C‑DRONE
Drone pilot handling a remote controller with live video feed

C-DRONE GUIDE · 23 AUGUST 2026

Renewing a Drone Pilot's Theory Certificates (A1/A3, A2, CATS): the Five-Year Rule

Five years after passing the A1/A3 test, the A2 certificate or the CATS specific-category exam, a French remote pilot is no longer compliant without ever having failed a session: the expiry date alone is enough. This five-year rule, common to all three routes into drone aviation theory, often catches a company or an employed pilot off guard, since nothing reminds them of it once the first exam is passed. Here is what each certificate requires, why the DGAC imposes this periodic recycling, how to renew it, and what a company employing or hiring a remote pilot should track to never be caught out the day before a mission.

Published on 23 August 2026, reviewed on 23 August 2026 — regulations in force as of August 2026.

Three distinct certificates, the same five-year rule

Three routes give access to a remote pilot's aviation theory, and since European harmonisation all three share the same validity period : five years from the pass date. The A1/A3 training — an online course followed by a test, free and open to any registered operator — unlocks most open-category uses: photography, video, inspection over clear ground, described in our guide to A1/A3 training and the A2 certificate. The A2 certificate, sat in an approved centre after self-declared practical training, authorises flight in close proximity to uninvolved third parties. The CATS, a supervised exam in a DGAC centre (an OCEANE room), gates access to the European standard scenarios STS-01 and STS-02 — flights over built-up areas or beyond visual line of sight — detailed in our guide to the CATS theory exam.

None of these three documents is valid indefinitely : on the five-year anniversary date, a pilot who has not retaken the corresponding test is no longer authorised to operate under that category or scenario, however long their flying experience.

Why the recycling: theory fades faster than the flying itself

This deadline is not arbitrary. A landmark meta-analysis on skill retention, published in 1998 in the journal Human Performance by Winfred Arthur, Winston Bennett, Pamela Stanush and Theresa McNelly, drawing on 53 studies and 189 independent effect sizes, shows that cognitive, declarative and accuracy-based tasks — such as retaining air law, airspace classifications or emergency procedures — decay noticeably faster with disuse than physical or motor tasks practised regularly (see the study on Google Scholar). That is exactly the profile of a remote pilot's theory syllabus: prohibited zones, aircraft categories, local weather phenomena, handling a lost link — knowledge that day-to-day flying does not automatically keep fresh, unlike the physical act of take-off or reading a flight plan.

A pilot who flies every week keeps their manual ease intact ; their precise knowledge of an order or a temporarily restricted zone, on the other hand, fades over the years if nothing puts it to the test. Periodic recycling targets exactly that weak point, rather than imposing a fresh in-flight assessment.

Renewing: retake the exam, no lighter procedure

Neither EASA nor the DGAC has to date formalised a renewal path distinct from the initial exam : the only established route is to retake the corresponding test before the five-year deadline. For A1/A3, this is quick and free: the online test can be retried at any time, with no limit on attempts, and issues a new certificate valid for five years from the new pass date. For A2 and CATS, the mechanics mirror a first attempt: registering for a session at an approved centre or on the DGAC's OCEANE portal, paying the exam fee, then sitting a supervised computer-based test.

There is no grace period past the anniversary date : a pilot who lets a certificate lapse is simply no longer authorised to operate under that category or scenario, even if they keep flying elsewhere under another still-valid certificate. Nothing, however, prevents renewing well ahead of time: retaking the exam several months before the deadline resets the five-year clock from the new pass date, without losing the time still left on the old certificate.

For the company: tracking every pilot's deadlines

For a company that has chosen an in-house pilot, the real risk is not regulatory but organisational : the same employee often holds several certificates obtained on different dates — A1/A3 in month one, A2 a few weeks later, CATS a year on to land a mission in a built-up area — multiplying the deadlines to track rather than lining them up on a single date. Without a dedicated register, the renewal is often discovered the day before a mission, while gathering the file's paperwork — the same reflex described in our guide to the MANEX and the maintenance log : keep a dashboard of validity dates up to date, on the same footing as the insurance policy or the operator's AlphaTango registration.

For a company using an outside contractor, the check is simpler but just as necessary : asking for the pass dates of the certificates covering the mission is one of the questions to raise before signing, described in our guide to choosing a professional drone pilot. Under an annual multi-site framework contract, that vigilance falls on the contractor : a serious operator renews its teams' certificates well ahead of the deadline, never passing that risk on to the client.

Method and price

Renewing the A1/A3 costs nothing : the online test can be retaken for free, in a few tens of minutes, with an instant result and a new certificate downloadable straight away. For A2 and CATS alike, the registration fee for a session at an approved centre stays, as for a first attempt, in the range of a few tens of euros, set by ministerial order ; an optional refresher — a few hours of self-study or a short course with a training organisation, rather than a full programme — is worth adding when the pilot has not touched the syllabus's more technical points (meteorology, airspace) for several years.

The only real cost to plan for is therefore time : the wait for a session slot (from a few days to several weeks depending on the centre), and above all the margin to build in ahead of the deadline so as never to end up with an expired certificate the day before a mission already booked. For a company that would rather hand this vigilance to a contractor already in order, rather than carry it in-house, request a quote stating the mission and the flight category targeted.

Frequently asked questions about renewing theory certificates

Is the renewal automatic? No : no systematic official reminder is sent to the pilot, and no renewal happens without retaking the corresponding test.

Can a pilot keep flying on the day of expiry? No : once the five-year anniversary date has passed, the certificate is no longer valid, whatever flying experience has been built up in the meantime.

Does the whole training need retaking, or just the exam? As things stand, only the obligation to retake the theory test is clearly established ; no additional training path is formally required beforehand, even though a refresher is still advisable.

Can a certificate be renewed ahead of time? Yes : the exam can be retaken at any point before the deadline, and the new five-year clock starts from the date of the fresh pass.

Request a free quote

Put it into practice

Also worth reading