SEP revalidation by experience: UK CAA and EASA requirements, and what it costs

A single-engine piston (SEP) class rating is valid for two years. Most private pilots keep it alive by experience: enough hours in the class, plus an hour with an instructor, signed off before the expiry date. The UK CAA and EASA use almost the same words for this, with one difference that decides whether your logbook is enough. We read the rules on the regulators' own pages, and the price of the refresher hour on the price lists of UK clubs and schools, on 30 October 2026.

Short answer: to revalidate an SEP rating by experience you need 12 hours in the class, including 6 hours as pilot in command, 12 take-offs and 12 landings, and at least 1 hour of refresher training with a flight instructor (FI) or class rating instructor (CRI). Under EASA all 12 hours must fall in the 12 months before the rating expires. Under the UK CAA the 12 hours count over the whole two-year validity period, as long as 6 of them fall in the last 12 months. The refresher hour costs one dual hour at your club's rate: £220 to £284.17 at the four UK clubs and schools that publish one, with a median of £241.50.

SEP revalidation by experience: UK CAA and EASA

Requirement	UK CAA	EASA
Rating valid for	2 years	2 years
Window for the 12 hours	the whole 24-month validity period	the 12 months before expiry
Hours in the last 12 months	at least 6	all 12
As pilot in command	6 hours	6 hours
Take-offs and landings	12 and 12	12 and 12
Refresher training	at least 1 hour with an FI or CRI	at least 1 hour with an FI or CRI
No refresher needed after	a proficiency check, skill test or assessment of competence in another class or type (not for the NPPL)	a proficiency check, skill test, EBT practical assessment or assessment of competence in any class or type
Instead of all this	a proficiency check with an examiner in the last 3 months	a proficiency check with an examiner in the last 3 months
LAPL holders	fixed 2-year rating under FCL.740.A (transition due before 1 October 2026; after that, renewal)	recency: 12 hours in the last 2 years (FCL.140.A)

The rule, word for word

EASA's rule is FCL.740.A(b)(1)(ii) in the Easy Access Rules for Aircrew. Applicants shall "within the 12 months preceding the expiry date of the rating, complete 12 hours of flight time in the relevant class", including "6 hours as PIC", "12 take-offs and 12 landings" and "refresher training of at least 1 hour of total flight time with and to the satisfaction of a flight instructor (FI) or a class rating instructor (CRI)". The rating itself is valid for two years: "single-pilot single-engine class ratings for which the validity period shall be 2 years".

The UK CAA words it differently: "Within the validity period of the rating as set out in FCL.740(a), complete 12 hours of flight time in the relevant class, including: 6 hours during the 12 months preceding the expiry date of the rating", "6 hours as PIC", "12 take-offs and 12 landings" and "Refresher training of at least 1 hour of total flight time with a flight instructor (FI) or a class rating instructor (CRI)". In the UK the first two years are "counted from the end of the calendar month in which you completed your skill test".

The refresher hour is part of the 12 hours: both rules list it among them. The CAA's guidance on this flight, CAP3303, says what it is not: "It is not a test or proficiency check". Where the aircraft, the weather or related operational limits make one hour impractical, it "may be met through at least one hour of instruction spread over two flights", and the instructor signs only once the full hour is flown. CAP3303 adds: "As a minimum, it should include the recognition of and recovery from stall scenarios, together with simulated partial engine power loss scenarios during different phases of flight."

Where the UK and EASA differ

The difference is the window. Under EASA, hours from the first year of the rating do not count at all. In the UK they do, as long as at least 6 of the 12 are in the last year. At least one UK school describes the EASA version on its own page, so check against the CAA.

Same hours, different answer: three logbooks

Logbook	First year	Last 12 months	UK CAA	EASA
Pilot A	4 h	8 h	Yes	No
Pilot B	7 h	5 h	No	No
Pilot C	0 h	12 h	Yes	Yes

Pilot A flew 4 hours in the first year and 8 in the last: enough in the UK, not enough under EASA, which needs all 12 in the last 12 months. Pilot B flew 7 and 5: 12 hours in total, but only 5 in the last year, so neither rule is met. Pilot C flew all 12 in the last year and meets both.

There are two smaller differences. Both rules drop the refresher hour if you passed a proficiency check, skill test or assessment of competence in another class or type: EASA also accepts an EBT practical assessment and says "in any class or type of aeroplane", the CAA says "in any other class or type of aeroplane", and in the UK the exemption does not apply to an NPPL(A) revalidation. And the LAPL: under EASA a LAPL(A) holder has no rating to revalidate but a recency rule, "in the last 2 years" 12 hours, 12 take-offs and landings and a refresher hour with an instructor, or a LAPL(A) proficiency check with an examiner (FCL.140.A). In the UK that has ended: "All LAPL(A) holders are now required to comply with FCL.740.A", with a fixed two-year rating that holders should have moved to before 1 October 2026; those who did not must now renew under FCL.740. The CAA no longer issues the LAPL(A) at all; our PPL cost guide has what the PPL and the NPPL cost instead.

