The short answer for controllers
Air traffic controllers on international operations must hold at least ICAO Level 4 in English, per ICAO Annex 1 (icao.int could not be fetched this week), rated on the same six skills as pilots: pronunciation, structure, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension and interactions, with the overall level set by the lowest score. The test built with a dedicated ATC version is ELPAC, EUROCONTROL's test, which per its official site has Paper 1, a 45-item computer-marked listening test (the ATC version in four parts) and Paper 2, a live speaking test of about 20 minutes in three tasks, rated by two accredited assessors: an English Language Expert and an Operational Expert who is a serving or former controller or pilot. It reports Levels 3 to 6, states that "there is no compensatory marking", and says it is recognised by ICAO under the Aviation English Language Test Service (AELTS) through the end of 2026. Re-evaluation per Annex 1 as widely published, and per the ELPAC FAQ, is every three years at Level 4 and six at Level 5, with Level 6 not re-assessed; in EASA member states Level 6 for controllers is capped at nine years. In India the DGCA portal lists ATCO licensing, and the Airports Authority of India trains controllers at its Civil Aviation Training College in Prayagraj; the AAI pages we read this week do not name the English test, so this page gives no AAI figure. Below: ELPAC paper by paper, what the controller seat changes about the rating, the Indian context, and controller role plays written by TalkDrill.
- Paper 1: 45 computer-marked listening items, about 38 minutes per the FAQ; ATC version in four parts, pilot version in five.
- Paper 2: about 20 minutes (roughly 20 to 25 per test taker in the FAQ), three tasks, two accredited assessors (language expert and operational expert); a third assessor reviews the recording on disagreement.
- Rated against criteria "which derive from the ICAO rating scale and the holistic descriptors".
- Level = lowest rating across the six criteria from both assessors; Levels 3 to 6 reported; your user organisation issues the official report.
- Developed with ZHAW, operated with ENOVATE, run by user organisations; free sample tests for both versions.
- Validity per the FAQ: 3 years at Level 4, 6 at Level 5, Level 6 not re-assessed (capped at 9 years for controllers in EASA states). Partial re-sits possible within your organisation's and authority's rules. No fee published.
ELPAC format, per the official site
Everything in the middle column is quoted or closely paraphrased from the ELPAC site and its About the test, results, implementation and sample-test pages, read on 21 October 2026. Where the site did not give a fact, the cell says so. The right-hand column is our reading.
| Element | What the ELPAC site says | What it means in the test room (TalkDrill reading) |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | "The EUROCONTROL test for air traffic controllers and pilots, developed and maintained with the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and operated with ENOVATE" | A test built by the organisation that runs European air traffic management, not by a language school. |
| Paper 1 | "Computer-marked, 45 items"; "separate ATC (four parts) and Pilot (five parts) versions"; "recognition tasks based on radiotelephony recordings" and "multiple-choice questions on short and longer audio files"; about 38 minutes (FAQ) | Headphones, a screen, 45 items in the controller context, no human to re-ask. Comprehension is rated here with nothing to soften it. |
| Paper 2 | About 20 minutes, 3 tasks: "Standard phraseology and an unusual situation on the radiotelephony frequency"; "Picture description with hypothesising and problem-solving"; "Conversation about aviation topics in general" | Task 1 is where the controller seat shows: routine phraseology, then something phraseology does not cover. Task 2 asks you to speculate and solve. Task 3 is open conversation. |
| Raters | "Two accredited assessors: an English Language Expert (ELE) and an Operational Expert (OPE)", the OPE being "an operational or former air traffic controller or pilot" | One rater hears your grammar and sounds; the other hears whether what you said would work on frequency. |
| Disagreement and appeal | "The recording of Paper 2 is reviewed by an independent Third Assessor"; "the Third Assessor's decision is final". An appeal is possible if "external factors such as noise or distractions" affected you or the test was not run to ELPAC guidelines | Paper 2 is recorded. If the room was noisy, say so on the day and appeal through the test centre. |
| Criteria and result | "Rated against the ELPAC assessment criteria, which derive from the ICAO rating scale and the holistic descriptors"; "the ICAO level awarded is determined by the lowest rating across the six criteria from both assessors; there is no compensatory marking"; Levels 3 to 6 | Your weakest skill, as heard by either rater, is your level. |
| Report | "Your user organisation issues the official report to you and may also inform the relevant licensing authority"; the overall level is "normally available very quickly after Paper 2" | The report comes through your employer or training organisation, not from EUROCONTROL to you. |
