CATS EXAM PREP · UPDATED OCTOBER 2026
Passing the French CATS drone exam: course and 104 practice questions
For €24 VAT included (€20.00 excl. VAT): a guide to prepare the French CATS theory exam that opens the standard scenarios STS-01 and STS-02.
VAT included (€20.00 excl. VAT) · secure Stripe payment · instant access to your guide after payment · terms of sale
Secure payment by Stripe · Apple Pay · Google Pay. You pay → instant access + email → findable at any time (Find my purchases) · Questions: devis@c-drone.fr
What you get
- The online guide: 12 chapters, about 49 A4 pages, printable to PDF
- 104 original practice questions, answered and explained: 64 by subject and a 40-question mock exam with its answer grid
- For: Remote pilots holding the A1/A3 certificate or the A2 certificate · Holders of the former French national theory certificate (CATT) · Remote pilots whose CATS expires after five years and
- Delivery: instant online access right after payment; Stripe invoice by email
- Preview: the whole first chapter, free, further down this page
Who it is for
- Remote pilots holding the A1/A3 certificate or the A2 certificate who need the standard scenarios to work in towns or beyond visual line of sight in France
- Employees trained by their company to bring STS-01 or STS-02 drone work in-house
- Holders of the former French national theory certificate (CATT) who now need the CATS
- Remote pilots whose CATS expires after five years and who are sitting the exam again
What this guide does not do: The questions are original, written from the official syllabus: the DGAC question bank is confidential and is not reproduced here · The guide does not replace the practical STS training, which is required on top of the exam, nor reading the official texts · It promises no pass rate: it gives a method and practice
Contents of the complete guide
- The CATS exam in 2026: what it opens, how it works, how to prepare (free extract below)
- Aviation regulation: specific category, standard scenarios, airspace
- Human performance limitations: fatigue, perception, vigilance
- Operational procedures: before the flight, contingencies, emergencies
- Technical and operational air risk mitigation
- General UAS knowledge: classes C5 and C6, flight termination, batteries, sensors
- Meteorology: wind, temperature, pressure, visibility and reports
- Flight performance: flight envelope, mass, centre of gravity, payload
- Technical and operational ground risk mitigation: the controlled ground area
- Mock exam: 40 questions under real conditions
- Exam day, and after: practical training, declaration, renewal
- Official sources and dates checked
Included: 8 checklist items and 11 decision or reference tables.
Introduction
The CATS (French acronym for the theory certificate for the standard scenarios) is a remote pilot's way into the specific category in France. Since 1 January 2026, the former French national scenarios S1, S2 and S3 can no longer be used: to fly in towns over a controlled ground area (STS-01) or beyond visual line of sight with observers (STS-02), you need this certificate, then a practical training attestation for the scenario.
This guide prepares the theory exam, and only that. It follows the official exam syllabus published by the French civil aviation authority, the DGAC (version of 31 May 2024), line by line, in eight subjects: regulation, human performance, operational procedures, air risk, general knowledge of the aircraft, meteorology, flight performance and ground risk. For each subject you get the core course, the classic traps, then eight practice questions with explained answers. A 40-question mixed mock exam with its answer grid completes the preparation.
The exam in France is sat in French. Throughout the guide, the French term you will meet on screen is given in brackets next to the English one, for example controlled ground area (zone contrôlée au sol).
Every question is original. The DGAC question bank is confidential: no question "taken from the exam" circulates legally, and this guide does not claim to reproduce any. The questions are written from the texts the exam assesses, at the same level.
The guide is up to date as of 21 October 2026. The rules quoted come from Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 and its Appendix 1 (standard scenarios), Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 (drone classes C5 and C6), the acceptable means of compliance published by EASA and the DGAC documents listed in the last chapter.
The CATS exam in 2026: what it opens, how it works, how to prepare
What the CATS opens, and what it does not
The CATS is the theory certificate required of a remote pilot flying in a European standard scenario, STS-01 or STS-02. The map of exams published by the DSAC (the DGAC's safety directorate, version of 29 October 2025) sums it up: it allows operations under the European scenarios STS-01 and STS-02, it is taken on the OCEANE exam system, it costs €30 and it is valid for five years.
The certificate is not enough on its own. To fly a standard scenario, the remote pilot also needs a practical training attestation specific to the scenario (one for STS-01, one for STS-02), issued by an operator declared for that activity. The operator, for its part, must have declared the scenario on AlphaTango, the French drone portal, and have a class C5 (STS-01) or C6 (STS-02) drone. The CATS is therefore the first of three steps: theory exam, practical training, operator declaration.
| Type of flight | Theory certificate | Where | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open category A1 and A3 | A1/A3 certificate | Online on AlphaTango, free | 5 years |
| Open category A2 | A2 certificate (after A1/A3 and self-practical training) | Supervised exam, €30 | 5 years |
| Standard scenarios STS-01 and STS-02 | CATS, then practical training attestation for the scenario | Exam in an OCEANE room at a DGAC centre, €30 | 5 years |
| Authorisation (PDRA, SORA) | Set by the authorisation | Per the authorisation | Per the authorisation |
Prerequisites
According to the DSAC map, you may register for the CATS if you hold the OPEN A1/A3 certificate, or the BAPD obtained by exams (A1/A3 certificate, A3 practical training and A2 exam). A BAPD obtained by converting a former national certificate is not accepted. Under the European texts, the minimum age of a remote pilot in the specific category is 16.
