Test Day: What to Expect and What to Bring

A third-party testing center, not an FAA office

The Part 107 Knowledge Test is not administered by the FAA directly, and it is not given at a Flight Standards District Office. It is delivered through PSI Services LLC (the testing vendor that absorbed the former LaserGrade computer-testing network), which operates a nationwide network of independent, approved testing centers under contract with the FAA. These centers are frequently standalone testing businesses that also administer exams for entirely unrelated fields — professional licensing, certifications, even some college placement tests — in the same building, on the same computers, on any given day. The room you sit in on your test day may look nothing like an "aviation" facility, and that is completely normal.

Scheduling was covered earlier — this lesson is about the day itself

An earlier Module 1 lesson, "Scheduling the Knowledge Test," covered the registration process in depth: creating an account with PSI, selecting a nearby testing center, choosing a date and time, and paying the test fee in advance. If any of that process is unclear, review that lesson before test day — this lesson assumes registration is already complete and picks up from the moment you're about to walk into the testing center.

Candidates pay for and schedule their own test appointment; there is no employer or school intermediary step for most applicants. Because the fee is paid at scheduling and is generally non-refundable for a missed appointment, confirm your date, time, and testing center location again the night before — a wrong address or a missed time slot forfeits that test fee and the appointment.

A valid, unexpired, government-issued photo ID

You must bring one form of current, unexpired, government-issued photo identification — a driver's license, state ID card, passport, or similar document. The single most important detail is that the name on this ID must match the name used on your test registration exactly. A mismatch (a maiden name still on file, a missing or extra middle name, a recent legal name change not yet reflected on either the ID or the registration) is one of the most common reasons a candidate is turned away at check-in and has to reschedule, forfeiting the test fee already paid.

Your FTN (FAA Tracking Number)

The FTN is the unique identifier the FAA assigns when you create an account in IACRA (Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application), the FAA's online system used throughout the certification process. An earlier Module 1 lesson covered creating this IACRA account and obtaining your FTN in detail. The testing center uses the FTN to register your test attempt under your FAA identity and to route your score report to the FAA correctly — without it, the test cannot proceed. Know your FTN before you arrive, or have it easily retrievable (many candidates keep a photo of it on their phone as a backup, in addition to writing it down).

Neither of these two items is optional or substitutable. A candidate who arrives with a valid ID but no FTN, or an FTN but an ID with a mismatched name, cannot sit for the test that day under normal testing center policy.

Personal electronics, notes, and calculators stay outside the room

Personal phones, smartwatches, tablets, notes or study materials of any kind, and personal calculators are not permitted inside the testing room. This is standard practice at PSI-administered computer-based testing centers to prevent any possibility of recording, referencing outside material, or communicating during the exam. All personal items are stored outside the testing room itself, typically in a small locker provided by the center, before you are allowed in.

This surprises some candidates who assume they can bring their own scientific or aviation calculator, since Part 107 lessons on density altitude, crosswind components, and weight and balance clearly involve arithmetic. That concern is addressed differently — see below.

A basic calculator and scratch paper are provided by the center

The testing center itself provides a basic calculator and scratch paper (or a reusable dry-erase writing surface, depending on the center) for use during the test. You do not need to bring your own, and you are not permitted to. Any arithmetic the knowledge test genuinely requires — reading a load factor chart, working a crosswind component graph, computing a simple density altitude estimate — is solvable with basic arithmetic operations on the provided calculator; nothing on the test requires an advanced scientific or aviation-specific calculator function.

ID verification and biometric capture at check-in

Expect a formal identity verification step as a routine part of check-in: staff will review your photo ID against your registration, and most centers also capture a digital photograph and/or a biometric signature or palm scan as part of the standard, FAA-required check-in security procedure. This is routine at every PSI testing center for every exam type administered there, not something specific to or more invasive for the Part 107 test.

The Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement (FAA-CT-8080-2H) is provided at the center

For the airspace- and chart-reading portions of the test (the kind of material covered in Modules 3 and 4 of this course), the testing center hands you a physical booklet at your seat: the Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement, FAA document FAA-CT-8080-2H. This booklet contains the sectional chart excerpts, legends, load factor charts, crosswind component graphs, and other reference figures that specific test questions refer to by figure number (for example, "refer to Figure 22, area 2").

