An A license is the point at which nobody is supervising you by default. The next three licenses are defined by jump count, freefall time and a list of demonstrated skills, and the B license is the one that adds requirements you cannot accumulate by simply jumping.
The thresholds
From USPA SIM 3-1, read 2026-09-24:
| License | Jumps | Controlled freefall time |
|---|---|---|
| A | 25 freefall jumps | not specified |
| B | 50 jumps | at least 30 minutes |
| C | 200 jumps | at least 60 minutes |
| D | 500 jumps | at least three hours |
What the B license adds
Three of the B requirements are not a function of jump numbers, which is why jumpers who only log fun jumps arrive at 50 without being ready to apply:
- Documentation of live water-landing training with full equipment.
- Every item on the B-License Canopy Proficiency Card.
- Ten formation skydives on which the planned formation was completed, at least five of them with three or more participants.
The water training and the canopy card both need scheduling with someone rated to run them. Neither happens on a normal jumping day, and both are the usual reason a B application waits.
C and D
The C license adds 50 completed formation skydives, at least ten of them with four or more participants. The D license adds a set of optional skills from which a number must be chosen, one being 100 formation skydives with at least 25 involving eight or more participants.
Logging as you go
Each of these thresholds is proved from your logbook, and an unsigned jump does not count toward a jump-number requirement. What the log has to contain, and who has to sign which kind of entry, is in what your skydiving logbook has to record.
Numbers here are the published thresholds, not an assessment of readiness. Your instructors decide when you are ready to exercise a license; this page only says what the paperwork requires.