| Access | User organisations are "ANSPs, airlines, training organisations and aviation authorities"; each signs the ELPAC Licence Agreement, designates a test administrator and nominates assessors for "training and accreditation by EUROCONTROL" | You reach ELPAC through your air navigation service provider or training organisation, not as a walk-in candidate. |
| Recognition | "ELPAC ATC and ELPAC Pilot are recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) under the Aviation English Language Test Service (AELTS)"; recognition "is valid through the end of 2026" | A dated claim; check it again in 2027. |
| Preparation | Sample tests "show the ELPAC test interface, audio quality and question format before the test"; "no sign-in is needed" | Do the ATC sample before test day; interface surprises cost listening items. |
| Validity and re-sits | FAQ: ATCOs and flight crew, Level 4 "valid 3 years", Level 5 "valid 6 years", Level 6 "not subject to re-assessment"; in EASA member states Level 6 for controllers "is capped at 9 years"; "partial re-sits are possible within the rules of your user organisation and national authority" | Your authority has the final say on validity, and your organisation on re-sits. |
| Fee | No price on any ELPAC page we read | Not stated here. Ask your user organisation. |
How a controller is rated: the same six skills, a different seat
The six lines of the ICAO rating scale do not change for controllers; the rating scale page quotes the Level 4 line for each. What changes is what the situation demands, because the controller seat uses the skills in a different order of importance. The table is our reading of the descriptors applied to the controller's job; it is judgement, not an ELPAC document.
| Skill | What the controller seat demands (TalkDrill) | Habits that often cost the mark (TalkDrill judgement) |
|---|---|---|
| Comprehension | Hearing a pilot with an unfamiliar accent say something the phraseology does not cover, first time, over a noisy channel. | Listening for the expected phrase and missing the sentence that did not match it; not asking "say again" because the frequency is busy. |
| Interactions | Asking the one question that gets the missing fact; catching a read-back that was almost right; taking control of an exchange that is drifting. | Accepting a read-back with the wrong number because the rhythm sounded right; repeating the instruction louder instead of rephrasing it. |
| Pronunciation | Numbers, call signs, waypoints and runway designators that a pilot of any first language can write down first time. | v and w merged in call signs (Hindi, Punjabi); th said as t or d in "three" and "thousand"; final consonants lost on "eight" and "left" (Vietnamese, Tagalog, Bahasa); p and b merged in "Papa" and "Bravo" (Arabic). |
| Vocabulary | Plain words for aircraft, vehicles, weather and ground situations when a pilot or a driver does not know the technical term. | Only the technical word, and silence when the pilot does not understand it. |
| Structure | Clear tense and sequence when explaining a delay, a closure or a conflict: what has happened, what is happening, what will happen. | Present tense for everything, so the pilot cannot tell whether the runway is closed or will close. |
| Fluency | An even tempo under traffic load, with short holding phrases rather than silence while thinking. | Very fast phraseology followed by long silence when plain English is needed. |
The operational rater on ELPAC Paper 2 is the reason to prepare this way. A linguist may hear "the runway is close" as a small error. A controller hears an ambiguity about whether to send the aircraft around. Both rate, and the lowest counts.
Validity and re-evaluation for controllers
Per ICAO Annex 1 (icao.int could not be fetched this week), re-evaluation is at least every three years at Level 4 and every six years at Level 5, with Level 6 not re-evaluated. ICAO frames the interval as a recommended practice that states implement. EUROCONTROL's ELPAC FAQ, read on 21 October 2026, gives the same intervals for ATCOs, adds that "in EASA Member States, level 6 validity for air traffic controllers is capped at 9 years", and says that "ultimately, the decision about validity is at the discretion of the competent authority". The Aero Language FAQ, a test provider's page and therefore secondary, prints the same 3, 6 and 9 years in its controller column and says the binding date is the one endorsed on the licence, "generally speaking" the end of the month of the exam plus the number of years. We have not read an AAI or DGCA page stating the controller interval this week, so read the expiry off your own licence. The levels and validity page has the full ICAO, EASA and controller table with sources.
| Level | ICAO Annex 1 (widely published) | Controllers (ELPAC FAQ) | Controllers in EASA member states (ELPAC FAQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | Do not meet the requirement | Below the operational minimum | Below the operational minimum |
| 4 Operational | At least every 3 years | 3 years | 3 years |
| 5 Extended | At least every 6 years | 6 years | 6 years |
| 6 Expert | Not re-evaluated | Not subject to re-assessment | Capped at 9 years |
Separately from licence validity, the ELPAC FAQ says ELPAC "can be used as part of an organisation's recurrent competency-check programme", with frequency and acceptance criteria set by "the applicable regulatory framework and the organisation's own procedures". So your unit may test you more often than the licence requires. Whatever the schedule, the expiry endorsed on your licence is the date that binds you.
