How much does a night rating and an IR(R) cost in the UK? Course prices at 9 schools and clubs

Two ratings a UK private pilot can add after the licence are the night rating, for flying at night, and the IR(R), the restricted instrument rating that several schools still call the IMC rating. We read the course prices that UK flight schools and flying clubs publish on their own websites on 30 October 2026: nine publish a course price for one or both (two of the nine are pairs of operators that share one price list), and three more publish only hourly rates.

Short answer: a night rating course costs £1,220 to £1,950 at the seven UK schools and clubs that publish a price, with a median of £1,350, in the cheapest aircraft each one lists; in a four-seat PA28 it runs up to £2,150. The CAA charges £170 on top to issue the rating. An IR(R) course costs £3,500 to £7,500 at the eight that publish a price, with a median of £4,700, and up to £8,000 in a PA28 with advanced avionics. Most prices are for the minimum hours; extra hours, landing fees, approach fees and the test fee often come on top.

Night rating and IR(R) course prices at 9 UK schools and clubs

School or club	Night rating	IR(R)
Yorkshire Aero ClubSandtoft	at least£1,220to £1,395	in the region of£3,500to £4,100
Modern Air and British Aerobatic AcademyFowlmere	£1,275	£4,905
Redhill Aviation and Shoreham AviationRedhill and Shoreham	£1,282to £1,567	£3,855to £4,702
North West Flight TrainingBlackpool	from£1,350	around£4,000
The Pilot CentreDenham	£1,550	£4,650
Stapleford Flight CentreStapleford	£1,650	–
RavenairLiverpool	£1,950to £2,150	£7,500to £8,000
Blackbushe AviationBlackbushe	–	£4,750to £5,550
SEMET AviationBlackbushe	–	£5,130

What a night rating costs

The CAA sets the minimum: "At least 5 hours of flight time at night, including at least 3 hours of dual instruction, including at least 1 hour of cross-country navigation with at least one dual cross-country flight of at least 50 km (27 NM) and 5 solo take-offs and 5 solo full-stop landings", plus theoretical knowledge instruction, and the course "must be completed within a period of 6 months". Every course price below is built on those five hours.

The cheapest is Yorkshire Aero Club at Sandtoft, which says "as a minimum the course cost would be at least £1220 for our 2-seater aircraft, or £1395 for our 4-seater aircraft." Modern Air and the British Aerobatic Academy at Fowlmere, which publish the same prices, charge £1,275 in a Cessna 152 or Grob 115, with a "£20 landing fee/touch and go" and an hour of ground school at £80 on top. Redhill Aviation and Shoreham Aviation share one price table: £1,282 in a Cessna 152, £1,330 in a PA28-161 Warrior, £1,425 in a PA28-181 Archer and £1,567 in a PA28-200 Arrow, for a package paid in full, with landing, circuit and approach fees additional; Shoreham's own course pages still show older prices from April 2025, while the shared table is dated 1 April 2026. North West Flight Training at Blackpool tells you to "budget around £1,350 to cover the minimum 5 hours instruction and the minimum number of landings".

Further up, The Pilot Centre at Denham charges £1,550 for five hours in a PA28 and Stapleford Flight Centre £1,650 for "4 hrs dual & 1 hr Solo". The dearest is Ravenair at Liverpool: "The Night Rating package costs £1,950 for the 2 seat PA38 or £2,150 for the 4 seat PA28", and that package includes "all landing and circuit fees".

Then the CAA's own fee: "The fee for the issue of a night rating is £ 170." A LAPL holder must also have done "the basic instrument flight training required for the issue of the PPL" before completing the night training.

What an IR(R) costs

The IR(R) is a longer course. Redhill Aviation describes it as a rating that "qualifies you to fly IFR in class D to G airspace, together with making instrument approaches down to an absolute minimum of 500 feet", and the course as "15 hours of dual instruction, a simple written exam and a flight test". The Pilot Centre, Blackbushe Aviation, SEMET Aviation and North West Flight Training also price their courses on 15 hours.

