Where to do my ATPL Exams in the UK

[AJWatson2209]

Hello,

I have been going over some of the posts in the Professional Pilot Training (includes ground studies) and had a few questions surrounding the ATPL Exmas. I will advise that I am currently still doing my PPL but I like to plan ahead and know what’s coming next.
I was wondering if any school in the UK is better than another? I am presuming that if I completed my exams at OAT its exactly the same as if I done them at London Met?
The schools I have looked at so far are London Met, OAT, Bristol Ground School and also Glasgow College Of Nautical Studies. I live in Edinburgh and noticed that I could study with Bristol GS but take my exams in Glasgow, also Glasgow College is quite appealing too as its only about 1hr away.
Does anyone have any views on the schools? The other thing I noticed about Glasgow was that they required you to also have a good standard of Physics and Maths (which I presume will be a Scottish Higher or an English A level) , Do any other schools have these requirements? I don’t seem to see anywhere else that requires this.
I have also noticed that some people have had to resit some exams. Is their a set number of times you can resit them or could you resit them until passed?

Thank you for your time.

Andrew

[pilotincommand]

There is quite a bit of variation in the standard of instruction at various FTOs. A quick search on here should give you a good range of feedback on each of them.

They will all require you to have a reasonable standard of Maths and Physics as this is a CAA requirement.

You get six sittings and four attempts at each exam to achieve a full pass. Each time you make an exam booking counts as a sitting.

[mason]

I would have to say that OAT are the best from personal experience.
If you go there and work hard youll pass all the exams .I was
worried about the the level of maths before starting but its just hard work and practise that will get you threw good luck!
OH and you can also study in oxford and do the exams in Glasgow:ok:

[Lord Zeberdee]

To be fair a comparison question of the various schools available in the UK is a tough one to answer, as most people only have experience of one school, hence can only give an opinion of their own experience at that particular school.

Maybe the first question you need to answer is whether you plan to go full time or distance learning, this should narrow the field of options a little, then do some research.

My own experience (and no I cannot compare against any other ground school provider as I didnt attend any other) was with Bristol Ground School who are based in Cheddar, Somerset

I spoke to as many people I could who I knew had been through the exams and ran searches on PPRUNE. For the record, I have found the best use of PPRUNE to be to run a search and then identify which schools get minimal poor feedback (this process can be used when selecting an FTO too) rather than focus on the 'too good to be true' posts....

As stated I went 'distance learning' with BGS down in Cheddar and have no complaints whatsoever. Course notes were good, computor based program was good, communication with the school was good and the instructors were good, I would have enjoyed the brush up fortnights if I wasnt aware of those bloody horrible exams looming over the horizon, and to be fair this isnt a criticism I could aim at Bristol nor anybody else could at any other school

You will also find the MD of this school posts on this site with very good identification to which training establishment he is linked with. I would suggest transparency such as this is a good starting point.

As stated I can only comment on BGS but I have heard of others who were also happy with their own groundschool providers other than Bristol. The more people you speak to the better ......