AAI and DGCA context in India: what we could read
Here is exactly what the official pages gave us on 21 October 2026, and nothing more.
- The Airports Authority of India site lists, under Training Centres, "CATC, Allahabad", the "Indian Aviation Academy", two fire training institute centres and the Aviation Security Training Institute.
- The CATC site is the "Civil Aviation Training College, Airports Authority of India", at Bamrauli, Prayagraj, with courses under ATM and CNS. It does not mention English language proficiency, an ICAO level, ELPAC or any other test, or a fee.
- The DGCA portal, as served to us in Hindi, lists "ELP Training and Testing Service Provider" under Personnel, Training, Pilot; "Air Traffic Controllers" under Personnel, Licence Approval; and "ATCO Licensing" among its circulars. The eGCA support line shown is 1800-11-3422. The ELP provider list itself and any controller-specific ELP route were not on a page we could fetch.
What follows from that, stated carefully. ICAO Annex 1 applies the Level 4 requirement to controllers as well as pilots, and the DGCA portal treats ATCO licensing as its business, so expect an ELP level to matter for your licence as it does for a pilot's. Which test AAI arranges, whether it is run at CATC, what it costs and how often AAI re-evaluates are all marked check: ask your training unit or ATM in-charge, and read the DGCA circulars on ATCO licensing. Secondary sites publish numbers for some of these; we do not repeat them. The DGCA ELP page covers the eGCA endorsement route, and the fees, booking and results page will carry any AAI or DGCA figure the day we can read it on an official page, with the date.
For the Indian controller candidate
Three facts are enough to act on: the six skills and the lowest-score rule (Annex 1, widely published, and stated by ELPAC and TEA), the ELPAC shape of a listening paper plus a two-rater speaking paper as one model of a controller test (elpac.eurocontrol.int), and the DGCA portal as the authority on approved providers and ATCO licensing. Prepare for the skills, not for a rumoured format, and confirm the test name with your unit in writing.
Controller role plays, written by TalkDrill
The five exchanges below were written by TalkDrill for practice. They are not ELPAC items and not real transcripts, and the call sign is invented. In each, you are the controller; the pilot's lines are what the AI or a study partner says. The point of each is the switch from phraseology to plain English and back, and the question the situation needs. The first four mirror ELPAC Task 1, phraseology with an unusual situation; the fifth mirrors Task 2, a picture with hypothesising and problem-solving.
1. The read-back error
You: "Skyway four one two, descend flight level one two zero, QNH one zero zero eight." Pilot: "Descend flight level one one zero, QNH one zero zero eight, Skyway four one two." Task: catch the error and correct it without repeating the whole instruction louder. A Level 4 handling: "Skyway four one two, negative, I say again, descend flight level one two zero, one two zero. Read back." What the raters would listen for: interactions (the error was caught and clarified), pronunciation (the corrected number was stressed and separated), comprehension (the wrong read-back was heard against a busy frequency).
2. The non-standard request
Pilot, with an unfamiliar accent: "Tower, Skyway four one two, we have a problem with the... the door indication, the cargo door light is on, we would like to stop and check before we go to the runway." Task: understand a message that uses no phraseology, ask the one question you need, and give an instruction. A Level 4 handling: "Skyway four one two, roger, understood you have a cargo door warning. Confirm you are able to hold your present position on taxiway Charlie? ... Hold position, I will keep the area behind you clear. Report when the check is complete or if you need the engineers." What the raters would listen for: comprehension (the content was extracted from a non-standard message), vocabulary ("warning", "engineers", "keep the area clear"), interactions (a confirmation question, then a clear plan).
