BCFT groundschool

[WX Man]

I'm interested to hear any comments anyone has got on Bournemouth Commercial Flight Training as a groundschool provider. Either leave a message here, PM me, or email me: [email protected].

TIA.

[colbackp]

BCFT is few in number and growing; the staff are friendly and dedicated.
Financially, it is good as has a 3 year business plan to my knowledge and is owned by the BCFT flying school that is the other side of the Bournemouth Airport.
Results >> 2 in our class and on the first sitting in June 7/7 subjects passed and 6/7 subjects passed.
The next class has three studentsw in it. The prices are good and often people get the wrong figures in their budget as BCFT prices include VAT where many other companies do not.
We are now well into the second part of the course and going well. More of the same results please!!
The team encourage students to visit and if you'd like any more information, reply to this or let me know [email protected]
My colleague is here and he says that "They do a good job"
................
ends

[WX Man]

With what I saw yesterday I was very impressed :D . I also like the accomodation I checked out afterwards, so I think you guys will have a booking from me within the next few weeks.

6 months of ATPL here I come! :ok:

[TRon]

On the whole excellent. They are a 'new' school so if feedback is dated but there is plenty around if you are willing to do a little trading, there is no doubt in my mind it is the difference between passing and failing.

From the limited experience I have they are one of the best providers around, with genuinely enthusiastic and helpful instructors that will go the extra mile. Far more like being a tutorial than a lecture like it is at a lot of schools meaning you get much more directed study, and ask question and get an answer rather than be asked to look it up yourself or ask at the end of class.

They, of course, have their faults like any school but they are minor in comparison to the positive there. They dont have all full time instructors meaning sometimes if you havea query out of class said instructor may not be in that week. As I previously mentioned their feedback.in general is not representative of the exams such as, say Oxford, but you can quite easily get the stuff you need and I am handing them all mine so it will be there ;)

Remember it is easy to blame your school when things don't go your way like I did. Make sure you go to a few places so you can get a good cross section to judge from but you wont go wrong at BCFT.

Best of luck and enjoy....!

[coboat]

I couldn't agree more with all the above replies. I've had dealings with BCFTC over the last 4 months & I have found them better than any other school that I know.

Manuals & staff are 1st class. They are also one of the few schools who will go out of their way to offer one to one brush up training.

P.S. No, I don't work for them!!!!

[Send Clowns]

Very pleased people like the way we do things here. It is important to us. Thanks guys, if you are who I think you are (and colbackp isn't a great disguise!) then you were/are a pleasure to help.

Look forward to teaching you, WxMan. Seems you will be an enthusiastic student.

[colbackp]

I'm a student at BCFT in part 2 of the course. I know therefore how difficult it is to get an idea on the course and schools before you start.
If you have any questions, let me know.
Yours
PC

[moku]

Well good for you! :zzz:

[The Original Jetpipe]

Hi All,

Just wondering if any "Wannabes/Pprunes" are planning to join the March 2004 Ground School Course at BCFT?

Any advice on what is the best type of accommodation (B+B,Shared House etc) for the ground school phase?

Thanks in advance of any replies.

The Original Jetpipe.

[IndiaAlphaLima]

Hey all,

Well i'm beginning my first faltering steps towards my fATPL. Any of you guys beginning the BCFT module one on 17.11.03. Just curious as to who's gonna be there( study partners etc).

cheers



:ok:

[Send Clowns]

I will be - teaching you :E - but not until the second half (Gen Nav and Flight Planning). Look forward to meeting you!

[IndiaAlphaLima]

cheers send,

I was supposed to be last year but due to a slight medical hiccup I was knocked back. I believe that i spoke to you on an open day. Look forward to at least meeting you on the 17th

Iain

[The Original Jetpipe]

Just to wish you the best of luck with your ground school at BCFT!!
Planning to join the March 2004 course.(Hopefully!!!)

Where are you planning to stay?? PM me if you have any advice about the school.
Enjoy the study!!!!!

Best Regards.
The Original Jetpipe.

[IndiaAlphaLima]

Bed and breakfasting to start but would like to flat share as soon as soon as apossible. That allows me to potter around doing late night studying and stuff.

B&B's are gennerally about 15 quid a night and the place i'm staying is actually really nice. It's just a bit like living with your folks tho. You kinda feel like you can't wander in too late. Still we'll see how it goes in the next week.

I've got a couple of guys I know starting in march so i'm probably gonna put a thread in just to let people know how it's going and any mistaked i've made :\

anyway only three days left :sad:
better get on with packing

[moku]

I finished the ground with BCFT this year. I think you will be pleased with your choice of ground school. Most of the instructors there are beyond excellent!

