Pilot licensing in the United Kingdom

Pilot licensing in the United Kingdom is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) under the auspices of the European Aviation Safety Agency. Each member nation in the EU has responsibility for regulating their own pilot licensing. The principal reference for flight crew licensing in the UK is CAP 804 which is published by the CAA on paper and online.

The UK currently grants several levels of licence:

The licence held by a pilot confers privileges on the sort of flying they may carry out—broadly, whether or not they may receive remuneration for doing so—and are independent of any aircraft type, or class, ratings included in the holder's licence and other ratings required for flying under specified conditions.

Currently British glider pilots do not require a CAA-granted licence. Regulation of gliding is through the British Gliding Association and its affiliated clubs. However, from April 2018 they will require a CAA issued LAPL(S) (or the international Sailplane Pilots Licence - SPL) to fly EASA registered sailplanes. The UK NPPL has close links with the gliding community and a gliding licence can be converted.

The UK National Private Pilot Licence is a restricted form of the PPL introduced in 2002 for recreational pilots. It has a less stringent medical requirement than the EASA-FCL PPL and a reduced flying syllabus.

The NPPL is administered by the National Pilots Licensing Group under supervision of the CAA. It is granted in two forms:

The NPPL is a sub-ICAO licence meaning the holder is limited to operating only UK-registered aircraft and it cannot be used outside of the UK without permission from the regulatory authority of any foreign jurisdiction whose airspace the holder intends to operate into. The holder, when operating under the privileges of the NPPL, is furthermore restricted to operations in accordance with the VFR. The NPPL is more restricting in respect of additional aircraft ratings which may be added compared with an EASAFCL PPL or LAPL.

The Private Pilot Licence confers on the holder a privilege to act as the pilot in command of certain kinds of aircraft. The holder may not operate for valuable consideration, i.e. any form of reward, either financial or in kind. However, subject to national restrictions governing the soliciting of passengers to be carried on board an aircraft operated by a PPL holder, and in addition to several other requirements, a PPL holder may carry passengers who make a remunerative contribution toward the direct cost of the flights.

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Wikipedia