Essential Tips for Passing a Drone Exam
Essential Tips for Passing a Drone Exam
The Canadian drone exam is an open book with multiple-choice questions. That is, you can flip through or research for answers throughout the exam, and you can select your answers from the multiple-choice options provided.
However, having access to search engines or any other resources does not make it easy to pass the exam. It depends on you and how you prepare.
This is why we have compiled these tips that we use on our students to help them pass their drone exams easily.


1. Prepare for Your Exam by Leveraging Free Resources
The internet has a lot of valuable and free resources. The only thing you get to spend is your time. However, you need to understand how to navigate through all this information since the internet is also saturated with a lot of irrelevant information.
To help you make efficient use of your time, the table below shows some of the most valuable resources for Canadian drone exam preparation:
Resource | Description |
Unmanned: Textbook for RPAS, 2nd Ed. | A comprehensive textbook covering various aspects of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), and is a valuable study resource for the exam. |
Basic and Advanced Drone Flying Regulations | These are the official regulations that govern remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) in Canada. |
5. Knowledge Requirements for Pilots of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems 250 g up to and including 25 kg, Operating within Visual Line-of-Sight (VLOS) (TP 15263) | This document outlines what RPAS pilots within a certain weight range operating within visual line-of-sight (VLOS) need to know. |
Regulations Amending the Canadian Aviation Regulations (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) | This document contains the official regulations that govern remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) in Canada. |
Drone Safety | Resources that all drone operators should be familiar with to ensure safe and responsible flight operations. |
2. Attempt the Small Basic Exam First
Even though you need an Advanced Operations license, consider taking the Small Basic Exam first.
This is because:
- You learn the basics needed for being a drone pilot in Canada.
- You establish a strong foundation in drone operation that makes it easy to pass the Small Advanced exam.
- You reduce the possibility of the Advanced Test’s more difficult questions overwhelming you.
- It increases your confidence in passing other advanced Canadian drone exams asmost people find the Basic exam hard.
- Gives you an edge in tackling the Advanced Exam as it has more questions—50—and a shorter time; 60 minutes. On the other hand, the basic exam has 35 questions, and you have 90 minutes to attempt them.
3. Answer All the Easy Questions First
During the actual exam, treat it as you would any other.
Go through the questions as you mark the easy ones or the ones you are very sure you can answer without any help.
For instance, use “E” to symbolize an easy question and “N.E” for the not-so-easy ones.
Then, start answering the easy (E) questions to save time. Even if you have 90 minutes to tackle 35 questions, these minutes go very fast.
When you’ve finished with the easy questions, go on to those you can answer, even if you need to double-check your response (N.E).
Remember to keep your eyes on the prize.
In this case, the prize is a score higher than 65% for the Basic exam and 80% for the Advanced one.
Also, the goal here is to use as little time as possible so that you have time to tackle the hard questions and confirm the answers of the N.E.
Next, bookmark the link to this article so that you can access the table with the list of resources easily to answer the hard questions.
Open each document or article in a separate tab on your browser and use Ctrl+F for PC or Cmd+F for MAC to search for answers easily.
But don’t waste too much time, so that you can take a few minutes to go over all of your answers.
Pass Your Drone Exams with Coastal Drone Pilot Courses
To have an added advantage that helps you improve your chances of passing the Canadian drone exams, enroll in our drone pilot courses.
As a team of professional instructors with in-depth knowledge of drone legislation and operations, we provide comprehensive training and preparation for success in drone tests.
Our training will teach you everything you need to know to pass the exams.
Enroll in our drone pilot course today and let us help you pass the exams and become an expert drone pilot.
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