If you're prepping for an Aviation Mechanic General (AMG) knowledge test and searching for the actual question count, here it is: 60 questions, in a 2.0-hour window, with a 70 percent passing score. That's not an estimate pulled from a test-prep book. It's the figure published in the FAA's own Airman Knowledge Testing Matrix, most recently revised October 22, 2025, and it lines up exactly with the written test description in FAA-G-ACS-1, the Companion Guide to the Aviation Mechanic General, Airframe, and Powerplant Airman Certification Standards.
Where this number actually comes from
The AMG test is administered under the Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement for Aviation Maintenance Technician - General, Airframe, and Powerplant; and Parachute Rigger (FAA-CT-8080-4G). The FAA's testing matrix lists all three mechanic knowledge tests side by side: AMG at 60 questions, and both AMA (Airframe) and AMP (Powerplant) at 100 questions each. All three run on a 2.0-hour clock and require the same 70 percent passing grade. That symmetry in time allowance despite the question-count gap is intentional, AMG questions tend to lean more on foundational math, physics, and regulatory material, while AMA and AMP carry more system-specific troubleshooting scenarios.
One detail worth flagging for anyone cross-referencing older prep material: the FAA switched its scoring reference from Learning Statement Codes (LSC) to Airman Certification Standards (ACS) codes for tests taken after the ACS became the official testing standard on July 31, 2023. If a study guide references LSC codes, it predates the current test structure. Every AMG, AMA, and AMP test taken today is scored against ACS codes, and a missed question on your Airman Knowledge Test Report (AKTR) will show an ACS code, not an LSC one.
The 12 knowledge areas the real test draws from
The FAA doesn't publish a fixed number of questions per subject. Instead, FAA-G-ACS-1 gives each of the 12 AMG knowledge areas a percentage range of the 60-question test, meaning the exact number of questions from any one area can shift slightly from applicant to applicant.
| Knowledge Area | % of Test Questions |
|---|---|
| Fundamentals of Electricity and Electronics | 5-15% |
| Ground Operations and Servicing | 5-15% |
| Aircraft Drawings | 5-10% |
| Weight and Balance | 5-10% |
| Fluid Lines and Fittings | 5-10% |
| Aircraft Materials, Hardware, and Processes | 5-10% |
| Cleaning and Corrosion Control | 5-10% |
| Mathematics | 5-10% |
| Regulations, Maintenance Forms, Records, and Publications | 5-10% |
| Physics for Aviation | 5-10% |
| Inspection Concepts and Techniques | 5-10% |
| Human Factors | 5-10% |
Two areas, Fundamentals of Electricity and Electronics and Ground Operations and Servicing, carry the widest possible weight (up to 15 percent of the test), which means they can account for as many as 9 of the 60 questions each. The other ten areas are capped at 10 percent, or roughly 6 questions apiece at the high end. None of the 12 areas can be skipped or under-weighted below 5 percent, so an applicant can't bank on skating past any single subject.
AMG isn't a rating, it's a gate
This trips up a lot of first-time applicants: passing the AMG test doesn't earn you anything you can put on a certificate by itself. Under 14 CFR § 65.73, the FAA recognizes exactly two mechanic ratings, Airframe and Powerplant. There is no "General" rating. What AMG does is satisfy the knowledge-test requirement in 14 CFR § 65.75, which states that an applicant must pass a written test covering the ACS subject areas appropriate to the rating sought, before applying for the oral and practical tests required by § 65.79.
In practice, that means AMG functions as a mandatory first step, not an endpoint. The FAA's own guidance is direct on this: "There are three knowledge tests required to receive the Aviation Mechanic certificate with Airframe and/or Powerplant ratings. You must take the General knowledge test first, followed by the Airframe and/or Powerplant knowledge test(s)." Whether you're pursuing a single rating (Airframe-only or Powerplant-only) or the combined A&P certificate, AMG is non-negotiable. What changes is which of the other two tests you take alongside it.
What CQU's AMG practice bank covers, and what it doesn't claim
CQU's live AMG exam bank contains 240 questions spread across the same 12 domains the FAA tests on. That's a deliberately larger pool than the real exam, the point of a practice bank isn't to be the same length as the live test, it's to give an applicant enough rotation and repetition inside each of the 12 knowledge areas that weak spots surface before test day, not during it. To be clear about what that number does and doesn't mean: CQU's practice bank does not represent the FAA's official per-domain question allocation, and a 240-question bank is not evidence that the real exam has grown past 60 questions. The FAA's published question count for AMG has stood at 60 since before the current ACS took effect, and it hasn't moved in the October 2025 revision of the testing matrix.