Best of luck with it!

[IndiaAlphaLima]

Hey all,


I've just finished my first week at BCFT (Bournemouth Commercial Flight training). As expected the course is somwhat busy but with the amount of information to be had I must say that it is very well organised.

With six hourly sessions each divided by fifteen minute breaks the day passes qouickly without feeling bogged down. So long as you're willing to put the work in in the evenings the whole thing seems rather possible. Let's just hope the following weeks are all like this.

cheers


IAL

[Spike001]

Hi

I'm also looking at starting groundschool around March 2004 at BCFT. Currently doing my research before I head off to HSBC for my large loan ;).
Went to BCFT open day earlier in the year, it was the first flight training college I'd been too. Friendly people, nice building, airside :P
Study material looked fine, although not too sure if presentation was as good as OAT, but that's not everything, I just hope the teaching is lol - from what I've heard, BCFT have been getting good results recently.

Visited OAT the other day so I could see what I'd be getting for the high price. A smart, modern college, with friendly people. The lesson rooms looked packed, maybe around 25 people per room, not too sure. I'm after a lower number just like BCFT has to offer i.e. max. of 15 people in a class. Hall accomodation is very "basic" for what you get for the money, so I'd definetly be trying to get either a shared house or B&B if I went there.

I'll keep you posted, maybe see you at BCFT!

Cheers :ok:

[ATP_Al]

I'm also looking to my groundschool at BCFT in March 2004; I'm just in the process of selling my soul to HSBC at the moment!

If anyone is interested in shared accommodation please get in touch, I aim to start looking at the beginning of next month.

Al

[Spike001]

Hi all,

I might not be starting in March as planned, due to the weather holding of completion of the PPL, I also feel that it will all be a bit rushed revising ready for the course.

...So I plan to save for hour building in US during the mean time, that I'll do immediately after completing the ATPL groundschool.

I'm now looking at starting in June.


Good luck all, see you there, just a bit later than planned. :cool:

[Angels Zero]

Hi all,
I too will start my course in Bournemouth March 2004. I will be moving down there with the wife renting accomadation. I can suggest a website I used to find a place. www.thisisbournemouth.co.uk
I think it belongs to the local newspaper down there called th Daily Echo. I am just waiting on conformation from HSBC, loan of course:suspect: and then I will be making the move.

See you all soon:ok:

[Send Clowns]

Sorry to hear you might be delayed, Spike, but glad we'll see you later. If anyone is having real trouble finding accommodation (the list we give out is pretty good) then get in touch and I'll do my best to help. If anyone is travelling particularly far and needs to overnight I might be able to offer a sofa bed.

Look forward to seeing all of you soon.

[Send Clowns]

Just spoken to my landlady from when I was in training, and she is going to try for exclusively pilot/ATC students, so may have some space. Must like children. Drop me a message if you need a room. Obviously same applies to ETA / PAT / EPTA and NATS students.

[Trislander]

Hiya,

Is anyone else here going to be on the ATPL groundschool course at BCFT commencing 6th September this year?

Cheers, Tri

[career girl]

Hi all.

Haven't been on here for ages! Busy i guess!

So anyone out there starting their residential ATPL theory with BCFT in Sept? I am! Cant wait!

[VFE]

Nice atmosphere at BCFT. On the flying side Lance keeps a control over procedings like a hippy headmaster with an edge and the instructors are all really great guys. Recommend them.

Wish I'd done all my airbourne training there but cannot comment on the groundschool, but if the flying side is anything to go by you have no worries.

VFE.

PS: Have you seen Trislanders post regarding the September course Careergirl?

[Send Clowns]

I'll be there, but only to torture you with electricity :E Oooops, should say teach you electrics. See you in September!

[normb]

Hi all,
I'm looking for some feedback on BCFT full time groundschool. I would be grateful for any advice from people that have trained there, ie. quality of instruction, study material etc..
Thanks
normb

[wbryce]

Hello,

Any past groundschool students lurking around these dark areas who can shed some information on their past experiences?

I would like to know what the instructors / notes / learning environment are like?

What did you do for accomodation? Did you stay in a local BB for the short term, meet your class mates then arrange a short term flat lease?

They offer a very fair price and i'm considering them as a real possibility. Drop me a PM if you do not wish to post publicly.

Many thanks in advance,

[scroggs]

Try The Master Accommodation Thread (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=213693) for accom. queries.