This is an important point to internalize before test day: you are not expected to have memorized any specific figure from this booklet in advance. The booklet is handed to you fresh, at the test center, for use during the exam itself — the actual figures your version of the test uses are drawn from a live pool you have no way to see beforehand. What the test genuinely requires is the underlying skill this course built in Modules 3 and 4: fluently reading a sectional chart excerpt, correctly identifying airspace boundaries and floor/ceiling altitudes, and pulling a value off a load factor or crosswind graph quickly and accurately, whatever specific chart excerpt happens to be printed in front of you that day.

Arrive early

Plan to arrive 15 to 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment time. Testing centers generally will not accommodate a candidate who arrives significantly late — depending on the center's policy, a late arrival can mean losing the appointment and the fee entirely. Arriving early also gives you a buffer to handle unexpected parking or building-access issues without any pressure on the actual appointment time.

Sign-in, ID verification, and being seated

At check-in, staff verify your identity against your registration using your photo ID and FTN, typically capture a photo and/or biometric signature, and have you store personal items (phone, watch, bag, notes) in a provided locker. Once cleared, you are escorted to an assigned testing station — a computer terminal, often in a shared room with other candidates taking different, unrelated exams at the same time. Staff will explain the basic rules of the room (no talking, no personal items, raise a hand for anything needed) before starting your test session on the computer.

60 questions, a 2-hour time limit, and an on-screen timer

The Part 107 Knowledge Test consists of 60 scored, multiple-choice questions, and you are given a maximum of 2 hours to complete it. An on-screen timer counts down throughout the test so you always know how much time remains. Most candidates who have studied the material thoroughly finish well within the 2-hour window, but the full time is available if needed — there is no reward for finishing early beyond simply being done sooner.

Flagging questions and reviewing before submitting

The testing software lets you flag any question you're unsure of and move on, then return to flagged questions later using a review screen that shows every question's answered/unanswered/flagged status at a glance. This is a useful strategy: answer everything you're confident about first, flag anything uncertain, and use remaining time to revisit flagged questions rather than getting stuck early and running out of time on later questions you could have answered easily.

The on-screen calculator and reference tools, in addition to the physical supplement

Beyond the physical Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement booklet described above, the testing software itself typically includes an on-screen basic calculator tool accessible during the test. Between the physical booklet's charts/legends and the software's built-in calculator, every reference a question could require is available to you during the test — there is no need, and no ability, to bring your own outside materials.

Instant scoring — you know your result before you leave

The computer scores your test the moment you submit it. You will see your pass/fail result and a score report on screen, and the testing center typically prints a copy of that report for you to keep before you leave the building. There is no waiting period to learn whether you passed — this is one of the few pieces of good news about test-day logistics: you walk out already knowing.

The temporary certificate, and the permanent certificate by mail

After a passing score, the next step is completing FAA Form 8710-13 in IACRA (an earlier Module 1 lesson covers this application in detail) using the FTN and test result on file. Once that application is processed, a temporary remote pilot certificate typically becomes available for the applicant to print directly from IACRA, usually within about 48 hours of a passing score being on file. The permanent, plastic remote pilot certificate is mailed by the FAA afterward and can take a number of weeks to arrive; the temporary certificate printed from IACRA is valid to exercise remote pilot privileges in the meantime.

A mandatory 14-calendar-day wait before retesting

Under 14 CFR 107.71 (Retesting after failure), an applicant who fails the knowledge test may not retake it for a minimum of 14 calendar days after the failed attempt. This waiting period exists specifically so a candidate uses the time to genuinely restudy weak areas rather than simply repeating the same test again immediately hoping for a different outcome.

Scheduling and paying again, like the first attempt

A retest is not free and is not automatically scheduled — the candidate must schedule and pay for a new test appointment through PSI just as with the first attempt, once the 14-calendar-day waiting period has passed. The score report given at the test center after a failed attempt typically breaks down performance by subject area (the ACS Areas of Operation), which is genuinely useful for focusing restudy time on the specific weak areas rather than re-reading the entire course from the beginning.