Using our Ground School web site is easy. However, for completeness, here's a few help pages for the relevant areas of the web site that you may find useful.

Click on each of the content headings below to be taken to that section. At the end of each section, there is a link back to the contents here.

How to study
What to do first
FREE Registration
Activation
Login / Logout
Profile Information
Changing your Profile
Course Access Types
Buying Courses and Products
Vouchers
My Courses
Search Course Results
My Tests & Exams
Sitting Tests & Exams
Answer Explanations
Ask an Instructor
My Course Completion Certificates
My Exam Readiness Certificates
My Study Statistics
Administrator Functions
Technical Support
Other Questions

How to study

We’re expert teachers in the field of aviation, so rest assured we offer here the best advice possible on how to study for your theoretical knowledge exams!

Firstly, if “school” seems a long time ago to you, you’ll find that the method you used to study will often not “work” for you in later life… you’ll need to re-learn how to learn! We recommend using the following method:

1. Make sure you buy our “full” course material, not just the progress tests and end of course exams (the question bank). The official exams will test your understanding of the subject – and questions are changed regularly by the authority, so its no use just learning answers to questions – you really need to understand the subject!
2. Read each page of the course carefully. Our courses are very concise, and each page contains a lot of information – often in graphical form. As a wise instructor once said, “Teach slowly, learn quickly”, so take your time!
3. When the course material prompts you, take the progress test. Progress tests check your understanding of the material up to that point. Review your results, look at our detailed explanations for each question, and then (if lnecessary) go back to the course material and revise the study area for the question you got wrong. Then move on and continue studying the next part of the course, following this process until you reach the end of the course.
4. Once the end of the course is reached, you are ready to take our end of course exam. The important point here is to remember that this exam is part of the learning process! Take the exam, review your results, look at our detailed explanations for each question, and then if necessary go back to the course material and revise the study area for the question you got wrong.
5. Importantly, you really ought to take our end of course exam multiple times. We have a large exam question bank for each subject, and (uniquely), using our system, you won’t see any repeat questions until you have seen all of our questions. No other provider does this! In fact, you’ll find you will need to take our end of course exam (for each subject) around 10 or 12 times before you start seeing repeat questions!
6. For the reason above, we recommend you undertake each subject end of course exam a minimum of 10 times, and should be aiming to be achieving marks in the high 80%’s and early 90%’s. That way, you’ll be (pretty much) guaranteed to pass the official exam with ease!

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What to do first

Some of our pages are available for everyone to access. These include information about us, our contact details, and also our Guidance pages. Obviously, you also have access to our Courses page that shows what types of courses we have including a short (low resolution) preview. Prices are shown here.

However, you will get much more from what we have to offer if you take up our FREE Registration.

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FREE Registration

Registering is a simple process, and allows us to keep in touch about news and events that you may find useful.

To Register, all you need to do is create a Username (no spaces or email addresses allowed) that is unique to our system. This is a one-off process, and you will not be able to change it, so make it sensible!

After that, create a password of your choice. We don't ever get to see your password, and we will never ask for it. Numbers, Letters (upper and lower case) are fine - but no special characters allowed. There's no stipulation on length or characters to use - it's up to you!

Enter a valid email address that will be used by the system to allow you to Activate your account with us.

Where our registration process is part of an arrangement of mutual membership benefits with one of our partners (you'll see this if it's applicable on the Registration page), then some of your registration data is checked on that partner site to ensure you are eligible for the associated benefits.

By registering, you agree with our Terms and Conditions, our Data Protection Policy, and our Email Policy (preferences on the types of email you wish to receive from us can be configured from your Control Panel once you have logged in). More information is available from the site under the “Help” menu.

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Activation

After Registering, we will send you an email to the address you specified as part of the Registration process.

Simply click on the link supplied in the email to activate your Ground School account.

Failure to activate your account within 30 days will result in your account being deleted. You will be sent email reminders during the activation period to remind you of this!

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Login / Logout

Your account is unique to you. You can Login and Logout at any time you choose.

Whilst you may use this system on as many devices as you like, you can only be logged in on one device at a time.

Once you Login on a new device, you will automatically be logged out of any other device that you were logged in with.

This allows us to keep track of the page numbers of the courses you are studying to enable you to "pick up where you left off" at any time, in any place, on any device, anywhere!

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Profile Information

Before you can use certain parts of the system, we will need to gather a few more details from you.

Don't worry. We'll redirect you to the right page to do this at the appropriate time.

Filling in your profile information is a one-off process. You can change your profile information at any time (see Changing your Profile below)

We need accurate information when you complete your profile since we use that information (especially your postal address) if we need to fulfil your product orders with us that need posting!

