1.1 Certificate Ratings and the Three-Test Roadmap

Start with the certificate frame

The FAA mechanic certificate can be issued with an Airframe rating, a Powerplant rating, or both. When both ratings are held, the certificate is commonly called an A&P certificate. That familiar phrase is useful, but it can hide the official structure. The certificate is the mechanic certificate, and the ratings identify the privileges sought or held.

This distinction matters because the knowledge testing path is not one all-in A&P written test. The FAA lists three separate Aviation Maintenance Technician knowledge tests. AMG is Aviation Maintenance Technician General. AMA is Aviation Maintenance Technician Airframe. AMP is Aviation Maintenance Technician Powerplant. Each has its own test code, count, time limit, and score.

Use the rating you seek to decide which tests belong in your plan. A candidate seeking only Airframe still needs to understand how General fits the mechanic path. A candidate seeking only Powerplant has the same General relationship. A candidate seeking both ratings needs a plan for all three knowledge tests, followed by the oral and practical testing required for the certificate and ratings sought.

The FAA path also has an order. Candidates must pass the applicable knowledge tests before oral and practical testing with a Designated Mechanic Examiner, commonly called a DME. That does not mean the knowledge tests are the whole certification process. It means they are a required gate before the oral and practical evaluation.

A useful roadmap looks like this:

• Confirm which rating or ratings you are seeking.
• Confirm eligibility through experience, an FAA-certificated Aviation Maintenance Technician School, or a military pathway when applicable.
• Obtain an FAA Tracking Number through IACRA if you do not already have one.
• Bring the required authorization document for the knowledge test path you are using.
• Schedule and pass the applicable AMG, AMA, and AMP knowledge tests.
• Preserve Airman Knowledge Test Reports because they matter after the written tests.
• Move to DME oral and practical testing only after the applicable knowledge tests are passed.

Do not collapse these steps into a single event in your notes. The FAA framework is modular. Eligibility, FTN, authorization, each knowledge test, the AKTR, and DME testing each solve a different requirement. Clean separation prevents administrative mistakes and also makes the study plan easier to manage.

For exam preparation, the most important early habit is naming the exact test you are preparing for. AMG, AMA, and AMP overlap in the mechanic pathway, but they are not interchangeable. If your study tracker says A&P written, replace it with the actual test code and rating goal. That one change keeps your schedule aligned with FAA terminology and helps avoid the false idea that there is a single combined knowledge-test score.