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To get a student pilot certificate you must be at least 16 (14 for gliders and balloons) and able to read, speak and understand English. You apply online through the FAA's IACRA system with your flight instructor, who verifies your identity and submits it, and the FAA mails you a plastic certificate, usually in about three weeks.
You can take lessons and log dual time without a student certificate. You must hold one before your first solo flight.
Mail delivery takes about three weeks, so most instructors file the application in the first few lessons.
Certificates issued after April 1, 2016 have no expiration date. You surrender it when you earn a higher certificate.
Applying at a Flight Standards District Office is free. Instructors and examiners may charge a reasonable processing fee.
The student certificate and the medical certificate are two different documents. You carry both when you fly solo.
14 CFR 61.87 also requires a presolo knowledge test, training on specific maneuvers and a current instructor endorsement.
The eligibility rules are in 14 CFR 61.83. To be eligible for a student pilot certificate, you must be at least 16 years old for airplanes, helicopters, gyroplanes and powered-lift aircraft, or at least 14 years old if you are training in a glider or balloon. You must also be able to read, speak and understand the English language. If a medical condition prevents you from meeting the English requirement, the FAA can place operating limitations on the certificate.
There is no upper age limit and no minimum education requirement. There is also no knowledge test or checkride to earn a student certificate; it simply identifies you to the FAA as someone in training and allows your instructor to authorize solo flight once you are ready.
Younger students can still start learning. Time you log with an instructor before your 16th birthday counts toward your training; you just can't solo until you are old enough and hold the certificate. Our teen flight training program is built around exactly that timeline.
The FAA accepts student pilot applications through four kinds of people: a Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), a designated pilot examiner, an airman certification representative at a Part 141 school, or a certificated flight instructor. You can file on paper using FAA Form 8710-1, but almost everyone now uses IACRA, the FAA's Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application, which is faster. Here is how it typically works with your instructor:
There is no temporary student certificate to fly solo on while you wait, which is why we encourage students to file in their first week of training. When you are ready, our team can walk you through it at Van Nuys Airport.
Holding the plastic card is only one piece. Under 14 CFR 61.87, before you fly solo in a single-engine airplane you must:
Learning at a towered airport like Van Nuys also means your presolo knowledge test will cover tower communication and the surrounding Los Angeles airspace. That is extra work early on, but it builds confidence you will use for the rest of your flying life. Read our BasicMed vs third class medical guide to choose the right medical path, and our FAA medical certificate page for exam details.
A student pilot certificate is a real FAA airman certificate, but it comes with tight limits. Once you are endorsed, you may fly solo within the scope of your instructor's endorsements, such as local flights from your home airport, and later solo cross-country flights after additional training and endorsements. Under 14 CFR 61.89, a student pilot may not carry passengers, may not fly for compensation or hire or in furtherance of a business, and may not fly outside the limits set by the instructor's endorsements.
When you fly solo, carry your student pilot certificate, your medical certificate (or driver's license if you are a sport pilot student) and a government-issued photo ID, as required by 14 CFR 61.3. Your logbook with the current endorsements should be on board as well.
Your student certificate stays with you all the way to the checkride for your private pilot license or sport pilot license. Before that checkride you will also pass the FAA written exam; see our FAA knowledge test guide.
Our instructors at Van Nuys Airport can help you file your student pilot application in your first lessons. We are open 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week.
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