Retesting, and what a fail actually costs you
If you fail the AMG test, the standard rule is a 30-day waiting period before you can retest, per 14 CFR § 65.19. That wait can be waived if you present a signed statement from a certificated airman holding the rating you're pursuing, confirming they've given you additional instruction on the subjects you missed and consider you ready to retest. Your failed Airman Knowledge Test Report (AKTR) has to be submitted at the retest, and once you pass, that AKTR stays valid for 24 calendar months, the window you have to complete the oral and practical portions before the written result expires.
Validation questions: why your raw impression might not match your score
One thing the FAA's testing matrix flags explicitly: any of its knowledge tests, AMG included, may contain validation questions mixed in with the scored ones. These are questions the FAA is trialing for statistical performance data, and they do not count for or against your final score. You won't know which questions on your screen are validation questions versus scored questions, they're indistinguishable to the applicant. What the FAA does guarantee is that the published "NUMBER OF QUESTIONS" figure, 60 for AMG, reflects only scored questions. The allotted 2.0 hours, however, does include time spent on validation questions, so budget your pacing around the full window rather than assuming every minute maps to a scored item.
How the ACS code system pinpoints your weak spots
Since the Aviation Mechanic ACS became the official testing standard on July 31, 2023, every AMG question has been tied to a four-part ACS code rather than the older Learning Statement Code (LSC) system. The format looks like AM.I.A.K1: "AM" identifies the Aviation Mechanic ACS itself, "I" identifies the Section (General is Section I; Airframe and Powerplant are separate Sections), "A" identifies the specific Subject within that Section, and "K1" identifies the exact Knowledge element being tested, in this example, electron theory under Basic Electricity. When you miss a question on the real test, your Airman Knowledge Test Report lists the ACS code for that item, not a vague topic name. That code is what your oral and practical examiner (a Designated Mechanic Examiner, or DME) uses to target remedial questioning during the oral portion of your O&P test, so a missed AMG question doesn't just cost you points on the written test, it follows you into the oral exam as a flagged subject.
Registration and where the test actually happens
AMG, like every other FAA airman knowledge test, is administered through PSI Services LLC, the FAA's contracted testing vendor. Before you can schedule anything, you need an FAA Tracking Number (FTN), obtained through the IACRA (Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application) system. From there, you create a PSI account, select AMG as your test, pick an approved testing center, and bring one of the accepted forms of authorization: an authenticated document from an FAA-certificated Aviation Maintenance Technician School (AMTS), a properly completed FAA Form 8610-2 with FSDO sign-off, or a JSAMTCC Military Certificate of Eligibility if you're qualifying through military experience. Notably, 14 CFR § 65.75(c) allows AMTS students to take the AMG test early, before finishing the full experience requirement in § 65.77, provided the school issues documentation confirming they've completed the General portion of the curriculum.
What comes after all three tests are passed
Passing the written AMG test doesn't end the certification process, it clears the way for the oral and practical (O&P) portion, conducted by a Designated Mechanic Examiner (DME) or FAA Aviation Safety Inspector. Per 14 CFR § 65.79, the O&P test evaluates the same knowledge, risk management, and skill elements from the ACS, but through demonstration and questioning rather than multiple choice. If you scored 100 percent on the written AMG test, the oral portion is limited to a minimum number of randomly selected questions. If you missed questions, expect the oral test to specifically probe the ACS-coded subjects you got wrong. Once you clear the oral and practical tests for the rating(s) you're pursuing, and you've met all other eligibility requirements under § 65.71, you're issued a Temporary Airman Certificate on the spot, valid for 120 days while the FAA processes your permanent certificate.
The bottom line
60 questions, 2 hours, 70 percent to pass, 12 knowledge areas weighted between 5 and 15 percent each. That's the real structure of the AMG test as published by the FAA, and it hasn't shifted since the ACS became the governing testing standard in mid-2023. Everything else, how many practice questions you study, how a prep bank organizes its domains, how many times you rotate through weak subject areas, is preparation strategy layered on top of a test structure that the FAA itself has kept remarkably stable.