We regularly check for spoof information in any of your profile fields, and your account may end up being suspended if we find data that might indicate attempts to fraudulently use our system.

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Changing your Profile

From the Control Panel page, you are be able to change your email address, password, and other details as required should you need to, including controlling what types of email you are happy to accept from us (your Email Preferences).

We need accurate information if you change your profile since we use that information (especially your postal address) if we need to fulfil your product orders with us that need posting!

We regularly check for spoof information in any of your profile fields, and your account may end up being suspended if we find data that might indicate attempts to fraudulently use our system.

The Training Organisation you used for Registration will become your allocated Training Organisation. Should you move training organisations during your training, then providing you're not an Administrator, you can Change your Training Organisation. You can see your current Training Organisation towards the top of your Control Panel.

The Control Panel also gives you short-cut access to many of the features described below that are also available from the site menus.

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Course Access Types

We provide different types of access to our course material, and you purchase the access type you want which lasts for a pre-determined period (currently one month). The different types of access to our courses are FULL ACCESS, or TEST & EXAM QUESTION BANK (see below).

This gives you access to all of our course material, extra resources, tests and exams, unlimited one-to-one instructor support, course completion certificates, and exam readiness certificates (when the appropriate criteria have been met). Note that if you purchase a FULL COURSE, the TEST & EXAM QUESTION BANK is automatically included FREE OF CHARGE.

This type of access is suitable for those who just wish to use our "question bank" for revision, although this is not a recommended way to study!

You can choose to buy TEST & EXAM QUESTION BANK for any or all of our courses. This just gives you access to the tests and exams (question banks) associated with each course, with restricted support (explanations are shown for questions where an explanation is available, and there is no "Ask an Instructor" support). You will not receive a course completion certificate, but you will receive an exam readiness certificate if applicable to that course (when the appropriate criteria have been met). Note you do not need to buy TEST & EXAM QUESTION BANK if you have already bought a FULL COURSE.

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Buying Courses and Products

From any of our pages you can add courses and products to your Shopping Basket. Any applicable discounts will be shown, and you will be able to use any credit from any Voucher allocated to your account in preference to physical payment.

All of our payment transactions are handled securely. You can pay via any debit or credit card.

Once paid, confirmation is given and you are taken back to our website where any timescales associated with course activation are given.

Courses can then be viewed via the My Courses page which shows the expiry date for both active and expired courses.

For other products, you will receive further emails from us regarding that particular product.

For products that need to be posted to you, we will use the postal address stored against your profile information on our system.

The My Orders page shows details of orders you have placed, including any that are currently pending payment.

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Vouchers

You can buy Ground School Vouchers right here to give to someone, or to use yourself. Vouchers are either for a monetary value or for a specific product. Monetary value vouchers can be used to buy anything^*1 from our site. Product vouchers are for specific products.

Here's how it works...

If you don’t already have an account, you will need to REGISTER (for free) and activate your account by clicking on the link in the email we send you. Then you just need to LOGIN and purchase a Ground School Voucher. On completion of your purchase, a link to your Voucher will be emailed to you straight away. You can then download the Voucher and email it or print it and send it to the recipient.

On receiving a Voucher, you just need to follow the instructions on the Voucher which are:

1. Visit the web site shown on the voucher
2. If you don’t already have an account, REGISTER to create one, and activate the account via the email you receive
3. LOGIN to your account
4. From the MY ACCOUNT menu, select REGISTER VOUCHER
5. Enter the voucher code into the box and press the submit button
6. If your voucher is for a monetary amount, the value of the Voucher will be added to your account and used when you make purchases from our system
7. If your voucher is for a product, then the product will be added to your account under the My Courses menu for you to access

^*1 You cannot use a voucher to purchase a voucher.

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My Courses

My Courses is where you access your courses (both FULL COURSES and TEST & EXAM QUESTION BANK courses). The My Courses page shows the courses that are active, and those that have expired. The expiry date for each course is shown, and you are given options to renew as appropriate. Sometimes, we Retire a course from service - meaning you'll be able to complete your study of that course up to the expiry date, but won't be able to renew it.

When you are viewing a course, the system remembers the page you were last viewing for each course, so you can pick up where you left off last time, even if you've changed viewing devices or your physical location in the meantime.

Use the forward and back buttons provided on the screen to navigate through the course. The left/right arrow buttons on the keyboard should also work, as should the keys "P" for previous, and "N" for next. You may also jump to a particular page number. You will find that on every course, Page 3 contains a list of topics for that course with page numbers.