3. Explaining a delay in plain English
Pilot: "Approach, Skyway four one two, we have been holding for fifteen minutes, can you tell us what is happening and how long?" Task: explain a situation with a sequence: what happened, what is happening, what will happen. A Level 4 handling: "Skyway four one two, an aircraft ahead of you had a burst tyre on landing and is still on the runway. The vehicles are removing it now. We expect the runway open in about ten minutes, and you are number three for the approach after that. If you cannot hold for twenty-five minutes, tell me now and I will sequence you for the other runway." What the raters would listen for: structure (past, present and future kept clear), fluency (a long turn at an even tempo), interactions (an option offered before it was asked for).
4. The pilot who does not understand you
You: "Skyway four one two, vacate via Delta, contact ground one two one decimal eight." Pilot: "Say again for Skyway four one two?" You repeat, same words, same speed. Pilot: "Skyway four one two... say again the taxiway?" Task: rephrase, not repeat. A Level 4 handling: "Skyway four one two, after landing, turn right at the exit named Delta, D for Delta, the second exit. Then call ground on one two one decimal eight." What the raters would listen for: interactions (the misunderstanding was recognised and resolved with a different strategy), pronunciation (the designator was isolated and spelt), vocabulary (plain words for the same instruction).
5. A picture from the tower
Picture: a runway at dusk, a fuel bowser stopped across a taxiway, an aircraft waiting behind it with its landing light on. Examiner: "Describe what you see, and tell me what might have happened and what you would do." A Level 4 handling: "There is a fuel truck stopped across the taxiway, and an aircraft is holding behind it. It looks as if the truck has broken down, or the driver may have misunderstood a clearance and stopped short. From the tower, the first thing I would do is call the vehicle on the ground frequency to find out whether it can move. If it cannot, I would give the aircraft an alternative taxi route and warn any other traffic about the blocked taxiway." What the raters would listen for: vocabulary (paraphrase if "bowser" is missing), structure (speculation with "it looks as if", "may have"), interactions with the examiner (a clear plan in a sensible order).
What the listening paper asks of you
ELPAC does not publish its live items, and we have not seen the live paper, so this section is about the skill, not the paper. What the site does say is enough to plan around: 45 computer-marked items, the ATC version in four parts, built from "recognition tasks based on radiotelephony recordings" and "multiple-choice questions on short and longer audio files". That is 45 chances for one habit to cost you: listening for the phrase you expect instead of the message you were given. Controllers develop that habit because it is efficient on a routine day; it fails on the day a pilot reports something non-standard between two routine calls. The preparation is the same as for the speaking paper, done daily and voice-only:
- Ten minutes of recordings of pilots in accents you do not hear at your unit, from the Gulf, East Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Re-tell each message aloud, in full, then name anything you were unsure of.
- Number dictation in noise: a partner or the AI reads ten altitudes, headings and frequencies with radio noise in the background; you write them. Swap roles.
- Longer audio: one recording a day of a minute or more, an incident report or a briefing, after which you answer three questions from memory. This is the "longer audio files" shape.
- The ELPAC ATC sample test, twice: once to learn the interface and audio, once under time.
The non-routine situations page has 25 scenarios from both seats, and the mistakes by first language page covers the sounds that break numbers and call signs for Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Punjabi, Arabic, Tagalog, Bahasa, Vietnamese and Turkish speakers.
Practice route for controllers
- Confirm the test name with your unit, in writing: ELPAC, a national test or a DGCA-listed provider. Then do that test's sample material; for ELPAC, the free ATC sample.
- Daily, ten minutes, voice only: unfamiliar-accent recordings re-told aloud, plus one longer recording with questions. This is Paper 1 preparation and it also lifts the comprehension line in Paper 2.
- Daily, ten minutes, role play: one of the five exchanges above or a scenario from the non-routine page in TalkDrill role-play practice, with the AI as the pilot. Your targets per exchange: one correction or confirmation, one plain-English explanation with a clear sequence, one rephrase when "say again" comes.
- Daily, five minutes, numbers and call signs aloud in read-aloud practice, focused on the sounds your first language merges in the phonetic alphabet and the digits.
- Twice a week: a picture from the practice bank, described from the tower's point of view, with "what might have happened" and "what would you do".
- Weekly: a recorded full run, scored with the self-check sheet on the rating scale page. Keep the recordings.
- Week four: a full mock in the two-paper shape. A human mock with an ICAO-trained rater is not on TalkDrill yet; until it is, the AI mock is what we offer, and we say so.
The tests compared page puts ELPAC beside TEA and the other named tests, the 30-day roadmap arranges the steps above into four weeks, and the aviation English hub links the rest of the module.