UK CAA GVC, online
The GVC is the qualification behind a CAA Operational Authorisation: drones up to 25 kg, in residential and commercial areas, as close as 50 metres to people. Complete the theory online at your own pace, a practical flight assessment at one of our national assessment centres, and we complete the operations manual for you. We'll be releasing our online GVC course to the public very soon. Join the waitlist, and you'll be the first to know when it goes live.
The professional drone course
The A2 CofC lets you fly closer to people in the Open Category. The GVC is what you hold when the Open Category isn't enough, and allows you to fly in the 'Specific Category'.
It's the qualification the CAA requires if you want to apply for an Operational Authorisation (OA) under PDRA01: drones up to 25 kg, in residential, commercial, and industrial areas, down to as close as 50 metres of uninvolved people. That's most of the paid work in the UK, and most of the interesting flying.
You study the theory online, in your own time. You sit the online exam when you're ready. Then you'll take a practical flight assessment at one of our national assessment centres. We'll then create an operations manual written for you so you're good to apply to the CAA for your OA.
To be clear, none of this is a legal requirement for paid work. There's no qualification you must hold to be paid to fly a drone in the UK.
What the GVC changes is where you're allowed to fly, how close, and how professional you come across to future clients.
What it allows
The GVC on its own is a certificate: the 'General Visual Line of Sight Certificate'. Paired with your Operational Authorisation from the CAA, this is what it opens up.
Why people get their GVC
The four reasons people give us, in the order they usually give them.
Meet your instructor
Matt Williams is an ex-RAF Combat Pilot and Flying Instructor. He has flown model planes and helicopters since he was a child, and became a super-heavy lift drone pilot for Film & TV in 2010. Since then, he's flown all over the world, from the deserts of Morocco to the Peaks of the Andes in Peru. He also built and exited the UK's largest drone training school. He wrote the first A2 CofC and GVC course material ever approved by the UK CAA, and founded the UK's first Recognised Assessment Entity in 2020. He has now trained more than 66,500 drone pilots, worldwide.
66,500+
drone pilots trained since 2014
30+
years of flying and teaching
1,000+
drone business owners coached
How the online route runs
The GVC course essentially consists of 3 main parts.
1) The theory element. Studied online, in your own time and on any device. When the mock exams say you're ready, you sit the GVC theory exam.
2) The practical element. A flight assessment at one of our national assessment centres, with an assessor, flying an aircraft you're comfortable with. You show us you can plan a flight, brief it, fly it safely and handle it when something goes wrong. We show you everything you need to know to practise for and pass the test during the course... We also offer flight training with our assessors if you'd like to brush up your skills and prepare for your exam.
3) Alongside the assessment, we'll create a bespoke CAA Drone Operations Manual for you. It's the document the CAA holds you to, and it's the thing most people struggle with when doing their GVC with other providers... We don't leave you on your own with this, charge you extra, or give you an out-of-date template for you to complete... When you train with us, we write yours specifically for how you actually operate, and it's what you submit with your Operational Authorisation application.
Once you've completed all 3 elements of the course, we'll issue you with your GVC.
From there, you'll apply directly to the CAA for your Operational Authorisation, and you're up and running!
Before you join
We'd rather tell you up front what you'll need to complete the course, than find out after you've paid.
After you join the waitlist
Nothing is reserved and nothing is charged. Four steps from here to a place on the course.
The syllabus
The GVC theory follows the CAA's syllabus for the Specific Category. Everything below is taught in short videos and checked with mock exams before you sit the real one.
how we're different, here at bsdt
When you join us here at Blue Skies Drone Training, you don't just get your course and certificate.
The real value comes from the additional value we include as standard.
We've been doing this since 2014, and over the years, we've found that it's what comes AFTER getting your certificate that determines whether you thrive in this exciting new industry, or not.
We can't wait to see you on the course, but until then, fly safe & blue skies!
The course
£TBC
The online GVC opens soon and the price isn't published yet. Join the waitlist and you'll hear the price and the opening date before anyone else. No obligation, nothing reserved.
Please note this list is for the online GVC only. In-person GVC dates will be handled separately and will be coming soon.
Included as standard
Questions before you join?
Call 01782 307 323
Questions
The A2 lets you fly closer to people in the Open Category, on a class-marked or legacy drone. The GVC is the qualification behind an Operational Authorisation in the Specific Category: aircraft up to 25 kg, residential and commercial areas, down to as close as 50 metres to uninvolved people.
Most people doing paid work hold both. The A2 is the cheaper half to do first, and it's the usual next step after your Flyer ID. The GVC is the next level up and really separates 'hobbyist' from 'professional'.
No. The GVC stands on its own. If you already hold the A2, some of the theory will be familiar and you'll move through it faster.
No, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. There's no qualification requirement for paid drone work in the UK.
What the GVC changes is where you can fly and how close. If the work you want is in towns, on sites, near people or with heavier aircraft, that needs an Operational Authorisation, and the GVC is the qualification behind it.
Permission from the CAA to operate in the Specific Category. Under PDRA01 it covers aircraft up to 25 kg, in residential, commercial, industrial and recreational areas, within 50 metres of uninvolved people and up to 120 metres, in visual line of sight.
You apply for it yourself with your GVC and operations manual; it lasts 12 months, and the CAA currently charges £524 a year. We walk you through the application.
No, unfortunately not, and that's been the case since Brexit. The UK CAA and EASA don't recognise each other's qualifications, so the GVC, and the Operational Authorisation it supports, are valid in the UK only.
If you need to fly in the Specific Category in an EASA state, you'll need that state's equivalent qualification, through a provider its aviation authority recognises. We're looking to add that in the future, but right now our certificates are only valid in the UK.
The theory and the exam are online. The flight assessment is real flying, with an assessor, at one of our national assessment centres. You plan the flight, brief it, fly it and show how you handle it when something changes. Pass that and the other required elements, and you'll be issued with your GVC.
Under PDRA01, anything under 25 kg, class marked or not. That covers everything from the DJI Mini and Air you might already own through to the Matrice and beyond.
It's worth noting that the course will allow you to be qualified in EITHER multi-rotor OR Fixed-Wing GVC flying. You can hold both qualifications, but you'll need to pay for and complete an additional flight test if you wish to add another category to your certificate.
We find 99% of people coming through the course complete their multi-rotor assessment first, and then may come back in the future to 'add on' a fixed-wing option to their certificate. This extra flight test currently costs £299.
Give us a call if this applies to you, and let's chat! :)
Yes. The CAA will keep issuing the GVC until 31 December 2027, and a GVC issued before then stays accepted after it, wherever your Operational Authorisation allows. The CAA describe the GVC and the new RPC-L1 as broadly similar, and if you hold a valid GVC, you don't need to sit the RPC-L1 theory test. We'll be running the RPC-L1 as well, and we'll tell the waitlist about both.
There'll also be a 'conversion path' for GVC holders to 'upgrade' to an L1 when it becomes available... So, our advice right now is to get your GVC and use it until you NEED to get an L1 in the future.
A GVC issued in 2027 is valid until 2032... So that's plenty of time to allow the regulations to settle down, and for us all to see what the CAA will do with the qualifications over the coming years!
Five years from the date it's issued. Your Operational Authorisation is separate and is renewed with the CAA each year.
Soon, and we'd rather say nothing than say a number and change it. Join the waitlist, and you'll hear the price and the opening date before they're published anywhere. If you'd rather not wait, our in-person GVC course dates will be announced very soon, too.
No. The course is a one off. Your twelve months in the community and your monthly sessions with Matt are included, not charged for, and nothing renews without you choosing it.
