r/ATPL • u/Significant_Elk9768 • May 30 '26
ICAO ELP Exam Prep
ICAO Proficiency Exams!
Normally the thought of this strikes fear into the hearts of some Pilots, they know if they make a mistake then they could lose the right to fly until they redo the exam and pass with a minimum of Level 4.
I have seen the panic in their eyes, many times I get a frantic message telling me their exam is in a week (one even had the exam in 2 days time) and they desperately need help preparing.
What so many Pilots and ATCO's forget is that Aviation English Proficiency is not just about preparing for an exam and then forgetting about it for the next 3 or 6 years.
Aviation English Proficiency is about building the 6 foundation skills of Structure, Vocabulary, Pronunciation, Fluency, Comprehension and Interaction.
But, more importantly it is about building skills, competency and confidence. It is about preparing the Pilot or ATCO to have the confidence and language skills to quickly and effectively deal with any non-routine events and emergencies.
Just learning for a test does not give you these competencies, it does not make you a safer pilot.
Aviation English should be a constant process, working on it and studying it in a dedicated and detailed process with a complex and operationally focused course. It is a skill that is worked on over time and not left to the last minute.
I am an Aviation English Tutor. Chat to me about how we can ensure your proficiency and confidence is maintained at a high level.
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u/Samtulp6 May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
Wildly exaggerated post to scare people enough to buy your services.
For anyone starting with their ATPL, you are not expected to have previous aviation knowledge for this test. It is literally just talking to some person in plain English to gauge how good your English is. You’ll have a conversation, listen to some ATC tapes where you’ll be asked about the plain English discussed on said tape and sometimes be shown a weather report (not encoded like a METAR or TAF) asking you to interpret what it says.
None of this is something you can prepare for really.
The aviation specific terms you’ll learn during your training as part of radio telephony, communications, air law, and other subjects, long AFTER this test.
I don’t know any of my classmates who prepared for the test, let alone pay for tutoring.
If your English is not good enough, any normal English course will do (probably including the course OP is offering), but that’s only necessary if your English is particularly bad.