Scroggs

[FlyingFroggy17]

Hi,
I have started at BCFT on the march session. I took the first 7 exams in june, and got them all first pass with a more than decent average. I'm currently doing the 2nd phase.
The environement is good. The fact that it is located on the airport is something very important for me, couldn't do my atpl somewhere away from airplanes :) !!!
The instructors are very good. They really know their subject very well.
And they are always available to answer question, any time!!!
I sometimes feel like I receive 1 to 1 tuition. Very much appreciated indeed!!
That is possible because of the fact that we don't have huge class with plenty of students at thes same time.
The notes are good, some colour would be nice though. However we have some handouts in colour for some subjects. But I think that those handouts are going to be integrated to the notes soon.
I really cannot tell anything bad about it to be honest. And being french, I can assure you that if I had something to bitch about I would!!!
There is also a lot of students who come for the flying from various part of europe, so it is an opportunity to meet interesting people! Respect for Speedy Gonzales, some people will understand:ok:
As for accomodation, I am in Bournemouth, that is ok, but no public transportation, so you need a car or a friend ( thank you Charlie ;) )
Feel free to PM me if you need other information.
Cheers,
FF17

[samluvsplanes]

hi,i flew down to bournemouth to see the set up and did speak to some of the students,maybe thats you.i flew down in the arrow 200r.was impressed with place and the fact that dc10's are on the runway when your having a break so overall ithink i will join on the next course in september.i've already started phase 2 distance learning with bristol which should help but much prefer full time.what does accomodation cost on average and whats there to do at night? apart from study?lol thanks for reply,how many hours do you have by the way

[Togodumnus]

Watch out for the price you pay, there has been a habit at BCFT for the price to drop as soon as you've signed up.(4500 to 2800 in less than a year) People have been attending the same course having paid upto a grand more than the person in the next classroom or even in the next seat.:ugh:

In my opinion the way it has been handled was pretty dishonest and underhand. The impression is that they are only after your cash (to be fair as most businesses are!). Although any business has the right to change it's prices at any time it is counter productive (not to mention naive and stupid) to piss off prospective customers who are going to spend a great deal more cash on CPL/Multi/IR and MCC in the near future.

As for the school ..... the teaching varies from very good to just plain reading the manual, the location is good just by the runway, the student recreation room is pretty basic, small classses so excellent teacher student ratio ( but crap for nights on the town if they're an unsociable bunch!)

Would I recommend the school?? That really depends upon what is important to you ie teaching, location, weather, price etc etc. If I had the choice again I'd go to Naples in Florida, get a nice tan:cool: , lie on the beach and get in some cheap flying whilst I studied!!

[pushapproved]

I completed my groundschool last year with BCFT but as a distance learning student. The support from the school was excellent, always willing to answer questions on the phone/e-mail and responses were quickly received.

The training notes could maybe be better, they are black & white, but with the expense of colour the course would no doubt cost a little more! At the end of the day, the notes, instructors and my efforts enabled me to pass all 14 exams on the first sittings. If I had to do it all again, I would quite happily go back to BCFT. I will be returning shortly to do an MCC course!

[captain_rossco]

Morning all,

Am currently slogging my way through some ATPL pre-reading and am in the enviable position of choosing a training provider for a full time course. Bournemouth was recently recommended to me and I will be visiting the school in due course.
Having done a rather fruitless search for the above, it would appear there is rather a lot on their flight training but the Groundschool inforamtion a little sparse.
If anybody could give me a hint on how to find some detailed feedback from past students I'd most grateful.
If there is none, then past students could perhaps leave their coments here?

Many Thanks

Rossco

[camel toe]

Whilst perhaps not quite the answer you want as I haven’t started there yet I can give you my opinion from when I visited the school.
I took a trip to BCFT a few months back, rocked up mid morning and spent my time being shown around by Dena Dove (PA to head of training), I had a chat with a few students and lecturers, and went away with a very good feel for the place.
I also visited a few other schools including Cabair, Stapleford and Cov, and after chewing the fat I opted to book myself onto the residential ATPL ground school at BCFT. I didn’t rush into this, and I took a good few months thinking about the sort of place I wanted to go to. I’m fortunate in that I spent 3 years at University and know the sort of place and classroom sizes that I perform best in, and you will hear arguments for both smaller and larger classroom groups from the different ground school providers.
There wasn’t one deciding factor for my decision, there was no “eureka” moment or anything like that, I just felt for me it had the best vibe.
I can’t tell you anything more at this stage, but I would recommend visiting as many schools as you can to see how you feel about the location, the staff, the culture and the students (although things can and do change).
Good luck and I look forward to reading from existing and past students on their recent experiences with BCFT.
Camel Toe
“Over Macho Grande?”

