ATPL exam venues

[Northern Highflyer]

I am about to book my Mod 1 exams but am still undecided about the venue. I will take them at either Gatwick or Silsoe. Does anyone have any views, comments, experiences, etc of either of these venues that they would like to share ?

So far the advantage of Silsoe is that the accommodation is near to the exam hall, but I have heard that the desks can be a little small.

Gatwick would mean I am near the airport and get to see the 'planes but what else does it offer or lack ?

Thanks in advance.

NHF

[pa28biggles]

I would be interested in some feedback too. I'll be doing my mod 1 exams next year, probably June.

[troposurfer]

Hey guys,



I did mod1 at Silsoe in October this year and on the whole the venue was fine.

The accomodation is cheaper than you will find near Gatwick and the rooms can be specified with/without en-suite. Cheap at about £25-30 per night.

Don't !!! I repeat don't use the uni bar for meals, they make jailhouse gruel look appetising! There are 2-3 pubs a minutes walk into the village which do good food and beer.

The accomodation is in the conference centre about 30 secs walk from the exam hall in the main building. There is a large desk in the room for study, it's set up for "live in" students and academic conferences. Cranfield College is not far from the M1 and the map provided by the CAA does a fairly good job at getting you there. Silsoe is a lot closer to Leeds by car than Gatwick and the traffic is fairly light if you pick the right time of day.

You have the advantage of minimal transit time to from accom/exam. Fairly decent canteen on site. Maximum amount of time to study before and after exams,more time to drown your sorrows over a beer!

Cons, yes the desks are small but that doesn't really matter except for Gen Nav. You wont really need anymore space for the other Mod1 exams. There can be noise outside during class changes for the regular students. The worst problem I found was the bird from the CAA kept pacing up and down on a hollow wooden floor with her heels on during exams.

I have only been to Gatwick for the class 1 so I can't offer a comparison with that except that cheapest hotel I could get into near Gatwick was £60/night and I had to catch the bus to CAA towers in the morning. Maybe this isn't a problem for you.

I live in Leeds and had a gripe about lack of exam centres previously on this forum. I would rather spend my reddies on flying than hotels and transport to exam venues 'down south'.

Good luck with Mod1!


Tropo

[642vgs]

I took my Mod 1 exams at Oxford and it's a **** hole! My mod 2 exams were sat at Silsoe and I can confirm everthing the previous post said.

Definately go for Silsoe

[flyfish]

I have done exams at both venues and i would say , Silsoe every time(and not just because the local pub has the best looking barmaid in the world)but , as has already been said,everything is all on one site.
No worries about traffic jams or cars not starting etc.
You can get up, walk over to breakfast (included in the price), wonder back and squeeze in that all important last minute cramming in the comfort of your room.
For me the less self imposed stress on the morning of an exam the better.
Best of luck wherever you decided to go.

[pa28biggles]

642vgs,
The impression I got was that the Oxford students sat their exams at Silsoe. So there are three centres then, Oxford, Silsoe and Gatwick???
Thanks for the info everybody.

[Northern Highflyer]

Thanks guys for the info. Silsoe did sound better for me with everything being on the one site. I have contacted them and they have told me that the cost of a B&B room is £43/night en-suite or £33.50 for shared bathroom.

Distance from home shouldn't be too much of a problem as I will be going to the exam venue straight from Bristol.

Biggles, yes there is an exam venue at Oxford too.

Cheers

NHF :ok:

[pa28biggles]

Aaahhh :8
It looks like I'll be booking for Silsoe too, sounds like a good set up.:ok:

[no sponsor]

From the following CAA publication, for ATPLs A & H, there is a total of four venues: Oxford, Silsoe, Gatwick and Glasgow.

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/175/srg_fcl_exam_timetable_Prof_FEs_06_04.pdf