CAA ATPL Validity extension
 

Are there any circumstances where the CAA would extend the validity of the ATPL theory exams? Without looking for sympathy, I've had a plethora of issues preventing me from finishing my CPL and IR training. I have 3 months left to complete my training before my exams expire and I think I'm going to really struggle due to my work commitments now. I've heard of a few people getting extensions but I dont know what the circumstances for granthing them were.

Chance? little to none. There may have been some lockdown extensions but it's extremely unlikely now. How much have you got left to do? Even getting one of them out of the way would be helpful. For example if you could get the CPL done you'd only need to take 7 IR exams again or vice versa.

As an alternative to writing the IR exams, you could obtain a foreign IR and 50 hours of flight time under the instrument flight rules as PIC. This would enable you to go straight to a UK single-engine aeroplane IR skill test without having to do an additional IR theory course and associated exams.

If you hold a CPL but no IR and let your ATPL theory lapse you can indeed just redo only the IR exams to gain a CPL/IR, you wont however have a Frozen ATPL. If you ever want to go commercial and fly a multicrew type you would then have to resit the CPL exams also (minus comms) to be considered to once again have valid ATPL theory.

I've been looking at this myself recently having held a CPL for 20 years with about 150hrs multi instrument time (using an IRR) but with expired ATPL theory. I had hoped I could do a CBIR upgrade to save some time which it does in a practical sense but theory wise I still have to redo all the ATPL theory exams from scratch if I want a Fz ATPL which is required for an airline job..

You only need to 'have passed' the ATPLs for the issue of a first multi pilot type rating (FCL.720.A). Exams have no expiry date, 'expiry' depends on what you use them for (FCL.025.A)

Interesting, I asked this exact question of the CAA and was told it required "Valid ATPL Theory credits" aka Fz ATPL.

It would suit me if you were correct, otherwise I could just do a CBIR upgrade and save myself nearly a year of my life resitting a whole bunch of exams I've already passed! Perhaps its changed in the last 18 months or so since I last looked at this?

To be fair, it's not a run of the mill question so you're not likely to get an exact technical answer from a CAA person colour pusher who's reading off a script. "Must have passed" - that's what it says...