What CAP3181 Changes for NPPL Microlight Students
Updated: 1 day ago
On 1 September 2026, the CAA published the new edition of CAP3181, the document that sets out the requirements and guidance for the National Private Pilot’s Licence.
For NPPL Microlight students, it brings a number of significant changes. Some affect the order in which training and examinations must be completed. Others change the navigation requirements or remove old time limits that could previously become a headache for students whose training was interrupted.
There are also changes for qualified NPPL holders when it comes to revalidating a Microlight class rating.
If you are currently training for an NPPL Microlight, or already hold one, here are the changes worth knowing about.
Partial Engine Failure Is Now a Dedicated Exercise
One of the most noticeable changes to the flying syllabus is the introduction of Exercise 16F: Partial engine failures en-route, in the circuit and after take-off.
Partial engine failures are not new to microlight training. They were previously covered within other exercises, including Circuit Training, Forced Landings and Precautionary Landings.
What has changed is the emphasis.
A complete engine failure gives the pilot a fairly unambiguous problem. The engine has stopped producing power and the priorities are clear.
A partial failure can be more difficult to manage. The engine may continue producing some power, but perhaps not enough to maintain height, and there is no guarantee that the remaining power will continue. That can tempt a pilot to spend too long troubleshooting or attempt to continue a flight when preparing to land would be the safer option.
CAP3181 now gives partial engine failure its own place in the Microlight syllabus, covering failures en-route, in the circuit and after take-off. The NPPL Microlight skill test schedule also specifically includes partial engine failures at all stages of flight.
For students, the practical effect is simple: expect partial power scenarios to receive more attention during your training.
Our Learn to Fly Video Series covers Exercise 16F, and all of the other exercises on the microlight training syllabi.
The Ground Exams Must Be Completed Before the GST
There is also a clearer sequence leading up to the General Skill Test.
All of the required theoretical knowledge examinations must now have been passed before you undertake the GST.
The same principle applies to the flight training syllabus. The exercises relevant to the course should have been completed before the test rather than treating the GST as something that can be fitted in while substantial parts of the training remain unfinished.
There is one useful exception.
If you have completed the required training but still have a shortfall in your supervised solo flight time, those remaining solo hours can be completed after passing the GST.
That includes the required solo navigation flying.
So, for example, a student who is ready for the test from a skills point of view does not necessarily have to delay the GST simply because several remaining solo hours still need to be accumulated.
What cannot be left until afterwards is unfinished dual training or syllabus exercises that form part of preparing you for the skill test.
The Solo Cross-Country Options Have Changed
The navigation requirement still includes five hours of navigation training, of which at least three hours must be solo.
Students then have two ways of satisfying the solo cross-country requirement.
The existing two-flight option remains. You can complete two solo cross-country flights, each covering at least 40 NM, with a landing at an aerodrome at least 15 NM from the departure point. The two flights must use different routes and different destination aerodromes.
The alternative is now a single solo cross-country flight of at least 80 NM total distance, including a full-stop landing at another aerodrome at least 15 NM from where you started.
That gives students and instructors a little more flexibility when planning the navigation phase of the course.
Rather than everybody having to follow exactly the same pattern, the route can be chosen to suit the student, aircraft, available aerodromes and local geography.
Some Training Hours No Longer Have Their Own Expiry Clock
Training can take longer than expected.
Weather intervenes. Aircraft go unserviceable. Students take breaks for work, family or finances. Under the previous arrangements, this could become particularly frustrating where certain solo or navigation experience had to fall within a specified period.
CAP3181 removes those separate time limitations from the solo and navigation hours themselves.
The familiar validity periods for the other elements remain. The theoretical knowledge examinations remain valid for 24 months, while the GST and associated ground oral have a nine-month validity period for licence issue.
But your solo or navigation hours do not simply become unusable because a separate clock has run out.
That should be particularly welcome for students whose training takes place over a longer period.
It does not mean that an instructor will automatically send somebody back to solo flying after a lengthy break. Currency and competence are still important, and further dual flying may be entirely appropriate before solo flight resumes.
The GST Really Is Near the End of the Course
Taken together, these changes make the intended sequence of training a little clearer.
By the time you reach the GST, you should have covered the flying syllabus and passed the required ground examinations. The GST then assesses whether you can put that training together and operate safely as pilot in command.
Any remaining supervised solo time can then be topped up before the licence application is made.
It simply means that previously completed qualifying hours do not have an arbitrary expiry period attached to them.
Revalidation Gives More Scope for Dual Flying
CAP3181 is not only relevant to students working towards their first NPPL.
There are also useful changes for pilots revalidating an existing Microlight class rating.
The basic revalidation-by-experience requirement is now 12 hours during the validity of the rating, including at least six hours as pilot in command, 12 take-offs and 12 landings, at least six hours in the final 12 months, and at least one hour of flying training with an instructor.
The important change is the PIC requirement.
Previously, the familiar split allowed four of the 12 hours to be flown under instruction, with eight hours required as PIC.
Only six hours now need to be PIC. In practice, that means as much as six hours of the required 12 can be dual instruction if that is useful to you.
There is no need to deliberately fly six hours with an instructor, of course. For many experienced pilots, the required instructional flight will be sufficient.
But it gives pilots considerably more flexibility to use instructional flying towards the total rather than feeling that time spent improving their skills with an instructor somehow does not count.
The CAA's current wording requires 12 hours in total with at least six as PIC, which is what produces that additional flexibility.
You May Not Need Any Microlight Time to Revalidate a Microlight Rating
Perhaps the more surprising revalidation change affects pilots who hold more than one class rating on their NPPL.
For an NPPL (A), the revalidation experience requirements can be met in any aeroplane class for which a class rating is included in the licence.
That means somebody holding Microlight, SEP and TMG ratings does not have to build a separate 12-hour total for each one.
More strikingly, it is possible to revalidate a Microlight class rating without having flown a microlight during the relevant period, provided the required experience has been completed in another qualifying class included in the NPPL and all the other revalidation requirements are satisfied.
So a pilot who flies regularly on SEP aircraft but also maintains a Microlight rating may be able to use that SEP experience to revalidate the Microlight rating.
This is a significant simplification for pilots who fly more than one class of aeroplane.
The CAA specifically describes the NPPL arrangement as allowing the requirements to be met in any aeroplane class on which the holder is rated.
What Should Current Microlight Students Do?
If you are already part-way through NPPL Microlight training, there is no reason to panic or assume that your previous training has somehow been wasted.
The most useful thing to do is speak to your instructor about where you currently sit within the revised syllabus.
You may find that very little changes. Many schools were already teaching much of this material, including partial engine failures, even though it was arranged differently within the syllabus.
The important thing is that your training record ultimately shows that the current requirements have been covered before you reach the relevant stage of the course.
The changes to navigation and the removal of separate time limits on solo and navigation experience may actually make completing the course more straightforward for some existing students.
QuizAero NPPL Microlight Courses Have Been Updated
We have updated our NPPL products to reflect the changes introduced in CAP3181.
QuizAero Bitesize Online Ground School for NPPL Microlights covers all five theoretical knowledge subjects: Air Law, Meteorology, Human Factors, Aircraft Technical and Navigation.
The course is divided into 25 chapters, using animations, clear diagrams and short explanations rather than simply presenting pages of textbook material. Your progress is saved across devices, so you can study on a computer, tablet or phone and continue where you left off.
It is suitable for both fixed-wing and flex-wing microlight, as well as student pilots studying for the NPPL (SEP) and NPPL (TMG).
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