The FAA and PSI are modernizing how airman knowledge tests are delivered — embedding chart images inside the questions themselves and moving to a paperless testing portal. Your exam content and the standard you're held to are not changing. How you'll read and answer the questions is.
From this date, the Instrument Rating Airplane (IRA) and Unmanned Aircraft General–Small (UAG) tests will include image-based questions whose images do not appear in the printed test supplement. The images are pulled from current VFR sectional charts, instrument approach charts, and IFR low altitude enroute charts — so they're cleaner and more up to date than the supplement versions.
PSI is moving its certification exams onto a new Test Taker Portal, built around a fully paperless experience with streamlined scheduling and check-in. The FAA has been explicit that exam content, standards, oversight, and security are unchanged by this transition. This is a target date, not a guarantee.
This is the change most people ask about, and it hasn't happened yet. The FAA has not set a date for removing supplements from testing centers, and has committed to giving the public ample notice beforehand. Until that day, you'll continue to receive the supplement for your exam.
Instead of flipping to a figure number in a separate printed booklet, you'll see the chart excerpt on screen as part of the question itself. The FAA's stated goal is to eventually remove the need for printed supplements altogether.
The FAA lists Private Pilot, Commercial Pilot, Sport Pilot, Instrument Rating, Unmanned Aircraft, Aviation Maintenance Technician (General, Airframe and Powerplant), Parachute Rigger, and Flight Engineer as exams featuring questions with embedded images.
Once an image is embedded in a live test question it becomes part of that question, so the FAA won't publish the specific images used — releasing them would compromise exam integrity.
That applies to everyone, including us. No test prep provider can legitimately show you the actual embedded images.
Some chart questions need a plotter or similar tool. The FAA has acknowledged this and says applicants will be given what they need to answer accurately. How on-screen tools will look and work hasn't been published yet, and the FAA has promised advance notice of anything significant.
Nothing about the subject matter, the passing score, or the standards has changed. If you can read a sectional and interpret an enroute chart, you can answer these questions — the chart is simply on the screen rather than in a booklet.
Memorizing "Figure 24" won't transfer. Genuinely understanding how to extract information from a chart will. That's a healthier way to prepare anyway, and it's what your examiner will probe on the oral.
The FAA encourages candidates to visit PSI's practice site to see sample questions and get comfortable with the new presentation before test day.
If your Instrument or drone test is booked before October 27, 2026, none of the IRA/UAG embedded-image changes apply to your sitting. Supplements are also still in use at test centers today.
We read every FAA Airman Testing Community Advisory as it's published, and our question bank is updated several times a month based on FAA revisions and real test-taker feedback. As the FAA publishes more detail about embedded images and on-screen tools, we'll adapt our explanations and practice material accordingly.
Current students get these updates as dashboard alerts, so you'll hear about anything that affects your exam while you're studying for it.
No. The FAA has stated that exam content, standards, oversight, and security remain unchanged. What's changing is delivery — images embedded into questions, and a move to a paperless portal.
Yes, for now. The FAA has not set a date for removing supplements from testing centers and has said the public will get ample notice first. Until then, you'll continue to have access to the supplement for your exam.
Not the live ones. Once an image is embedded in an active test question it becomes part of that question, so the FAA won't publish it. The FAA does encourage candidates to view sample questions on PSI's practice site to get familiar with the format.
Private Pilot and Commercial Pilot are both on the FAA's list of exams featuring questions with embedded images. The specific October 27, 2026 milestone — questions whose images aren't in the supplement at all — applies to the Instrument Rating (IRA) and small drone (UAG) tests.
There's no need to. The knowledge being tested is the same, and the FAA is providing the tools needed for chart questions. Test when you're prepared, not against an arbitrary deadline.
Sources and currency: the information on this page is drawn from the FAA's Airman Testing Community Advisory (June 2026 edition) and the FAA Airman Knowledge Testing Matrix. Dates described as targets are the FAA's own targets and may move. We update this page as new advisories are published — but for anything affecting your specific test, always confirm with the
FAA's airman testing pages or your testing center.
Last reviewed: August 2026.