Are part 147 programs responsible for producing and supplying our passage rate to our local office?

Q: My FAA inspector is asking our program to provide our passage rate to show compliance with § 147.25. Is our part 147 program responsible for producing and supplying our passage rate to our local office?

A: No. AMTS are not responsible for calculating or producing passage rate data to demonstrate compliance with § 147.25. The FAA maintains custody of the testing data and is responsible for generating the passage rate information used to assess a school’s outcomes, including its passage rate.

To generate performance data, the FAA will rely on data from written test centers, oral and practical testing conducted through the Mechanic Test Generator, and authenticated graduation documentation submitted to the FAA, including FAA Form 8610-2. Because the FAA controls and consolidates these data sources, it is the only entity capable of producing an official and complete passage rate calculation.

Data collection for the Minimum Passage Rate Report began on August 1, 2023, when the FAA implemented the Mechanic Test Generator for oral and practical exams. The FAA first published the report in April 2025, with that initial release including data through the fourth quarter of 2024. Since that inaugural publication, additional reports have not been released.

Importantly, compliance with § 147.25 can not be fully evaluated until a full three-year data set is available, which is expected after the third quarter of 2026. Newly certificated schools will likewise not be assessed for compliance until they have accumulated three years of passage rate data.

While § 147.25 focuses on a minimum passage rate threshold, part 147 also includes broader quality requirements under § 147.17(a)(3), which require schools to ensure students are adequately prepared for FAA certification testing. ATEC continues to encourage the FAA to provide more comprehensive testing data beyond a single passage rate metric, including ACS-specific information that would give schools meaningful feedback on student performance. This broader data set would allow training organizations to identify trends, refine curricula, and strengthen training outcomes.

A dedicated breakout session on FAA testing data and passage rates is scheduled for the upcoming ATEC conference to further explore these issues and share updates with members.