[snips]

Morining Rossco,

Drop us a pm if your after feedback. Its worth having a chat with Dena or popping down for a visit.

Regards

snips

:ok:

[ivehad2many]

BCFT have a good rep... Actually did my PPL about 9 years ago at Bournemouth flying Club accross the other side of the airport.

Started my ATPL groundschool with them in 2004/2005. No probs with lecturing at all and all very helpful..

Results were good, 13 1sts and 1 2nd attempt (thats what you get for going out for a few drinks the night before though so only myself to blame). wizzed it the 2nd time with no probs :)

From there i went onto Hour Building, CPL, Multi, Multi IR, MCC & FIC and became an instructor with them for 6 months before getting a job a month ago.

Best advice is pop down and visit Dena... she'll show you around and introduce you to some of the instructors there. Also have a word with the current students.. They'll tell you what they think as well :ok:

[Go_Detent]

Rossco, Check your PM's...

GD.

[camel toe]

Any chance I could be included on the PM as I am off there soon and any info gratefully received.

Cheers

[Another TD]

I have just received the books for part one of the DL course.
The notes are poor compared to the BGS notes and the few Oxford books bought on Ebay, for example in the systems book many diagrams are schematics, which are almost impossible to understand because they are in black and white! Some diagrams are from Airliner world and I'm sure some pictures from flt sim!
The written style is dis-jointed with questions as a heading prior to the subject,this causes a jump in subject matter as opposed to a smooth transition as one reads the subject. Basically it gets on my nerves, after a while, reading this material.
The books do contain a lot of material, as a B1 engineer I was surprised how detailed the systems manuals are, but in comparison to the quality of the BGS and Oxford manuals I would suggest BCFT DL course is over priced by several hundred pounds.
Having said this the flight school is receiving nothing but praise, which was the main influencing factors for choosing the DL package. What am I going to do? Perhaps I can get a refund and enrol with Oxford or BGS then flight train with BCFT.

[Go_Detent]

I completed my ATPL groundschool at BCFT during 2005 and know I represent all on my course in commending how well it was run.

Class sizes are kept fairly small (there were 5 in my class and 6 in the parallel class). The vast majority of us passed all 14 theoretical exams at the first attempt with high average grades.

I understand that there have been some staff changes of late, what I can say is that during my time there, the instructors were very knowledgable not only about their specialist sujects but across the board and easily approachable outside of classroom hours.

In most subjects, we finished the syllabus with up to a month to spare, allowing for valuable revision time in the lead up to exam week(s).

The manuals are well written and follow a logical sequence of learning objectives, supplemented well with diagrams, illustrations etc. The only disadvantage is that they are not in colour, which would, for some subjects in particular (met for example), help clarify the text. That said, plenty of colour overhead transparencies are used during the lectures.

In summary, I'm confident I made the right decision in chosing to do my theoretical training with BCFT, who have righly earnt a reputation as one of the leading groundschool providers in the country.

Any more info, PM me.
GD.

[SinBin]

BCFT Distance learning was fine, got me through. The manuals aren't the best presented, but they've got all the information, Bristol's question bank was without doubt a benefit.

Good luck i hated the groundschool, was a chore and a half! It didn't take too long to complete though.

[will fly for food 06]

Hello,

I am starting on the Residential ATPL ground school in April at BCFT. Are there any other PPRUNE members on the same course?

[Lima288]

Hi will fly, I'm due to be starting on the April GS course too! Look forward to meeting you there!
Hopefully there will be a few others too :)

[will fly for food 06]

Right, nearly got everything ready for the start of the course.A stupid question im afraid. Does anyone know what we have to wear while attending the course? Shirt and tie or casual?

Thanks in advance.

[will fly for food 06]

Good, just got my new navy blue skirt with one bar for my PPL :}

I understand it may appear to be a stupid question but i dont want to turn up on the first day and look like an idiot without opening my mouth.

[SinBin]

Just keep Lance and Dena on side, and you'll be ok!!

I'm an ex BCFT-ite '05-'06, great place all round, enjoy guys! Just had my first proper sim check for an airline job with a major jet carrier.

[will fly for food 06]

Congratulations SinBin, i hope it all goes well. Are you able to answer my question regards dress code during ground school?

[captain_rossco]

dress code at bcft is smart casual.

