Skills Assessment
Assessing your Potential for Airline Success
If you’d like to enrol on one of our Integrated LEAP courses, you’ll need to pass our industry-aligned, comprehensive Skills Assessment. This process evaluates your potential to succeed on the course and ensures we select the strongest future airline pilots. If you meet the standard, you’ll be invited to enrol on the next available Integrated LEAP course with a Training Guarantee.
Skills Assessment Process
We view our Skills Assessment as a two-way process. It allows us to learn more about your abilities, qualities and motivations, while giving you the chance to get to know us.
It is important for us to ensure you are ready to begin pilot training, but we want the assessment to be a positive, worthwhile and enjoyable experience. We want you to succeed!
Computer Based Aptitude Tests (CBT)
Completed fully online before your assessment day, these tests replicate the mental demands of real-world aviation environments. They assess a wide range of skills, including numerical and verbal reasoning, logical thinking, spatial awareness and multitasking.
Icebreaker
Your assessment day will begin with a welcome introduction followed by a short, fun icebreaker activity. This task is not assessed, but is a great opportunity to get to know your assessors and fellow candidates.
Group Exercise
You will be put into groups and given a task to complete within a set time. The focus is less on the outcome and more on how you work as part of a team. Assessors observe your participation, communication and the role you take within the group. We aim to make this a challenging yet enjoyable task that lets everyone shine, but this can only happen if you actively engage.
Interview
Your interview will be conducted by two assessors and will include motivational and competency-based questions. Motivational questions explore why you’d like to be a pilot, whereas the competency-based questions assess the essential criteria based around The Whole Pilot®. You’ll be asked to provide examples of when you have demonstrated key skills or abilities in the past, so have some examples prepared.
Next Steps
If you are successful, you’ll be offered a place on your preferred course start date with a Training Guarantee. A Training Advisor will then issue you with a Training Agreement, which you can review and sign in your own time. Once we have received your signed training agreement and deposit, your place on our Integrated LEAP course is officially confirmed!
If you are unsuccessful, please do not worry. You’ll receive detailed feedback on the day, along with an advised cool-down period, so that you can work on specific areas before reapplying. You will only retake the elements of the assessment where this improvement is required.
OurTraining Guarantee
We are confident in our Skills Assessment process. If you pass, you will receive a comprehensive Training Guarantee. This covers any additional training and exam fees should you fail an element of the course due to aptitude rather than attitude.
Book Your Skills Assessment
Ourcost £150, which will be credited toward your course deposit if you are successful.
Why choosefor your pilot training?
Skills Assessment FAQ’s
Minimum / Maximum Age to Train
You need to be 18 or over on your course start date, however you can sit your skills assessment at 17.
There’s no upper age limit to train with us as long as you can hold an unrestricted UK CAA / EASA Class 1 Medical. You may need to keep in mind, however that the pilot retirement age is 65, so don’t leave it too late!
Required Qualifications
To join our Integrated LEAP course, you will need 5 GCSEs at a grade 4 or above or the equivalent, including Maths, English and a Science and another 2 of your choice. If you did your qualifications overseas but now have settled status in the UK or in Europe, you can check if you have the equivalent qualifications via the UK ENIC website.
How to Become a Pilot
If you are still in school, focus on the right subjects! You will need 5 x GCSEs including English, Maths and Science (Physics, ideally). You may also wish to do A levels, although not essential. Studying A level subjects such as Physics or Maths may hold you in good stead during ground school.
A trial flight is invaluable; it gives you a real taste of aviation. Watch out though as you’ll get the aviation bug, just like us! A Diamond DA40 trial flight is ideal (as that is what you will start your training in) but aircraft such as Cessna 152/ 172 or Piper PA-28 are also great.
Visit lots of academies, get your Class 1 medical and attend a skills assessment, and away you go!
Skills Assessment Overview
Our skills assessment is a full-day process held at our Oxford Academy.
