Students need a good level of English to cope successfully with ab-initio flight training.
Inadequate language proficiency is a threat to successful flight training. Poor language proficiency causes problems for students and their instructors, and can lead to costly disruption and training failures.

To reduce risk, flight schools need to confidently:
- Select students with the appropriate level of English
- Identify students who need language training.
ICAO language tests for personnel licensing are inappropriate for student selection because:
- They do not measure the skills that students need (for example, listening to flight instructors and reading training manuals)
- They assume professional knowledge of aviation operations that students do not have.
General and academic English tests are also inappropriate for student selection because:
- They do not address the context of aviation training and so results are less valid
- They test content and skills which are irrelevant to the needs of student pilots
- They can be expensive, inflexible and time-consuming.