The other route: a proficiency check

If the hours are not there, both rules offer the same alternative, in the CAA's words: "Within the 3 months preceding the expiry date of the rating, pass a proficiency check in the relevant class in accordance with Appendix 9 of Part-FCL with an examiner". You fly the check with an examiner in your own class of aircraft.

Who signs, and what you send the CAA

In the UK an instructor who holds FCL.945 privileges and flew the refresher hour can sign it off: "If the instructor considers that the revalidation requirements are met, they will also revalidate the applicable class rating(s) by endorsing the Certificate of Revalidation in your licence with the new validity period." If it is signed in the field, the CAA says "there is no need to make an application"; you must make sure the examiner emails form SRG1157, or the instructor SRG1107, to the CAA for your file. Note that "a licence cannot be endorsed by a non-UK Examiner/Instructor for revalidation by experience." If nobody endorsed your licence, you apply online with form SRG3108 and upload the report form, your logbook and your licence.

Under EASA the instructor "shall endorse the applicant's licence with the new expiry date of the rating, if specifically authorised for that purpose by the competent authority responsible for the applicant's licence", so whether your instructor can sign depends on the authority that issued your licence.

If an NPPL revalidation does go to the CAA as an application, the fee is "Via recommendation from LAA - Rating addition, variation, revalidation or renewal £55", or £125 when you apply direct.

What it costs

What SEP revalidation costs at UK schools and clubs

School or club	Price
Refresher hour (revalidation by experience)
Yorkshire Aero ClubCessna 150 dual	£220
Sherburn Aero ClubCessna 152 Aerobat £182 + instructor £46	£228
The Pilot CentreCessna 152	£255
Cambridge Aero ClubCessna 152 dual	£284.17
Ultimate High1 hour in a T67M260 Slingsby Firefly	£430
Examiner fee (proficiency check or renewal)
Cambridge Aero ClubRenewal Test SEP	£150
Yorkshire Aero ClubSEP Renewal / LPC test	£160
The Pilot CentreProficiency Check / Renewal examiner fee	£175

Revalidation by experience costs whatever the 12 hours cost you anyway, plus one hour with an instructor. Four UK clubs and schools publish a dual rate that covers it, in the cheapest aircraft each lists. Yorkshire Aero Club charges "Cessna 150 dual training £220 Per Hour". Sherburn Aero Club charges £182 an hour for its Cessna 152 Aerobat plus a standard instructor fee of £46, £228 together. The Pilot Centre at Denham charges £255 for a Cessna 152, including VAT, the instructor, landing fees at Denham and insurance. Cambridge Aero Club charges £284.17 for a Cessna 152 dual, "inclusive of fuel and VAT. Landings charged separately". The median of the four is £241.50.

One school sells the hour as a package: Ultimate High at Goodwood flies it in a T67M260 Slingsby Firefly, where the hour can include UPRT or aerobatics: "Price £430 all inclusive", with a brief, a debrief and the instructor's sign-off.

The proficiency check route costs an examiner fee plus the aircraft. Cambridge Aero Club lists "Renewal Test SEP £150.00", paid to the examiner, with solo hire of the aircraft and membership (or a £35 handling fee) on top; Yorkshire Aero Club "SEP Renewal / LPC test £160 Examiner fee for conducting test"; and The Pilot Centre "Proficiency Check / Renewal examiner fee £175". Sherburn Aero Club lists a "Licence Proficiency Test" at £202.00 without saying what it includes. Instructor rates on their own, at clubs and schools in more countries, are in what a flight instructor costs per hour.

If the rating has already expired

Then it is a renewal, not a revalidation. The CAA: "If your rating expires, you will need to take refresher training as determined by an ATO/DTO and pass a proficiency check with a suitably qualified examiner." EASA's FCL.740(b) first asks for an assessment of how much refresher training you need, which for a non-high-performance SEP rating can be done "at a DTO, at an ATO or with an instructor, if the rating expired no more than 3 years ago", then the training if needed, then the proficiency check. That is an examiner fee and an aircraft on top of any training, so the date on your licence is worth a reminder.

Keeping track at a club

At a club the hours are in two places: your own logbook and the club's flight log of who flew which aircraft. Count the hours per year of your rating, not per calendar year, and book the refresher hour well before the expiry date. If you also want to add a rating, what a night rating and an IR(R) cost in the UK has the course prices, what a tailwheel conversion costs covers the step to a Super Cub or Citabria, and the self-fly hire rates of 16 UK clubs and schools are in how much it costs to rent a plane.

Sources

Rules read on 30 October 2026 on the regulators' own pages: the UK CAA's SEP rating page, CAP3303 (version 1, September 2026), the LAPL page and the licence fees page; EASA's Easy Access Rules for Aircrew (revision October 2026: FCL.740(a) and (b), FCL.740.A, FCL.945 and FCL.140.A). Prices read on the same day on each operator's own price list: Yorkshire Aero Club, Sherburn Aero Club, The Pilot Centre, Cambridge Aero Club and Ultimate High.