G-RICH

This seems to be the rule now, so long as they are all taken in one state.

I know that in Ireland the PPL exams can only be taken once every two months in Dublin with the IAA.

Is this the norm across EASA land, and is the UK is the only country which has devolved sitting the exams to Examiners ?

If so it would suggest some advantage here and there may be demand from students in other other EASA states to do exams at a time of their own convenience in the UK.

Browsing the Net shows AOPA Denmark complaining that it can cost up to 1,000 euros to take their exams (with their Dept of Transport - they got rid of their CAA !). That is a figure that is quite easy to make some savings on !

The wording on the AMC for Theory exams talks about students being "approved" by an ATO to take their exams, which suggests the EASA rule makers assume that the PPL ground exams are taken at the local CAA in the same way the higher level exams are.

Does anyone know what the situation is in different European countries ?

Whopity

Perhaps the biggest disadvantage here is the CAA's insistence that instead of producing a good practical paper of the requisite 120 questions, or two papers of 60 questions they continue to roll out up to 9 individual papers.

They don't have the manpower to keep the papers up to date or to remove errors they have been informed of, so you would think that they would jump at the chance to simplify things; another opportunity missed by their intransigence.

G-RICH

The new exams due out early 2013 will indeed increase to 9 exams - but from browsing the net it seems that this is standard across EASA-land.

Each exam will be between 16 and 20 questions - so somewhere between 144 to 180 in total ?

The biggest issue I have is that when a possible PPL enquires about the PPL and is told there are 7 (or soon 9) exams to do, they think they will have to do something like the equivalents of GCSEs !

It would be much simpler if it was one, especially as most are familiar with this from doing their driving test.

Whopity

Which really goes to prove there is no such thing as an EASA PPL because there is no one iota of standardisation across the EU. They should comply with ICAO Annex 1 recognise one anothers PPLs and stop acting like a bunch of incompetent buffoons.