Radiotelephony procedures
The core of the exam. You learn how a call is structured, who speaks first, how to acknowledge, when a read-back is required and which words carry a fixed meaning. Our phraseology primer explains the pattern.
Phonetic alphabet and numbers
Letters and digits are spoken in a standard way so they survive noise and accents. Expect questions on both the words and the special number pronunciations. See the alphabet and numbers guide.
Q codes and abbreviations
Short three-letter codes that begin with Q, plus the abbreviations used on charts and weather reports. The Q code guide covers the ones that come up most.
Distress, urgency and emergencies
The words that start a distress call, the difference between a distress and an urgency message, and what to say before anything else. These calls have a fixed order, so they reward memorisation.
Weather messages
Reading an aerodrome weather report and forecast: wind, visibility, cloud, temperature and pressure setting. See how to read a METAR.
Navigation and air traffic services
Basic ideas about navigation aids, air traffic control units and the services each one provides, so you know whom to call and when.
How questions are asked
The written paper is objective and tests recall and recognition. The practical asks you to use the same material under pressure. Because the second part is spoken, knowing a rule is not enough: you must be able to say it.
Quick answers
Is the RTR syllabus the same as the CPL ground syllabus?
No. The RTR(A) covers radio telephony only. The CPL ground subjects are far broader.
Which topic is the hardest?
Most students find fluent speaking harder than written recall, so start speaking practice early.
Answer questions on this topic, or run a full radio call out loud.
This guide is general study help written by RTR Exam. It is not an official publication of DGCA or ICAO. Confirm rules, fees, dates and syllabus with DGCA's latest notice.