If there is a link to another site or a video on the page displayed, click anywhere on that page to view that link or video.

Access to Other Resources and Tests/Exams are also available from this page via the buttons at the bottom of the screen.

Use the "Search Course" field to search the course for a word or words. See the next section for how search results are shown.

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Search Course Results

The Search Results screen shows you the results of your search of a course for a word or words. Any slide within the course that has at least one of your search words on it will be returned.

The screen resembles the "My Courses" screen except that the slides shown are only slides that match your search. You can move forwards and backwards though your search results in the normal manner.

When you find the slide you are looking for, clicking the "Go there now" button will take you back to your Course, and display that page for you (this also closes the Search Course Results window).

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My Tests & Exams

My Tests & Exams is where you access your tests and exams.

Tests are informal tests that check your understanding of the recently learnt area of the material for a course. A full list of tests for all of your courses is available when you select Sit a New Test or Exam. Additionally, you are guided directly to specific tests at specific locations throughout your course via the course material.

Exams are usually taken at the end of your study for a given course. A full list of exams for all of your courses is available when you select Sit a New Test or Exam. Additionally, you are guided directly to these exams via the course material at the end of the course

Once you have sat a Test or Exam, your results are given to you straight away which includes some interesting metrics on the number of questions answered correctly and incorrectly, as well as those not answered, along with your pass mark, and time taken.

All of your Tests and Exams are stored so you can see your progress as you take more Tests and Exams via My Test/Exam History. Providing your access has not expired for the course concerned, you can also look back and review past Tests/Exams right down to individual question level.

Exams (not Tests) form the official metric used in order for an Exam Readiness Certificate to be issued (where appropriate for that course), to allow you to take the Official Theoretical Knowledge Examination at your Training Organisation. Exams also form the official metric for a Course Completion Certificate to be issued (where appropriate for that course).

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Sitting Tests & Exams

Once you select to sit a new Test or Exam, you will be offered the courses (for which you have access) to choose from. Tests are informal tests that check your understanding of the recently learnt area of the material for a course. Exams are usually taken at the end of your study for a given course, and these count towards your Exam Readiness Certificate (where appropriate to that course).

Each Test or Exam has an associated number of questions, plus a pass mark, and a time limit. Each Test or Exam will make use of our own question bank; so although the Test or Exam consists of only (for example) 20 questions, these are drawn from a much larger bank of questions each time you sit this Test or Exam. In other words, different questions are asked each time you sit the Test/Exam. Unlike other systems, we don’t show you repeat questions until you have seen all questions!

The Test/Exam screen consist of a question, multiple answers, and a question navigator at the bottom of the screen. The Test/Exam Timer (your time remaining to complete the Test/Exam) resides towards the top right of the screen.

The question navigator colours indicate which questions are answered and unanswered (by colour), and the current question has a border around it.

To select your answer for a given question, make your selection on-screen by clicking an answer. That answer will turn this colour, and the appropriate question block within the question navigator at the bottom of the screen will change to the answered colour.

You can 'unselect' your answer by clicking the Clear My Answer button. This is useful if you are using the test or exam for revision, since all your unanswered questions can then be easily identified when you come to review your results, and the ones you purposely left unanswered are the ones you can check the correct answer and explanation for.

You may answer questions in any order by clicking the appropriate number in the question Navigator (at the bottom of the screen), and you may change your answer to any question until either the Test/Exam Timer expires, or you select to Submit all answers and finish.

The Test/Exam Timer continues to run in real time, even if you move away from the Ground School web site, or turn off your device. However, providing you have time remaining, you can return to the Test/Exam again via the My Test/Exam History page.

Once you finish the Test/Exam (or the Test/Exam Timer expires), you will be redirected to the Test/Exam Review Summary Page. This will give you summary information about your performance, including Pass/Fail, and offer you the opportunity to review each question (providing your access has not expired for the course concerned).

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Answer Explanations

When you review the detail of any Test or Exam, providing your Training Organisation has enabled the facility, there is a link towards the bottom of the page that allows you to "See an explanation for this question".

When this explanation link is available (which is also dependent upon an explanation being present for this question on the system), you will see the question, a detailed explanation of the answer, plus the correct answer. See an example explanation here.

If no explanation is available on the system, or for Training Organisations that have not enabled the automatic explanation, you will see a link that allows you to "Ask for an explanation to this question".

At the bottom of the explanation page, you will additionally see a link to "Ask an Instructor for further help with this question", in case you still need further guidance (note that this option is only available if the FULL COURSE has been purchased). This link automatically emails the instructor staff with your query, with all the necessary information and question references. We will reply directly to you with a further explanation, and contact you by other means if you are still unsure. We will also update our explanation on the system if appropriate and helpful.