[Lima288]

When I visited BCFT prior to making my decision on training provider, the students on the course at that time appeared to be in a mix of anything from casual to smart. Dena told me the head of traning's view is that it is far more important that the students are comfortable and focused on the training than worrying about what to wear (hmmm, arguments for casual and/or uniform there then). This is in contrast to some other providers, who insist on "uniform" of some sort or other, but then other providers I visited who did have dress standards seemed to have students with various interpretations of these standards!!!!! so not exactly uniform after all!
Personally, I would suggest full flying suits (especially for groundschool!!) or gold braid should be avoided, but anything else should be fine. :ok:

[SinBin]

Nobody really cares what you wear at BCFT, but wear a pilot uniform for flight tests only as they aren't with BCFT but with the CAA and you want to come across as professional as it's a pro licence you're going for. Worked for me and every other bugger there. Remember you're the customer without which they wouldn't have a business, any school which insists their customers wear a uniform is just pretentious. You could always wear a skirt if that tickles your fancy. You can tell the Cabair lot down the pub as they all wear their uniforms (look at me!! I'm a wannabe pilot!!), fact is they all look like security guards!!

Loved the friendly rivalry when I was there!!

[Life's a Beech]

Cabair students don't still wear their stripes in the bars and clubs do they?

[will fly for food 06]

Thanks for the info. Ive always worn a flying suite in my previous career so just wanted to check as this will all be a new environment for me(civilian world). Im looking forward to listening intently to the bar stories from the pilot wannabes you speak off:). Il try and hold my tounge and have a quite chuckle or two:}.

Good luck to you all in chasing your dreams.

[Life's a Beech]

Ive always worn a flying suite...


http://oddisgood.com/art/sofakids.jpg

Is this what you mean by "flying suite"? :}

[SinBin]

Well I've just shot the mod v int argument to bits!

Jet job! Minimum hours, thanks BCFT. See you around LHR!!

ITS NICE...HIGH FIVE!!!!!

[captain_rossco]

congrats amigo!

Mods all the way, (but then I would say that) ;-)

Rossco

[ivehad2many]

gotta say they did an excelent job with me :) now flying for FRAviation on the Falcon 20's out of bournemouth and have friends at BCFT. Got my full Frozen ATPL from them just before last summer

Occasionally pop in and out so if you see me feel free to give me a shout for any questions. there usually at least once a week

[Lima288]

Major congrats to SinBin and ivehad2many, and sounds like congrats to BCFT also.
Happy flying guys, hope to bump into you (not literally!!!) one day soon...!

[will fly for food 06]

i look forward to talking to you Ivhad2many. FRA sounds like a good job,id love that after my years in the RAF.

[federico100mt]

I REOPEN this discussion.

Hi,

anyone who was there for GS in distance learning in the last time?

Bye bye

Fede

[windypops]

Unless the notes have been totally re-written since I was there then don't bother. There are far better distance learning providers out there.

We spent some of our time in class crossing out pages that were not needed, and adding in others.

Unless you are in the classroom you will miss out on this and therefore study things not needed for the exam and miss stuff you do.

As a residential ground school provider though they were pretty good, BUT as with anywhere it's less to do with the school and much much more to do with who is currently lecturing. BCFT have had everything from retired wide bodied Captains to former students who are only a few months further down the line than the class they are teaching, and everything in between.

If you are considering a residential course you need to speak to current students (I'm far from that), pay them a visit and find out the teaching standards at the moment. If however you're only interested in distance learning then I think you will be hard pushed to find a better place than Bristol GS who seem to constantly get positive feedback.

[fwjc]

Funny you should say that - I understand they have been rewritten. A colleague went there last year and got on really well with the version they were using then, but I believe they have been updated again this year.

Bear in mind that all the schools will have updated this year to accommodate the new syllabus.

[PilotUnknown]

Has anyone been on their full time course recently? It would be good to know some recent feedback.

[Jerry Lee]

What book do they use in the residential ATPL theory course?

[fwjc]

I believe they have recently moved to using the same materials as CATS.

[Broomstick]

I completed the BCFT ground school (residential) recently. The ground instructors are excellent. All approachable and knowledgable, they prepare you above and beyond what is required for the exams. They discourage the use of feedback early in favour of knowing the subjects. I would highly recommend their ground school. I have chosen to do my flying at another FTO, but I can see the benefits of their teaching in my further flying training. NOt only did they get me through the exams (two sittings, all first time passes), but they have prepared me for the questions I can expect in my IR test. Good luck.