Time to complete course (ATPL modular Vs ATPL integrated)

[mrsurrey]

Hi All,

I'm a bit confused :O

According to the Shoreham website the modular ATPL is £51,960 and takes 24 months full time. The integrated ATPL is £65,950 and takes 12 months full time.

Please could you tell me why modular ATPL's are cheaper even though they take roughly twice as long?

[RTN11]

In modular you do everything in building blocks.

PPL first, min 5-6 weeks, realistically 3 months

Then ATPL ground school - min 6 months

Then hour building 1-6 months

Then CPL - 1-2 months

Then ME&IR 1.5-2 months

so could easily come to two years

With Integrated you do everything in one go. So on Monday you might do some flying, Tuesday some ground school, Wednesday some simulator and so on (obviously a simplified model) and you don't have anything until you pass the final test and have completed everything.

[mrsurrey]

OK thanks, does this mean modular has more deadtime or does modular require more man-hours to complete?

[jamesleaman]

Hi Mr Surrey,

Typically with a Modular route, you don't have to complete a pre-entry selection. Payments are made Pay-as-you-go, and generally on completion you will have more hours in your log book vs integrated due to the longer period of training, and the need to maintain currency on aircraft.

Like RTN11 has stated, Integrated is a full-time jumble off all modules together. On an Integrated course, you could potentially be studying ATPL theory in the morning, flying in the afternoon.

I see the difference between modular and Integrated being;

During a Modular course, after 3 Months training I decide this isn't for me. Thankfully all is not lost, as I have completed my PPL license during these 3 Months, and therefore I will walk away with a PPL License.

Whereas, because an Integrated course is not 'structured', although after 3 months hard work, I would not of gained ANY licenses yet.

Subsequently, this is why Integrated is more of a risk, and you will almost definitely have to complete a pre-entry selection to ensure your ability/aptitude of completing the whole course meets the requirement.

"OK thanks, does this mean modular has more deadtime or does modular require more man-hours to complete?"

This is where the flexibility of Modular comes in. The amount of 'deadtime' and 'man-hours' to completion depends on how fast you can afford the modular route. If you have the full amount of funding, time and dedication you can complete a Modular course just as quick as a Integrated course. However if you don't, you could complete your PPL, then have 6 months off to save for Hour Building/CPL...etc.

If unfortunately, like many, funding is an issue, and your trying to gain your license by doing 1 hour every two weeks then yes, it will require more 'man-hours' to complete as you'll end up re-capping on last weeks flight every lesson.


I hope this helps, and more importantly makes sense as I have had a couple of beers this evening! :cool:

[mad_jock]

You can do modular quicker than intergrated but it takes some dedication and planning.

You can save quite a bit of time on the ground school and other stuff if you have a engineering background.

PLL 3 weeks

Hour building 2*2 week blocks.

Theory 2 * 2 month blocks with a hour building block in the middle waiting for the exams to come back. So would agree 6 months but you can do the hour building in that period.

So we are up to 7 months now.

IR 8 weeks CPL 2 weeks MCC 2 weeks.

Which gives you 12 months.

It needs everything to go to plan and basically giving a year of your life to it.

I wouldn't recommend it though one of the advantages of modular is the networking and enjoyment of flying and taking things at nice progressive pace.

[sapco2]

Given the world's turbulent economic climate these days it'll probably be far safer to opt for the modular route over the integrated, least of all because you'll be in complete control of your spend. You'll obviously need to do a fair bit more research in order to find the better training establishments but IMHO it should work out just as quick and a good deal cheaper particularly for those who can afford to take a year out to complete everything in a sensible but progressive way, mix and match your course to where specific expertise areas lie would be my humble advice!

For what its worth I frequently fly the line with new pilots coming from both integrated and and modular training backgrounds and I have to say I have not been able to identify one group over another as being better trained - that could have something to do with the company's selection process being very robust though!

[mrsurrey]

Thanks very much everyone, this is great information. :)