Plain English Meaning
The official label that tells you what kind of pilot training a flight school is allowed to offer and under which set of FAA rules it operates.
Full Definition
An FAA classification indicating which categories of pilot training a flight school is approved to provide. The two main classifications are FAA-approved (Part 141) schools, which operate under an FAA-accepted training course outline and are subject to ongoing FAA oversight, and non-certificated (Part 61) schools, which train pilots under the more general experience and knowledge requirements of 14 CFR Part 61.
Context Anchor
Seen when comparing FAA-approved flight schools and checking what training programs a school is officially approved to offer.
Derivation
Rating comes from the idea of classifying or assigning something to a category. In aviation, a rating often means an official added qualification or authorization. Here, it means the FAA has placed the school in an approved category for a certain kind of training.
Why Pilots Care
A school's rating determines whether its training qualifies for reduced flight-hour requirements toward advanced certificates such as the commercial pilot certificate.
Intuition Check
Do not read “rating” here as a customer review, star score, or opinion of school quality. In this context, it means an official FAA approval category for a type of training.
Example Sentence 1
Before enrolling, the student checked the flight school rating to confirm it was an FAA-approved Part 141 program.
Example Sentence 2
Schools with an instrument rating approval can provide training that counts toward the instrument certificate with fewer total hours.