Remember, you always have the opportunity of asking an instructor about anything within a course bought with the FULL COURSE option. To find out more about this facility, click here.

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Ask an Instructor

Ask an Instructor is an easy way of contacting an expert on anything within a course you are studying, but is only available if the FULL COURSE has been purchased.

From the Ask an Instructor page, select the course you wish to ask a question about and type your question. We'll receive the question, and answer it promptly. Replies go to your system registered email address. Don't be afraid to keep asking for clarification on things you continually don't understand. If necessary, we'll even give you a call on the phone to chat about it. That's why we ask for your phone number as part of the registration process!

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My Course Completion Certificates

If applicable to a course, we are able to provide you with your very own "Course Completion Certificate". Note that to be elegible for a Course Completion Certtificate you must have undertaken the FULL COURSE, and not just the Test & Exam Access for that subject.

Your Course Completion Certificate becomes available after passing the course exam (not test) at least ONCE for that course and remains available thereafter indefinitely.

Your Course Completion Certificates are available for viewing, downloading and printing from your My Course Completion Certificates page.

Any organisation can easily check the validity of your course completion certificate by visiting Certificate Validation and entering the unique course completion certificate reference. The system will check the validity of the certificate and present the information to the organisation concerned. This functionality is available without having to Login.

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My Exam Readiness Certificates

Before you are allowed to sit any required official exam at a Training Organisation, you will need to obtain an "Exam Readiness Certificate".

This is a certificate that is retained by your Training Organisation as part of your training record and proves that you are ready to take the official exam. If you do not possess such a certificate, your Training Organisation will normally require you to spend some time with an instructor who will probe the depth of your understanding of the subject prior to issuing you with their own certificate to allow you sit the exam.

Using our system, we are able to provide you with your very own "Exam Readiness Certificate" for a given course that you can take to your Training Organisation. They can then Validate the authenticity of your Certificate using our system, and then allow you to sit the official exam.

Your Exam Readiness Certificate is obtained by passing three exams for the course concerned with the following time-based criteria:

• Each exam pass has a validity period of three months (dated to the end of the month)
• Your Exam Readiness Certificate will be available for viewing, printing and validation whilst you have three exam passes within their validity period
• Your Exam Readiness Certificate will have an expiry date on it, which will be the future date at which you no longer have three exam passes valid
• To re-issue your Exam Readiness Certificate, you must pass further exams in the same course to bring your total exam passes back up to (or over) three in the past three months

You can select to view My Exam Readiness Certificates to check whether you have a valid certificate issued.

To check the status of your exam passes that count in order to make your exam readiness certificate valid, visit My Test/Exam History, and check the "Pass Validity" information. Remember that you must have three Exams (not Tests) marked as "Current" in order to have a valid Exam Readiness Certificate for that course.

A Training Organisation can easily check the validity of your certificate by visiting Certificate Validation and entering your unique certificate reference. The system will check the validity of the certificate and present the information to the Training Organisation to then allow you to sit the required official exam. This functionality is available without having to Login.

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My Study Statistics

Available via My Study Statistics, this page shows you:

• Your performance for each of your courses with information on the number of tests and exams you've taken, the number of questions you've seen, your average mark, and your pass rate (the number of times you've passed a test or exam compared with the number of times you've taken that test or exam)
• The study time for each of your courses broken down into course study time and test/exam study time

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Administrator Functions

If you have been allocated Administrator Access for your Training Organisation, you will find you have access to additional information for the Training Organisation and the users allocated to that Training Organisation.

Available from the Control Panel, you'll have access to some of the following depending on your level of administrator privilege:

• Show Statistics for this Organisation comprising of total statistics on:
  • Course Purchases
  • Course usage
  • Registered Users
  • Study Times
  • Test/Exam Statistics
• List Users Information for this Organisation which allows:
  • Viewing a users Test/Exam history and performance
  • Viewing a users Study Statistics
  • Viewing a users Course Completion and Exam Readiness Certificates
• Upload Mututal Membership Details File (for our partners with mutual membership benefits)

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Technical Support

If you have technical issues with accessing any of our material, email support is the initial contact method (see our Contact Us page).

However, we're not one of those companies that just leaves you in the lurch with non-personal email exchanges! If necessary, we'll talk to you directly on the phone to give you every assistance in solving the issue.

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Other Questions

If you have any other query (sales, or just of a general nature) about us, or our services, you can get on touch via our Contact Us page.

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