A different issuing authority
If you will fly under United Kingdom rules, the licence comes from the UK CAA. EASA writes the rules used in EASA member states. The UK left that system, so a UK PPL, CPL, or ATPL is a UK licence even when the letters match an EASA one.
Training, the medical, and the skill test all have to line up with the authority that will issue the licence. An approval granted only by an EASA authority is the wrong document for a UK licence, and a UK approval is the wrong document for an EASA licence. The choosing-a-school guide is the checklist either way.
The names you will see
The UK uses the same headline names as the EASA system for its private, commercial and airline transport licences. A rating, such as night or instrument flying, is still an extra privilege on a licence and not a licence of its own. The light-aircraft licence is the exception: the CAA stopped issuing new LAPL(A)s on 1 October 2025. Students who trained for one but had not been issued it by then receive an NPPL instead, and existing LAPL(A) holders must move to a class rating with a fixed two-year validity.
The National Private Pilot Licence (NPPL) is a UK national licence for aeroplanes, touring motor gliders and microlights. It can normally be used only on UK-registered aircraft in UK airspace. For single-engine piston aeroplanes and motor gliders the CAA’s NPPL guidance sets a 32-hour minimum, including 10 hours of supervised solo. Microlight training follows its own syllabus through the British Microlight Aircraft Association.
Medicals in the UK
Professional flying needs a Class 1 medical, and a UK Part-FCL PPL is flown on a Class 2. Some private flying can instead use a Pilot Medical Declaration made by the pilot. With a UK Part-FCL PPL or LAPL, a declaration limits you to LAPL-style privileges: single-engine piston aeroplanes or touring motor gliders up to 2,000 kg, no more than three passengers, and visual conditions only. NPPL holders can fly a wider range of UK aircraft on a declaration, mostly in UK airspace. A declaration is not a Class 1 or a Class 2, and a GP appointment is not automatically an aviation medical.
The EASA medical guide on this site describes the EASA classes. Do not assume the UK intervals, the UK declaration, or the list of who may examine you are the same document.
Training and hour minima
You still need an approved or declared training organisation that the CAA oversees for the course you want, theory exams, flight training, and a skill test. The order in the “how to become a pilot” guide is the same shape: medical early, then the school whose approval matches the licence.
The UK publishes experience minima for each licence, and they have started to diverge from EASA’s. The UK PPL(A) now needs 40 hours of flight time, or 35 hours on an approved ATO course, where EASA still requires 45 hours of instruction. The UK ATPL(A) still uses the 1,500-hour breakdown that EASA uses.
Converting to or from EASA
Holding a UK licence does not by itself let you fly an aircraft that requires an EASA licence, and the reverse is also true. The CAA’s general validation of EASA licences for UK-registered aircraft ended on 31 December 2022. Since then an EASA pilot needs a UK licence or an individual UK validation to fly a G-registered Part 21 aircraft in UK airspace. Converting an EASA or other ICAO PPL to a UK PPL means UK exams and a skill test; the CAA sets out separate routes for pilots with and without 100 hours.
If you might train in one system and fly in the other, decide that before you pay for a long course. A school that trains both should be able to show you two approvals, not one logo.
Sources
Checked on 17 October 2026. Rules are amended, so read the current text before you rely on a figure.
- UK CAA, Private pilot licence for aeroplanes: https://www.caa.co.uk/general-aviation/pilot-licences/aeroplanes/private-pilot-licence-for-aeroplanes/
- UK CAA, LAPL light aircraft pilot licence: https://www.caa.co.uk/general-aviation/pilot-licences/aeroplanes/light-aircraft-pilot-licence-for-aeroplanes
- UK CAA, National Private Pilot Licence (NPPL): https://www.caa.co.uk/general-aviation/pilot-licences/uk-national-licences/nppl-national-private-pilot-licence
- UK CAA, CAP3181 The National Private Pilot’s Licence (August 2026): https://www.caa.co.uk/CAP3181
- UK CAA, Medical requirements for private pilots (including the Pilot Medical Declaration): https://www.caa.co.uk/general-aviation/pilot-licences/medical-requirements/medical-requirements-for-private-pilots/
- UK CAA, Airline transport pilot licence for aeroplanes: https://www.caa.co.uk/Commercial-industry/Pilot-licences/Aeroplanes/Airline-transport-pilot-licence-for-aeroplanes
- UK CAA, CAP2017 General validation for EU pilots: https://www.caa.co.uk/publication/cap2017
- EASA, Easy Access Rules for Aircrew (Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011), Part-FCL: https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/document-library/easy-access-rules/online-publications/easy-access-rules-aircrew-regulation-eu-no