How many attempts it takes to clear the DGCA CPL papers
Most students fail at least one DGCA paper on the way to a CPL, and many of them fly for airlines today. This is how many sittings each paper usually takes.
Ready Aviator · Updated 20 October 2026
Sittings it took the people who cleared Air Navigation
Air Navigation takes about two sittings on average. 71 in 100 students who have written a paper have failed at least one, counted from DGCA's published flight crew result lists since 2024, which carry CPL and ATPL papers together.
824 students have sat the paper five or more times, and the record is 14. Persistence is not what they are missing.
Every student who has cleared Air Navigation, 2024 to March 2026. Everyone after the first row failed this paper at least once before passing it.
A retake with the same prep gets the same odds
Air Navigation passes 30 of every 100 papers written. On DGCA's last published result list, dated 6 March 2026, 16,121 students were carrying at least one failed paper.
What separates a second attempt from a fifth is working through solutions step by step. Rereading the same notes harder does not move the number.
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Free samples in many chapters, with the answer marked. A free account opens the worked solution.
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