Secret to Decoding ACS Test References

When you complete an FAA test, you receive your test result report. The theory is that you can use the resulting codes to determine where you went wrong so that you can study the specific topic more thoroughly.

I said “theory”, and here’s why.

If you manage to find the ACS reference document – here – (not an easy task) it lists the ACS codes for the UAS test.
Your next task is to FIND the specific code in that document, say for example, the code UA.I.A.K1
So you search the document for UA.I.A.K1 and it responds with “phrase not found”.
You then try searching for other codes – like UAV.B.K6a and again “phrase not found”

WHAT’S WRONG??

The problem is that the PDF lists UA.I.B.K6a and not UAV.B.K6a, which is the correct result – a. Careless or reckless
The list format does not match the codes in the FAA report and searching the document won’t find any of the codes listed in the test result form.

Until the FAA can figure out how to make the codes match, the solution is to search for the last portion of the code to find the correct reference.

Why the switch from PLT to ACS in the first place?

“Because LSC (PLT) codes are linked to a variety of references, whereas each ACS code is unique to a specific ACS Task element, there is no one-to-one correlation…”

How the FAA can think this is a better and “more accurate” system than the old PLT codes is a mystery. Their befuddled “explanation” can be found HERE.

In the meantime, now you know the secret. You do need to find where you went wrong because there will be another test in 24 months.