The lowest estimate is again Yorkshire Aero Club: "assuming minimum hours, first-time pass" in the theory exam and the skills test, "in the region of £3500" in its two-seater, or £4,100 in its four-seater. Redhill and Shoreham charge £3,855 in a Cessna 152 and £3,990 to £4,702 in their PA28s, with "Landing, circuit & approach fees" additional. North West Flight Training says to budget around £4,000, with the flight test normally on top, The Pilot Centre charges £4,650 in a PA28 plus an "IMC examiner fee £220", and Blackbushe Aviation £4,750 in a PA28 or £5,550 in a retractable PA28R — "All inclusive", with "15 hours flying, ground school, landing fees, membership and written exam."

Modern Air and the British Aerobatic Academy charge £4,905, which includes the theory exam but "excludes landing fees or any approach fees"; Modern Air flies the course in a Cessna Cardinal RG, adds charges for approaches at Cambridge or Cranfield, and says its flight test "would be charged at the hourly rate plus £200 test fee". SEMET Aviation at Blackbushe charges £5,130 in a Cessna 172 for 15 hours of flying, 6 hours of ground school and the theory exam, with all landing and circuit fees included and £315 more in a PA28, and warns that "Approach fees cost on average £20 per instrument approach" — about ten approaches in the course. Ravenair sells the IR(R) as a package at £7,500 in a PA28 and £8,000 in its P28U with advanced avionics, including "all landing and approach fees".

Hourly rates instead of a course price

Three more operators publish only what an hour of night or instrument training costs. Cambridge Aero Club lists night rates from £294.23 an hour in a Cessna 152 and IR(R) rates for its Cessna 172 and 182, £344.55 and £402.50 an hour: "All prices are inclusive of fuel and VAT. Landings charged separately". Andrewsfield Aviation charges £239 or £255.50 an hour for IMC instruction in a Cessna 152 or PA28, and "Night Instruction Additional £12". Sherburn Aero Club adds an instructor fee of £50.00 per hour flown for "Advanced e.g IR(R), Night, Aerobatics" to the aircraft rate. At Cambridge, the minimum five night hours in a Cessna 152 come to £1,471 and fifteen IR(R) hours in a Cessna 172 to £5,168, before landings and the test — inside the range of the course prices.

What to check before you book

• Minimum hours or a real budget. Almost every price is for the minimum hours. Stapleford says its fees "are based on minimum hours per course, please budget for additional hours if required", and Yorkshire Aero Club's IR(R) figure assumes a first-time pass in the theory exam and the skills test.
• What sits outside the price. Landing and touch-and-go fees (Modern Air £20 each), approach fees (SEMET about £20 each), the examiner fee (The Pilot Centre £220, Modern Air £200 plus the aircraft) and the CAA's £170 for the night rating. Ravenair includes all landing and circuit fees in its night rating and all landing and approach fees in its IR(R); Blackbushe Aviation includes landing fees, and SEMET landing and circuit fees but not approaches. Modern Air, Redhill and Shoreham add landing and approach fees on top, and The Pilot Centre's hourly training rates include landing fees at Denham. The others do not say.
• The aircraft. A two-seater is the cheapest way to the night rating; the same course in a four-seat PA28 costs £48 to £200 more where both are listed (Redhill and Shoreham £48 for the Warrior, Yorkshire Aero Club £175, Ravenair £200).
• Paying up front. Redhill and Shoreham's prices are for a package paid in full.

Clubs and schools

Most of these are schools; Yorkshire Aero Club, Cambridge Aero Club and Sherburn Aero Club are clubs. What a club charges its members for the aircraft is in our flying club cost guide, and what a flight instructor costs per hour shows the instructor's part of a training hour. If you have not got the licence yet, start with what a PPL costs in the UK and Europe.

Sources

Every price was read on the operator's own website on 30 October 2026: Yorkshire Aero Club, Modern Air and the British Aerobatic Academy, Redhill Aviation and Shoreham Aviation, North West Flight Training, The Pilot Centre, Stapleford Flight Centre, Ravenair, Blackbushe Aviation and SEMET Aviation (course prices); Cambridge Aero Club, Andrewsfield Aviation and Sherburn Aero Club (hourly rates). The night rating minimums and the £170 fee are from the CAA's page on the night rating for aeroplanes. Cranfield Flying School publishes both ratings in a price list dated May 2025; we left it out as older than the rest. Prices change; check the operator's page before you book.