What is the night rating?
The night rating is an add-on to your PPL that allows you to fly at night. Without it, your licence restricts you to day flying only. It's one of the most accessible ratings available and is often described by pilots who've done it as one of the most memorable parts of their flying.
What the rating requires
The night rating requirements are set by the CAA and consist of a minimum number of flying hours, including both dual instruction and solo flying.
flying
(minimum)
cross-country
& landings
Of the three hours of dual instruction, at least one hour must be a navigation exercise — a cross-country flight at night with your instructor. The five solo take-offs and landings must all be full-stop landings; touch-and-go circuits don't count.
You must hold a valid PPL before starting night rating training. There is no minimum PPL hours requirement for the night rating, but in practice you'll need to be a confident and current pilot before beginning.
What the training looks like
Night rating training typically takes place across a series of sessions — usually in autumn and winter when darkness falls early enough to fly at a reasonable hour. Lessons can't start until after civil twilight (30 minutes after sunset), so the schedule is dictated partly by the time of year.
The dual lessons focus on the differences between day and night flying: orientation using instruments and lights rather than landmarks, circuit procedures with runway lighting, understanding your limitations without visual references on the ground, and managing emergencies at night.
The experience of night flying is genuinely distinctive. Navigation by city lights, runway approach lighting, and the quieter radio environment make it feel quite different from daytime flying — most pilots find it surprisingly enjoyable.
Because training requires darkness, night rating courses run primarily from late autumn through early spring. If you're interested, talk to us in summer so we can plan ahead and make sure you're scheduled for when conditions allow.
Keeping the rating current
Once you hold the night rating, there is no formal revalidation requirement — unlike some other ratings, it doesn't expire. However, the practical passenger currency rule applies at night just as it does during the day: to carry passengers at night, you need three take-offs and landings in the preceding 90 days, all of which must be at night.
If you've had a long gap from night flying, it's worth doing a refresher with an instructor before carrying passengers in the dark. Night conditions are unforgiving to pilots who aren't current, and the 90-day rule assumes a minimum level of recent practice.