The International Civil Aviation Organisation has an English language proficiency rating scale ranging from 1 to 6. This is used in Australia by CASA as the standard for PPL, CPL and ATPL Licences.

Level 1 – Pre-Elementary

Level 2 – Elementary

Level 3 – Pre-Operational

Level 4 – Operational  (minimum for PPL, CPL or ATPL – retest in 3 years)

Level 5 – Extended   (retest in 6 years)

Level 6 – Expert   (no further retest required)

Level 4 is the minimum for a licence holder. You must be re-assessed in three years time if you have Level 4 or six years time if you have Level 5.

If you are assessed at Level 6 you do not need to be reassessed in the future.

If you are an expert English speaker and considered to be at Level 6 then your Flight Examiner might be authorised to assess you and confirm this with CASA. However, if you are not a native English speaker you will be required to undertake an Aviation English Language Proficiency Assessment before doing your licence test. Flight Examiners are not authorised to assess at levels below Level 6 as this requires a specialist assessor.