University pilot studies

[iranair777]

Ok, its time to choose a path into a career as a Pilot. At the moment I have chosen the University route whereby I do a aviation studies course then when finished get a job as a pilot. What I am now confused by is which university to choose in the UK, preferably in and around London.
At the current moment I have looked at Brunel, Kingston and Bucks, mainly Brunel and Kingston, but with Brunel they include Aviation Engineering on top of the pilot studies. I don't want to do the Engineering aspect of it but just the pilot studies to get myself into the hot seat. I know having engineering will increase my chances of employment, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to commit myself to engineering as much as pilot studies especially considering it only goes towards a JAR-FCL PPL.
With Kingston I'm just not completely sure about it. Will it help/get me a ATPL license? If I go the Uni way, which university out of Brunel and Kingston would be best in terms of teaching and course?
Another thing I am considering is the non university route. I am not taking this as a first or second choice, but third as a fall back as I know a degree would help more in getting a job with a airline. I am very confused with Modular and Integrated course as I dont know which are best and cheaper. All this is also considering that I am low on money and the only way to do a non uni course is by loans and a job (which I cannot find btw :ugh:).
My grades in AS have all been a C and I'm predicting to get a grade of A-C in A2 as well with my GCSE's being 5 B's 5 C's.
Thanks and happy landings!

[Aerouk]

A degree in Pilot Studies... What's the education system coming too! Pilot studies goes towards your PPL? Have you seen the PPL groundschool? It's barely GSCE level.

[citation89]

Hey There.

I think in the next few months until uni applications start being completed, you should really research all training routes and which is really best for you.

I cannot give any opinion on Brunel as I have knowledge of it as it is a really new course. I did however apply for the Bucks course and am in the final year of the Kingston course.

I do not want to get into wether it make you more marketable, it is one of those debates that is down to personal opinions and the debate could go on forever.

The Kingston and Bucks courses both get you an Honours degree all be it in different subjects both relating back to aviation studies.

Both courses also include your PPL training, ATPL groundschool, ME/CPL/IR and in theory, you are ready to get a job on completing your 3 year degree (but obviously there needs to be jobs available:confused:) Both have different strucures but you acheive basically the same thing at the end.

You say you want to be in London? Brunel would be your nearest, Bucks you will be in High Wycombe most of the course but will spend 6 months in either Cranfield or Bournemouth, and Kingston, you will spend the first 2 years in Bournemouth and the 3rd year in Kingston. I am not sure on the Brunel, but on the other two, there is the option to spend time abroad during the course doing your training.

The other misconception about these courses is that you pay your tuition fees and that covers all flying hours. This isn't true! Tuition fees cover your Degree course and the PPL & ATPL groundschool. All flying comes at an extra cost.

If you want to know anything else about the courses, just message me.

C89

[SomaliPilot]

:}Hey, Guys I just finished my GCSEs but its not something im happy about lol i just passed English C Science C/D Maths E imagine how unhappy i feel. The teaching is very poor. few months ago they predicted i would get an B in Maths... But there is one little thing im happy about is i got my Level 2 IT practitioners / Level 2 IT practitioners (System support).

My question is would i ever make it to the pilot courses with a Mathematics grade that poor ?

I seen a course i wanted 2 do is at London Met Uni its called
Aviation Management & Operations there pilot pathway which is 2/3 years to complete.

Requirements 2 A-levels and English/Maths/Science all at C

If you come with ATPL frozen then you only do a year at London Met Uni so i think i take a loan and do ATPL frozen and maybe work straight as pilot

if i pass the ATPL groundschool examinations then i got my ATPL frozen

im 17 right now so i think age is a issue maybe in 4 months times im 18 maybe then i can do it..

just need 2 find a flying school plus the price of ATPL

[citation89]

hey there,

im not certain, but i believe that the entry requirement wil stand the same, whatever point you enter the course. Your best option is to ring the university and speak to them. You are still young, so you still have time to sort everything out if needs be, wether you need to resit the gcses or whatever.

The ATPL theory uses fairly high level GCSE/basic AS mathematics, but many groundschool courses are based around the fact that not everyone will have the maths qualifications that others do. Some schools provide a week at the start where you concentrate on the maths knowledge that will be needed during the ground school.

If I was in your situation, I'd contact the uni, if you can still get on the course id do it that way, rather that doing atpl and then apply.

C89

[markch2000]

my advice quite simply is talk to each of the universities in depth as to what they offer, and ask about how succesful they are.

Mixed ATPL/Degree courses are still relatively new so find out what people who have completed the course have gone on to achieve.

And at the end of the day, do what you feel is best for you

[SomaliPilot]

I am going to start first Aviation Operations level 3 thats 2 A-levels and resit my GCSE Mathematics if necessary. But the course has an A level in Mathematics included so i dont think i need 2 resit a GCSE Mathematics.

I just finish that course i could prove i am not bad at mathematics at all.
After 2 years i could search for pilot courses or ground schools.

But whats the point going to UNI if you just pay your tutition ONLY so flying is not included in tutition.

Would it be good to contact Ground school or Flight academy after finishing Aviation operations Level 3 ?


Both of you guys thanks for reply :ok:

[citation89]

The courses are designed to accomodate "the best of both worlds" so to speak. Before, it was " do i get my degree or go straight into training?" I know what most people would choose, i'd be the same. But now its designed to allow you to get a degree whilst completing your training.

The tuition fees (£3,225 per year), covers all ground tuition towards PPL and ATPL aswell as the degree, this is what you would pay on a normal degree course for the degree alone. Therefore, saving you the cost of paying for groundschool (£2000+) seperately.

There would be no way that all flying could be included! Imagine, you are paying £10,000 tuition over 3 years. For that, you get groundschool completed and a degree. If they were then to include £40,000+ worth of flying within that price? On a course of 20 people, they would make over an £800,000 loss. Like virtually any company/institution out there, they may want to help us get the best of what we want to achieve, but they are there primarily to make a profit.

I think the aviation operations plan sounds a good idea if it is what you think is best for yourself. I'd maybe still consider resitting the GCSE. You could have a degree in maths, but if in the future, a company requires a C or above in GCSE maths, then you could still be stuck. Its a stupid thing I kno, but at the end of the day, if theres 100's of people for the same job, it could come down to little details like that.

I wouldn't wait until you have finished the course to contact anyone. Start planning well ahead. Think, do you want to do a uni course, or would you rather skip the degree and do the training? If you would, then would you want to choose an Integrated or modular route? There are plenty of threads to help out with decisions like this. Depending what you choose, maybe try and get some flying done towards your PPL and get the PPL ground exams out of the way. Personally, I'd say contact 3 reputable training schools 6months to 1 year before you want to start training. Again people think differently about which schools are reputable, so get lots of opinions. Arrange to go and visit them, speak to the students and staff, find out if it seems to be what its claimed to be, and just as important, make sure it is somewhere you think you would be happy to train.

Hope this helps,

C89

[Callsign_Charlie]

OAA integrated students do some sort of Bucks uni foundation degree as part of their course if it's of any use to know...