The exam format
The DGAC page on the specific category describes the exam as follows: 60 questions, 1 hour 30 minutes at most, on computer only in DGAC exam centres (OCEANE rooms). The questions are multiple choice.
For the pass mark, the authorities of other Member States that run the same European exam (Switzerland, Spain) publish a pass mark of 75% correct answers, on a 40-question format. French preparation websites quote the same mark. Check the exact pass mark and duration on your exam notice: those apply on the day. In any case, aim for over 85% in practice, to keep a margin.
Registering
Registration is on the DGAC exam portal (OCEANE): create a candidate account, choose the centre and session, pay the fee. The DGAC publishes the calendar and list of OCEANE exam centres (mainland France and overseas). Availability varies between centres: register as soon as your revision plan starts, and fit the end of your revision to the date you get.
The official syllabus, in eight subjects
| Subject | What is assessed (summary of the DGAC syllabus) | Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Aviation regulation | Specific category, responsibilities, SORA and PDRA, STS-01 and STS-02, airspace, AIP, NOTAM, charts | 2 |
| 2. Human performance limitations | Fatigue, circadian rhythm, stress, perception beyond line of sight, vision, visual scanning | 3 |
| 3. Operational procedures | Pre-flight actions specific to each scenario, intrusion into the area, flight termination failure, emergency plan | 4 |
| 4. Air risk mitigation | Notions of risk, strategic and tactical mitigations, see and avoid, STS-01 and STS-02 mitigations | 5 |
| 5. General UAS knowledge | Classes C5 and C6, flight termination, geocaging, batteries, inertial unit, speeds, altitude | 6 |
| 6. Meteorology | Wind, turbulence, temperature, pressure, visibility, density, local effects, METAR, TAF, charts | 7 |
| 7. Flight performance | Flight envelope, maximum mass, centre of gravity, payload, batteries | 8 |
| 8. Ground risk mitigation | Controlled ground area, buffer, STS-01 and STS-02 dimensions | 9 |
The four-week revision plan
Method counts as much as time. Two well-established research findings underpin it. First: testing yourself on what you have learnt fixes knowledge better than re-reading it; Roediger and Karpicke showed this in an experiment published in 2006 in Psychological Science ("Test-enhanced learning", DOI 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x), where students who had tested themselves retained more a week later than those who had re-read. Second: spacing revision over time beats cramming; that is the conclusion of the review by Cepeda and colleagues on distributed practice (Psychological Bulletin, 2006, DOI 10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354).
Hence the following plan, about an hour a day, five days a week:
| Week | Days 1 to 3 | Days 4 and 5 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapters 2 (regulation) and 9 (ground risk): read, then answer the questions without looking at the course | Redo the questions you missed; write each mistake in a notebook |
| 2 | Chapters 7 (meteorology) and 6 (UAS knowledge) | Questions of chapters 2 and 9 again, then 7 and 6 |
| 3 | Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 8 | All questions of chapters 2 to 9, timed |
| 4 | Mock exam of chapter 10 under real conditions (no notes, timed) | Go back over the mistakes notebook; redo the mock exam 48 hours later |
How it works
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Frequently asked questions
What does “Passing the French CATS drone exam: course and 104 practice questions” contain and how much is it?
For €24 VAT included (€20.00 excl. VAT), you get passing the French CATS drone exam: course and 104 practice questions: 12 chapters online, about 49 printable A4 pages, to prepare the French CATS theory exam that opens the standard scenarios STS-01 and STS-02: the official exam format, a condensed course that follows the DGAC syllabus line by line, 64 answered and explained practice questions, a 40-question mock exam with its answer grid, and a four-week revision plan.
How do I receive the guide?
Right after payment you are redirected to the complete guide's page. Bookmark it, or print it to PDF (Ctrl+P or Cmd+P, “Save as PDF”). Stripe also emails you the receipt.
Do I get an invoice?
Yes: Stripe generates the invoice and emails it. You can enter your company name and VAT number at checkout. Seller: Lacangel Group (VAT FR21995268018); prices VAT included.
Is the guide kept up to date?
Yes. The guide's page is updated when the rules change; your access stays valid and you always read the latest version.
Does this guide replace the official texts or a training course?
No. C-DRONE is neither the French civil aviation authority (DGAC) nor a training organisation: the guide explains and organises the paperwork, with links to the official sources, which alone are authoritative.
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