DLR test preparation: how pilot selection works

What the DLR test measures

The DLR test is the pilot aptitude assessment run by the Department of Aerospace Psychology at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, or DLR). Its Hamburg test centre screens up to around ten thousand applicants a year for pilot, air-traffic-control and astronaut roles, and DLR states the whole selection process is ISO 9001 certified.

For pilots, the computer battery assesses a broad spread of abilities that DLR itself lists: mental arithmetic, technical understanding, English, memory, attention, concentration, spatial orientation, psychomotor coordination, multitasking and personality. That breadth is why several airlines build their own cadet pipelines on top of a DLR result.

How the DLR assessment is structured

DLR selection is multi-stage. It opens with a supervised, computer-based basic examination (the Grunduntersuchung), sat at an individual workstation with a headset and input device, covering the cognitive, knowledge, psychomotor and personality tests above. Candidates who pass are invited to a company or main examination (the Firmenuntersuchung): a full assessment-centre day of role-plays, group exercises, a simulator or flight-device check and a semi-structured interview, ending in an overall risk assessment.

DLR also issues a separate DLR Certificate Cockpit, a computer-based session that documents whether a candidate meets the psychological requirements EASA has required for cockpit crews since 2021. DLR states the certificate reports competency ratings only and contains no pass-or-fail selection decision, and that it is valid for two years. DLR lists the certificate at 417.69 euros plus VAT for 2026; figures change, so confirm the current price on DLR's own site.

Which airlines use the DLR test

The best-documented user is the Lufthansa Group: its European Flight Academy requires a DLR test result as the first step of its cadet-pilot selection, before the airline's own group and simulator assessment. That relationship is confirmed on Lufthansa's own flight-school pages.

DLR also carries out suitability testing for the German air-navigation service DFS and for international airlines; its own materials give Turkish Airlines and Royal Jordanian as examples, and it tests helicopter-pilot candidates for German federal and state police. Other European carriers are reported to use DLR results too, though airline-owned confirmation is easiest to find for the Lufthansa Group.

SkyStudy is independent and not affiliated with any airline, school or test publisher named in this section. Operator usage changes between intakes and is rarely confirmed publicly, so always verify the current selection process in the operator's own published materials.

How to prepare for the DLR test, honestly

DLR does not publish practice material, and the real items are confidential, so no tool can hand you the actual test. What you can do is train the skills DLR says it measures, all of which respond to practice: fast mental arithmetic, especially delivered by audio with no pen and paper; spatial tasks such as folding cube nets and tracking a route; reverse digit-span memory; English; and dual-task multitasking.

Familiarity with these formats lets you spend the exam performing rather than decoding the instructions. Because the later stages are about behaviour under pressure and teamwork, prepare for those separately with honest self-reflection and interview practice rather than rehearsed answers. The free SkyStudy exercises below cover the cognitive and psychomotor side.

Sources

Facts on this page are drawn from the following, checked July 2026. Details change, so confirm current specifics with the publisher or your assessment provider.

• DLR, Aviation and Space Psychology Test Centre
• DLR, Department of Aerospace Psychology
• Lufthansa European Flight Academy, selection process

Other selection systems