and heavily prepared, usually well into flight training before they touch the written. That is why the pass rate holds near 94.2% and scores stay high. The number to watch is not the pass rate, it is your own margin. At a 85.6% average, most people who pass still leave easy points on the table.
Where it ranks
Every dot is one FAA written test, placed by its pass rate. The Instrument is highlighted; the dashed line is the average across all 7.
The 10 questions people miss most
These are the topics that trip up the most Instrument candidates, written as example questions you can try. Answer each one for an instant breakdown of why the wrong choice is so tempting, then take a full Instrument practice test under real test conditions.
You are cleared to hold and will arrive at the fix within 70° of the holding side of the outbound course. The recommended entry is:
On an HSI, the course deviation bar shows full deflection to the right while you track a VOR radial. This means:
On an LNAV (non-precision) approach, the lowest altitude you may descend to without the required visual references is the:
Under the 1-2-3 rule, you must file an alternate airport when, within 1 hour before to 1 hour after your ETA, the forecast ceiling and visibility are below:
You lose two-way radio in IMC. Which order of priority should you use to choose your route?
Structural icing in flight requires which two conditions to be present at the same time?
Flying a conventional VOR/CDI with the OBS set to roughly the opposite of your aircraft heading, the needle will:
To descend below the MDA or DA on an instrument approach, you must have the required flight visibility and be able to see a required visual reference such as:
On a constant-pressure (upper-air) chart, closely spaced height contours indicate:
A departure procedure requires a climb gradient of 200 ft per nautical mile. At a groundspeed of 120 knots, what rate of climb do you need?
Common questions
Other exams in the index
See how the Instrument compares to the tests candidates take alongside it.
Sources & data notes
- FAA Airman Knowledge Test Statistics (hub)Annual and quarterly Airman Knowledge Test volume, pass rate, and average score by test code. Last verified Sep 15, 2026.
- Airman Knowledge Test annual statistics, 2019 to 2025Per-exam volume, pass rate, and average score. Calendar-year reports 2019 through 2025 (2025 preliminary). Last verified Sep 15, 2026.
- Frequently Missed Knowledge Test ACS CodesFAA Safety Analysis Branch quarterly report: the most-missed ACS code per test code, with percent missed. Last verified Sep 15, 2026.
- Airman Certification Standards (ACS) documentsPlain-English topic and Area/Task definitions for each ACS code (Private FAA-S-ACS-6, Commercial FAA-S-ACS-7, Aviation Mechanic FAA-S-ACS-1). Part 107 (UAG) follows the PSI UAG Applicant Information Bulletin, the current test blueprint that supersedes the FAA-S-ACS-10 blueprint. Last verified Sep 15, 2026.
- Pass rates, volumes, and average scores are the FAA's published figures. Difficulty rankings and threat levels are Aviator IQ's analysis of that public data, not official FAA ratings.
- Aviator IQ is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with the Federal Aviation Administration.
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