Before attending, you will complete several online aptitude tests. On the day, you will do a formal interview and a group exercise, each assessed by specialists. At the end of the day, you’ll be given feedback on how you’ve done.
While you’re taking the assessment, you’ll also have the chance to get to know the other potential students. But don’t worry, you won’t be competing against each other. Each student will be assessed individually.
As part of our skills assessment, we also provide lunch for all candidates, so please inform our team of any allergies.
After Completing the Assessment
If you pass, our skills assessment, you’ll be offered a place on the course with a training guarantee. One of our training advisors will then issue you with a training agreement with your desired start date depending on availability, which you will need to review and sign. Once you have returned your training agreement and paid your deposit, your place on our course is confirmed! It is important to note that, we operate on a first come, first served basis, so your place is not secured with until you have returned your training guarantee and deposit. We cannot guarantee your start date until this is done.
Training Guarantee Explained
If you pass the Skills Assessment, you receive a training guarantee. This means that if you fail any part of our course or require additional training, the exam fees will be completely covered.
Reapplying After a Fail
Not everyone passes first time. Your assessors will highlight the areas that need your extra attention and give you a time frame for reapplying. We can also point you towards the right help and support.
You may sit the Skills Assessment up to three times. After multiple attempts, our assessor will give offer honest feedback about your prospects.
Can I come and visit Leading Edge Aviation before I attend a Skills Assessment?
Yes. We offer one-to-one Academy tours and regularly hold Open Days at our Oxford campus.
Our Open days are the perfect opportunity to meet our team, experience Leading Edge life by meeting current students and staff, explore the campus and accommodation, get up close to our aircraft and best of all have a trial flight in our DA42/A320 simulators.
How long do I have to start training after completing a successful Skills Assessment?
At Leading Edge Aviation, you can reserve a course up to 12 months in advance of your Skills Assessment, but your assessment pass is valid for longer. We strongly encourage you to sit your Skills Assessment only when you have a start date in mind and meet all prerequisites, including a clear plan for financing the course.
How much does the Skills Assessment cost?
Our Skills Assessments are currently £150; however, this will be credited in your initial course deposit if you are successful.
If you fail your Skills Assessment on your first attempt, we do not charge for resits.
What are the Integrated course prerequisites?
To join the Integrated LEAP course in Oxford you will need:
- To be aged 18 or over at the start of training (no upper age limit)
- A valid UK-issued passport or Settled Status (indefinite right to remain)
- For Dual Licence training: an EASA Class 1 medical (assigned to Danish governing authority) and UK CAA Class 1 medical certificate. For single EASA or UK licensing paths you will only need to obtain the Class 1 medical for your chosen path.
- Five GCSEs at 4+ or equivalent (e.g., National 5. Level 2 Vocational) including Maths, English and a Science (preferably Physics).
- ICAO Level 5 or above in spoken English (If English is not your first language)
- Successfully complete our robust Skills Assessment.
Prerequisites for our Integrated course in Spain can be found here and Modular course prerequisites can be found here.
I’ve got settled status in the UK, can I sit my skills assessment and train at Leading Edge?
Yes. As long as you meet all other prerequisites, you are fully eligible to sit our Skills Assessment and join our course.
Can you advise me on how to finance my pilot training?
Unfortunately, we are not financial advisors and cannot legally give personal financial advice. If you are struggling to finance the course, we recommend speaking with an independent financial adviser.
As our Integrated LEAP course is an accredited degree course, you may be eligible for student finance through the Student Loans Company (SLC). If this is your first degree, you could access tuition fee loans of £19,070 (two years at £9,535 per year). These are credited directly to your course fees, helping to reduce the upfront cost of commercial pilot training.
Dependent on your circumstances, you may also be eligible for maintenance loans of up to £19,514 (£9,757 per year for 2025/26). These loans are means-tested and further information, including a student finance calculator, is available from the SLC. If eligible, maintenance loans are paid directly to you.