UK Civil Aviation Authority

The UK's aviation regulator, based at Gatwick with a London office, with graduate roles and apprenticeships from Level 3 to a part-time master's.

About UK Civil Aviation Authority

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the UK's specialist aviation regulator. It was set up in 1972. Its work includes licensing pilots, aircraft engineers and air traffic controllers, overseeing airlines and airports, running the ATOL scheme that protects holidaymakers when travel firms fail, setting aviation security standards and licensing UK spaceflight. A public encyclopedia entry says it is funded by charges on the organisations it regulates. Careers span aviation, aerospace and non-aviation areas such as data, finance and policy.

The CAA states its purpose as "Protecting people, enabling aerospace" and its vision as "Safe, secure and sustainable aviation and aerospace working for consumers and the public." Its strategy lists priorities such as protecting consumers, helping aviation innovate and improving environmental sustainability. Its values are "Do the right thing", "Never stop learning", "Build collaborative relationships" and "Respect everyone".

The CAA's head office is Aviation House at Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex, and its job listings are for Gatwick. It also has a London office at Westferry Circus in Canary Wharf, according to the encyclopedia entry, which we could not confirm on the CAA's own pages. We did not find a current staff number.

The CAA's careers page says it values its people and the development of staff excellence, and says it takes equality and diversity "very seriously". It also runs STEM outreach and has partnered with the Duke of Edinburgh's Award to show 14 to 25 year olds what aviation offers. These are the CAA's own claims, and we did not find independent culture reviews.

The CAA lists a wide range of apprenticeships, including Level 3 routes such as Customer Service Specialist, Business Administrator, HR Support and Junior Developer; Level 4 routes such as Software Developer, Data Analyst, Intelligence Analyst and Regulatory Compliance Officer; a Level 6 Data Scientist; and a part-time MSc in Aviation Safety Management, Risk and Regulation with Cranfield University. Level 4 routes ask for five GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 including maths and English plus two years of higher education such as A Levels. It has also advertised graduate roles in policy, finance and technology and cyber security, with the policy and finance posts at Gatwick and posted in January 2026 and since closed. Pay and intake dates were not stated.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Licensing and checking pilots, engineers, airlines and airports.', 'title': 'Safety regulation'}
• {'desc': 'Running the ATOL scheme for package holidays and flights.', 'title': 'Consumer protection'}
• {'desc': 'Apprenticeships and graduate roles in data, policy, finance, technology and more.', 'title': 'Early careers'}

Key facts

• Set up in 1972; head office at Aviation House, Gatwick
• Purpose: "Protecting people, enabling aerospace"
• Apprenticeships from Level 3 to a Level 7 part-time MSc with Cranfield University
• Level 4 apprenticeships ask for five GCSEs (grades 9 to 4) including maths and English
• Graduate roles in policy, finance and technology advertised (policy and finance posted January 2026, now closed)

Website: www.caa.co.uk