How licences are categorised
Professional and Private Pilot licences
Licences can either be for professional or private flying. If you have a professional licence, you can be paid for flying and fly in commercial operations (such as a flight for an airline).
Private licences are primarily for recreational flying and you are not permitted to be paid for any flying you do when holding a private licence, other than receiving remuneration for flight instruction or examination.
The privileges of your licence determine what aircraft you are able to fly and what sort of operations you are able to undertake. In many cases, once you have your licence you can extend its privileges by completing extra training. This may, for instance, allow you to fly different types or classes of aircraft.
For example adding a Night rating will allow you to fly at night in a suitably equipped and approved aircraft.
In most cases to add a rating to your licence you will need to complete a training course at an Approved or Declared Training Organisation and, pass a skill test. Ratings expire after a certain period of time. You must keep them up to date if you want to continue to use the privileges they allow.
Ratings restrictions
Not every licence can have every rating added to it. For instance, you cannot add an Instrument Rating (IR) to a LAPL or an NPPL. You should discuss these details with your training provider before committing to your training.
Where to start
Your flying school can offer advice on training, licence types and ratings.
There is more detailed information available about ratings and the privileges of different licences.