CBTA vs EBT: what's the difference?

Concepts · June 2026

CBTA and EBT are two of the most frequently confused acronyms in modern flight training, partly because they overlap and partly because operators often run both at once. The short version: CBTA is the broad philosophy of training and assessing competencies; EBT is a specific recurrent-training programme, driven by operational data, that is built on top of that philosophy.

CBTA — Competency-Based Training and Assessment

CBTA is the overarching approach: define a set of core competencies with observable behaviours, then train and assess against them. It applies across the training lifecycle — initial type ratings, upgrades, instructor training and recurrent checks. It answers the question "how do we describe and measure good crew performance?" The framework lives in ICAO Doc 9868 (PANS-TRG) and the corresponding EASA and IATA material.

EBT — Evidence-Based Training

EBT is a recurrent training and assessment methodology. Its defining feature is in the name: the content of the training is chosen from evidence — real operational data (accident and incident analysis, flight data monitoring, line operations safety audits and reports) — rather than from a fixed, regulator-mandated list of manoeuvres. EBT develops and assesses a crew's overall capability across the core competencies instead of scoring isolated events. It is defined in ICAO Doc 9995 (Manual of Evidence-Based Training) and implemented in Europe through EASA ORO.FC.231 and its Acceptable Means of Compliance.

How they relate

Think of it as philosophy and application. CBTA provides the language — the competencies, the observable behaviours and the grading scale. EBT uses that language to run a data-driven recurrent programme: which scenarios to fly this cycle are decided by the evidence, but how the crew is assessed in them is pure CBTA. In practice an EBT programme is competency-based; not every competency-based activity is EBT.

Who needs which

If you are an airline or ATO designing a recurrent programme under EASA, EBT is the framework you are likely implementing, and your instructors and examiners will be grading competencies the CBTA way during every EBT session. If you run initial or type-rating training, you are applying CBTA without necessarily calling it EBT. Either way, the day-to-day task for the instructor or examiner is the same: observe behaviours, judge How Many, How Often and the TEM outcome, and record a competency grade.

The common ground for examiners

Whichever programme you operate, the assessment mechanics are shared: the nine pilot competencies, observable behaviours, and the 1–5 grading scale we cover in the EASA grading scale article. A good assessment tool doesn't care whether the session is labelled CBTA or EBT — it just helps you grade competencies accurately and produce a clean record.

Related: What is CBTA? · The EASA grading scale explained