The FCL.055 exam in Italy: taking the English test
The framework is European, the arrangements are national. Here is the procedure in Italy, with the texts it rests on.
Competent authority
Ente Nazionale per l'Aviazione Civile (ENAC). It approves language testing bodies (LTBs) and publishes the list.
Reference text
The legal basis remains point FCL.055 of Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 — the European framework described above. ENAC Nota Informativa NI-2020-027 of 30 July 2020 is not legislation: it is the administrative note setting out the approval procedure for Italian centres. It cancels and replaces NI-2012-007 and remains in force until further notice.
Test format
At centres approved under the ENAC procedure, the test has three sessions: listening; speaking (pronunciation, fluency, structure, vocabulary); interaction. Centres may be language schools, air operators, ATOs or DTOs — approval as an assessment body is required in every case.
The assessment is oral. It includes no reading, writing or theoretical grammar test — but command of grammatical structures is indeed assessed through speech, structure being one of the six ICAO descriptors.
Duration
Tests run under the ENAC procedure last at least 20 minutes, during which all six areas must be assessed. This floor is an Italian requirement: the European regulation sets none.
Grading
A level is awarded for each of the six areas; the final grade is the lowest of the six.
A second assessment is required: a senior examiner reviews the result and confirms or revises the level awarded.
Validity
Not set by Italy but by point FCL.055(c): 4 years at level 4, 6 years at level 5, no periodic re-assessment at level 6.
Specific features
- The two languages of the radiotelephony service are Italian and English. The endorsement must cover the language actually used in flight — holding both is not systematically required. English remains mandatory for instrument rating (IR) holders.
- If assessed as not proficient (level 3 or below), the candidate must undertake further training before re-sitting. If the second attempt also fails, the centre must send ENAC a detailed report.
- ENAC never accepts, as an FCL.055 test, the result of an English assessment carried out by a TRE during a proficiency check. The practical radiotelephony test an examiner may conduct is a separate exercise and does not replace it.
- Since 30 August 2022, ENAC accepts online tests delivered by a centre approved by an EASA-system State, provided the candidate's identity, the security of the test and its confidentiality are guaranteed throughout.
- Moving from Italian-only radiotelephony to English is not settled by FCL.055 alone. A national procedure applies as well (NI-2022-005 of 10 March 2022): training at an ATO or DTO, a theoretical communications exam, then a practical air-ground-air test before an examiner. The FCL.055 test at an approved centre is still required on top, and the licence entry follows only afterwards. Have ENAC confirm the steps before committing.