what could i do?

[MartinT]

Hello,

I dont have any GCSE's because i left school early due to bullying :ugh: so i gues i cant be a airline pilot with no GCSE's...

Could someone recomend another job in flying that would get me into the cockpit? and also, how far in the licences could i get until GCSE's come into play?

Thanks

[Tallbloke]

You could always try going back to college to complete your education. You do not need any form of academic qualifications to get a CPL/IR however you will need qualifications to get most jobs. There is also a great deal of learning involved to do the theory part of the CPL/IR, so any maths and physics experience will be useful to you later on.

[MartinT]

what type of job is really what i am interested in finding out ;)

[Lee Frost]

Martin,

If you want to operate on the flight deck you are aspiring towards flight crew.

Anybody can go and study the theory for ATPL theory, but most jobs will also require a certain academic achievement eg 5 O levels/GCSEs and 2 or 3 A levels or equivalent.

The ATPLs will prove quite difficult if you don't have your maths / physics to at least 'O' or GCSE standard.

As the previous poster says, you should research getting these base qualifications at college. It wont do any harm to start a PPL as well.

Man who catch fly with chopstick he say: oops can't remember but something like walk before you run :}


LF

[EGCC4284]

MartinT

I left school with absolutely no qualifications what so ever.

Spent 10 years as a long distance lorry driver and then the
last 7 years as an aircraft refueller at Manchester Airport.

I cannot spell to save my life. I use spell check all the time.

I passed all 14 ATPL exams last December but they did take
me 3 years to complete through correspondence due to
working full time and it being shift work.

It's all in the mind and depends on how much you want to do it.

It's taken me since August 1999 to get to this stage, CPL
done and 10 hours into IR and should have it all finished
by September / October.

Don't worry about your lack of GCSE's, Get a job and save
up to get your PPL then take it from there.

Regards

[Seaweed Knees]

..........................

[Send Clowns]

One of the people on course with me back in 2000 left school at 16 with no qualifications, and had worked as a chippie on building sites for about 20 years. He worked damned hard on the course, and is now a first officer on large turbo-props, as his first flying job.

Good luck!

[MartinT]

thanks you replies guys ;) im currently doing 2 pc coursed, ECDL and A+ Certification, i dont suppose they are classed as "GCSE or the equivilent" do they?

[Vee One...Rotate]

My advice is similar to some of the above.

Go back to school or do some night courses (you can work as well then) and get some GCSEs. They really are the basic qualification out there - I can't remember the last job advert of any kind that didn't specify a minimal level of GCSE qualification (English and mathematics being the most important).

OK, you might not formally need GCSEs to be a pilot or even to do all the training but let's face it, it's going to be very, very useful to have some, especially in related subjects such as maths and physics. Although specific courses e.g. computing are a great boost to anyone's CV, it's the grassroots subjects like maths etc. that don't just give you a specific skill (e.g. how to build a webpage) but equip you for life in general.

I'd also look into starting to work towards a private pilot's licence if you're serious about flying professionally. You'll need to be working and earning and, as a general rule, the more qualified you are, the better paid you will be.

People may be able to offer some more advice if you give some more details e.g. how old are you? How long have you been out of education? How do you plan to go about the whole flying thing? Just a bit of background.

There are pilots/wannabes out there with everything from no qualifications to a few GCSEs to PhDs in Aeronautical Engineering. Your educational background does, to an extent, determine how you go about doing flight training. The real high flyers can try their luck at sponsorship, whereas those with more basic qualifications may need to do more off their own back. Whether you like it or not, that's the way our meritocratic world works!

Set aside some evenings and browse these pages for more info than you could ever possibly take in...

Good luck,

V1R :ok: