A level Subjects

[g_conaty]

Hi. .Just a quick question. I am picking my A level subjects at the minute and was wondering which subjects are required to becoe an airline pilot.

I was debating whether or not to take A level Physics or Engineering.

Does anyone know which would be the best to take if i want to pursue an airline career when i leave college.

Your help would be much appreciated.

[Sagey]

Most sponsorships require 2 A levels at grade c and above, and there is no specification.

Personally I would recommend taking subjects that you enjoy and are good at. There is no point in doing say Physics, if you loathe the subject and are going to struggle with it for 2 years.

Best of luck in whatever subjects you choose to do.

Sagey

[C Harrison]

Hello,

Fully agree with the message above. Do the a-level subject you are good at. I chose a-level physics (and failed it) because an airline wanted two a-levels preferably maths and physics grade c and above. Also did geography, geology and general studies.

Now doing the atpl via a modular route (most sponsorships were cancelled due to 11/9.

Good luck and work hard whichever you choose

[email protected]

[Fogbound]

Agree also.

Do the subjects you enjoy. An A in history looks better than a fail in physics!!!

Most airlines want to know you can study for an extended period of time and acheive an acceptable result.

Good Luck whatever you decide, and make sure you make your own choice, not the one you think other people want you to make!

[tomcs]

Well, I disagree partly. I am currently doing Physics and maths A level, and they are both quite relevent to aviation. It is worth thinking about whether you'd be better to go for a degree, so that you have something to fall back on if u fail a medical or something along the line. And you cant fail physics anyway really, its not too hard, and A levels are only slightly harder, if not less material than what you'd have to learn for the ATPL exams. I'd still go for whatever you feel comfortable with, however physics would be a little more helpful than history!

[Sagey]

I think it is totally wrong to look at A level courses only as a way to then get into aviation. Ok Physics and Maths may save you some extra study time when you come to sit your ATPL's, if you do them straight after (many don't, many go to Uni etc and material does get forgotten). The only exams you need to pass to become a pilot are the ATPL exams, and good grades on a form look better. Education is more than about grades though, it is about enjoyment of the courses, and learning how to study!!!, you don't realise it at the time but the ability to obtain and access information and read around the subject is a great skill, and will help you with furter study including ATPL's!. I know far too many people that have dropped out of Uni/A levels because they hated their subjects. Get those A levels in academic subjects, I honestly haven't heard of or seen any stance of someone being preferred with Physics and Maths.

Sagey

[P.Pilcher]

I hate to say it to those who can't stand the subjects, but Maths and Physics are the two A level subjects which will help you most when it comes to your eventual aviation studies. There is a large overlap between the applied part of A level maths and A level physics in any case so it is two A levels for the time needed to study one and a half!. .The problem is that there are few real physics teachers in schools who really understand the subject well and therefore can communicate their understanding to their students. As an ex- Physics teacher I have had great pleasure in explaining the real difference between amps, volts, ohms, coulombs, watts and joules to my F/O at 18000 feet! The wonderful thing was that after the flight, he really understood it - at last.

best of luck

[Rusty Cessna]

I picked a mix, half what I liked, half what I needed, the half I like I am pulled off, the half I needed I didnt, I had the forsight to ditch it for more of what I liked though, don't risk it.

Stick to what you know.

. .Rusty.

[ 18 February 2002: Message edited by: Rusty Cessna ]</p>

[Fast Jet Wannabe]

I did a mixture too.

*English - an Art

*Grography - a Science (My course was more physical than human)

*Sociology - an Art that likes to think its a Science!

Like Rusty, I started on the Physics route, realised I didn't like it / couldn't do it justice, so I dropped it also.

My A-level grades were good, and now I'm into uni to study for a BSc in Airline Mangement.

It's been said so many times, but I'll say it again, don't study something you don't want to!

[Lucifer]

Or was he just nodding his head Pilcher??!

Seriously, Sagey is right, Sheldon is wrong, Picher is right but only if you are good at Maths and Physics. You do not need to be good at these, but if you are then the grounding is a good one to have, otherwise things such as history are just as good in helping you to think things through analytically and should not be written off in such a way as above. You can fail physics - not everyone is as intelligent as Sheldon thinks he is: haven't got that A-Level yet have you Sheldon? No, well be more considerate.

[ 18 February 2002: Message edited by: Lucifer ]</p>

[Keef]

Rule that worked for me was "Do what you're good at, and what you're interested in." Parents pushed me to do Russian "cos it's going to be very important", and it was a total waste of time. I did other subjects that interested me, and it worked out well.

If you're not really interested in it, you won't give it your best shot and you'll end up in the large group of "not quite good enough" graduates.

In the centuries (seems like) since I graduated, I've hired many, many graduates in my turn: the biggest single decision factor in deciding who gets an offer is "Have they done anything significant, meaningful, or to indicate initiative and leadership skills?" Sadly, 95% really haven't.

[Evo7]

Keef's spot on. The truth is that for most jobs the choice of subject doesn't matter much. Qualifications are most often used as a filter to cut down the number of applications, and apart from some technical fields they are used for nothing else. You need to get past the 2 good A-levels / 2:1 degree barrier, if it exists, because if you don't have that then your CV goes in the bin regardless of what else you have done. Best way to do this is to do subject that you enjoy - very few people excel in subjects they hate.

However, once you are past that then you'll find that your subjects or grades no longer matter much. Just as Keef says, the biggest single decision factor in deciding who gets an offer is "Have they done anything significant, meaningful, or to indicate initiative and leadership skills?". That's what you are being judged against, so make sure you've got something here that stands out.

[Blacksheep]

A word of caution. Personally, when I put a specific qualification into a job advert I mean exactly what I say. If I specify a particular qualification by name then I'll throw any in the bin that don't meet the advert exactly. There will still be far more applications left to work through than I could ever interview. Then I go through the applications looking for people who have done something, anything, significant that makes them stand out from the crowd. That should get me down to a manageable number to call in for interview.

If most adverts ask for A levels in Maths and Physics, then you'd better do Maths and Physics. If you can't manage that, then the chances are that the job's not for you. Certainly, although they are not essential to being a pilot, Maths and Physics A levels are an extremely good and relevant filter to reduce the number of applicants for flying jobs down to manageable proportions.

**********************************. .Through difficulties to the cinema

[Lucifer]

Yes, but the point is that they are NOT used as filters.

[Blacksheep]

They are when I'm using them...

**********************************. .Through difficulties to the cinema