BHPA Pilot rating: get qualified to fly cross-country

• What it is: The BHPA's "fully qualified" rating, and your ticket to cross-country flying.
• What you need first: Club Pilot (Novice).
• What you'll learn: Thermalling, top landings, accuracy, flying with others, plus air law, navigation, weather, principles of flight and airmanship.
• How long it takes: You work at your own pace in a club. Hill pilots need at least 50 flights and 25 hours.
• Cost: £20 for the rating (BHPA fees, 1 April 2026). The mock exams are at no cost.
• What's next: Pilot track: Advanced Pilot. Coaching track: Senior Coach, which needs the Pilot rating.

Two strands

• Flying tasks: done in the club, guided by Coaches or Instructors and signed off in the BHPA Pilot Task Book.
• The Pilot exam: sit it once all your flying tasks are done. A Coach or Instructor who holds the rating invigilates.

The flying tasks (hill pilots)

From the Pilot Task Book page the BHPA publishes online:

• At least 50 flights and 25 hours logged.
• Flights from 5 different sites, at least 3 of them inland.
• At least 3 flights of over an hour.
• 2 top landings at each of 3 different sites.
• 3 take-offs and 3 landings in winds under 5mph.
• 5 controlled landings within 10 metres of a target.
• 3 thermal climbs of more than 1,000ft.
• Co-ordinated 360° turns in both directions.
• Talk through slow flight, asymmetric tucks, stalls and spins, and rapid descents (B-line stall and spiral dive).
• Fly safely with others, keep a good look-out, follow the Rules of the Air, and show the right attitude.

Tow pilots have their own list, starting with at least 75 flights. The BHPA says the rating is similar to Stage 4 of the FAI Para Pro and Safe Pro schemes.

The exam

• Online: five shorter papers (meteorology, air law, principles of flight, human factors and airmanship, and navigation). You can sit them over several sessions, and you need 75% on each.
• On paper: one sitting of 1 hour 45 minutes, with 70% needed in every section.
• Paraglider pilots without a motor sit the Generic Pilot paper. The BHPA's no-cost online mock exams show you the level.

Start with the Foundation Syllabus

The optional Pilot Foundation Syllabus covers your first ten hours as a CP, while you fly with a red streamer. Many of its exercises count towards the Pilot rating, including two site assessments with a club coach.

Why it matters: cross-country

• Members with a Pilot rating or higher are authorised by the BHPA to fly cross-country.
• Fly cross-country without it and you breach Rule 9 of the BHPA Rules, and you won't be covered by its public liability insurance. There are two narrow exceptions for briefed flights.
• Any flight that isn't local counts as cross-country, including one that needs you to navigate around controlled airspace.

Source: Pilot Task Book (Pilot Stage), Pilot Exam Notes, Mock Pilot Rating Exams, Pilot Development, Who can fly cross-country?, BHPA Fees and Technical Manual (Amendment 24), BHPA, checked October 2026.

Governing body: British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (BHPA). It sets the UK safety standards and training awards for paragliding, so it's the official place to find out more.

Typical prices, checked October 2026. The club or coach sets and bills the price.

The club map lists some of the UK clubs for this sport. It is a starting point, so check with the club before you travel. To have a coach found for you, use the enquiry form.