Transport Canada doesn't publish official pass rate data for the INRAT. What we have is what flight instructors see over years of sending students to write it. That picture is consistent enough to be worth sharing.
What instructors actually see
Roughly 60–70% of candidates pass on their first attempt. That number moves a lot depending on how the candidate prepared. Students who worked through a structured plan with real practice questions are closer to 80–85%. Students who mainly read the study guide without testing themselves are closer to 50%.
The gap isn't intelligence. It's almost entirely whether candidates found their weak categories before exam day — or discovered them during it.
Why candidates fail
After watching hundreds of students write the INRAT, the failures cluster around a few patterns that come up again and again.
Studying FAA material
A lot of IFR prep content online is written for American FAA exams. The procedures, regulatory references, and airspace classifications differ enough that FAA material can actively give you wrong answers on the INRAT. If your study resource references FARs or 14 CFR, close the tab.
Avoiding the hard categories
GFA interpretation, two-way comm failure, and holding entries are intimidating — these are some of the 13 INRAT categories, so candidates skip them during prep. On exam day they don't get skipped. Several guesses in a row on categories you haven't studied is how you fail a 50-question exam by two or three marks.
Not reviewing wrong answers properly
Marking an answer wrong and moving on isn't studying. The INRAT uses well-constructed distractors — wrong options that look plausible. You need to understand why each wrong choice is wrong, not just which letter is right. That's what the exam actually tests.
Never doing a full timed run
50 questions in 3 hours is a different experience than 20-minute study sessions. The focus required is a skill on its own. I've had students score 85% in short sessions and struggle on the real exam simply because they'd never sat for the full three hours. Train the endurance, not just the knowledge.
How to be in the group that passes first try
The candidates who consistently pass do a few things differently:
- Read the TP 691E before touching practice questions
- Use practice questions as a diagnostic — tracking scores by category, not just overall
- Drill specifically on categories where they're scoring below 70%
- Run at least two full timed simulations before booking the real exam
- Aim for 80% in practice before feeling ready — the buffer matters on exam day
None of it is complicated. It's mostly a question of whether you're willing to find your weak spots early enough to do something about them.
Can you retake if you fail?
Yes. No limit on attempts. Transport Canada requires a waiting period between tries — check with your exam centre. Most candidates who come back with a more structured approach pass the second time.
That said, the re-exam fee isn't the real cost. A failed attempt delays your instrument rating, which affects your flying schedule and potentially your professional progression. The cost of proper prep is trivially small compared to that.
Find your gaps before exam day
476 INRAT practice questions tracked by category. Know exactly where you're weak before you sit the real exam.
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