Test strategy
How Long Should You Study for the Part 107 Test?
✓ Reviewed against current FAA sources on October 22, 2026
In this guide
In short
The FAA sets no required study time for the Part 107 knowledge test. The CY2025 data shows a pass rate of 82.96 percent with an average score of 79.31 percent, about nine points above the 70 percent standard, which suggests the typical candidate prepares adequately but without a wide margin. Allocating study time in proportion to the test blueprint matters more than total hours.
Every number you will see quoted for this, from a weekend to a month, is somebody's anecdote. The FAA requires no study time at all, and sets no prerequisite training for the Unmanned Aircraft General - Small test. What we do have is outcome data.
What the outcome data suggests
For calendar year 2025 the FAA recorded 73,914 UAG tests, a pass rate of 82.96 percent, and an average score of 79.31 percent. Against a 70 percent standard, that is an average margin of roughly nine points, or a little over five questions on a 60-question test.
Two conclusions follow. Most candidates prepare enough. The typical margin is not comfortable, so preparing to "about average" is not a plan.
Hours matter less than allocation
Under the blueprint effective September 29, 2025, regulations account for roughly 29 of the 60 scored questions. Weather accounts for roughly three. A candidate who divides study time evenly across subjects has given almost ten times too much attention to weather relative to its value.
If you do nothing else, weight your hours the way the test weights its questions. The detail is in the 2025 test blueprint.
A defensible way to decide when you are ready
Rather than counting hours, use two criteria:
- you are scoring consistently above 85 percent on practice questions you have not seen before; and
- your weakest knowledge area is no longer dramatically weaker than the others.
The second matters because the test samples every area. A candidate averaging 85 percent with one area at 50 percent is carrying a real risk that the average conceals.
Why practice questions you have seen are misleading
Repeating a bank you have already worked measures recall of those items, not knowledge of the subject. Reserve a set you have not seen, or use a question source large enough that repetition is not the dominant effect.
Spacing beats cramming
Spreading study across days rather than compressing it is among the most consistently supported findings in the research on learning. Several shorter sessions across two weeks will generally outperform the same total hours taken in one weekend.
If you have a date already
Work backwards from it, assign the heaviest subjects the earliest and largest blocks, and leave the final days for the areas your practice results say are weakest rather than for a general review.
Sources: FAA Airman Knowledge Test statistics, calendar year 2025; Remote Pilot ACS FAA-S-ACS-10B; test blueprint effective September 29, 2025.