Professional Pilot Training (includes ground studies)A forum for those on the steep path to that coveted professional licence. Whether studying for the written exams, training for the flight tests or building experience here's where you can hang out.
Hello people, im a newcomer to the PPRuNe forums and this is my first thread!! .I would like to become a commercial pilot. Im currently 17 and am studying for my A levels, my question isnt 'which or how is the best path to becoming a pilot' as i know this has probably been posted several times, my question is, what are the chances like when qualifying through an Oxford aviation training scheme that i will be succesful and become employed by an airline? What happens to people that dont get employed have they just wasted £60,000? What would you suggest that i do now? finish my A-levels and go to UNI? or not? when should i start flying??? your help is needed very much so!!
I am currently in training at Oxford and have a degree. It is not a requirement to have a degree to start at Oxford. They specify A levels as a minimum and they only look at it at application stage before the 3 day assesment. As long as you have decent A level grades there is no need to go to uni. Lets face it, the assesment is just an opportunity for Oxford to weigh your wallet.
Having said that I spent 3 very happy years at uni so have no regrets. However, its 3 years longer you have to wait before becoming a professional pilot and the costs can build up v. quickly. Make sure you consider a potential £15000 debt from uni + £60000 - £80000 for training before you can even start earning.
On the other hand, professional pilot training is probably the hardest thing I have done in my short life so you need to ask yourself are you mature enough. I'm 23 and I still have a lot to learn about life. I believe that I couldnt handle this level of pressure at 17. 3 years away from home at uni will teach you a great deal about responsibilty that you will need when undertaking this training.
Anyways, hope this helps and good luck on the long road to the ATPL
Its been a long time since I did the application phase so cant remember the exact requirments in terms of A level points. Try the forum on the Oxford website http://www.oxfordaviation.net/Forum/default.asp. Just remember tho that the reply will be from an Oxford employee. They are very good at the sales pitch so approach this forum with caution.
I did get a loan with HSBC but I am also lucky enough to have financed part of the course with a loan from the bank of mum and dad.
thanks mate, one more thing did you have any flying experience at all before applying to oxford, if not did you start there i.e start with your PPL and working your way up?
I started at Oxford with just half an hours trial flight behind me. In hindsight I really wouldnt recommend that strategy. At least go solo before starting at Oxford. It'll tell you whether its for you and whether you have the skills to achieve the goal. It works out cheaper that way.
Have a look at First Solo. Just another forum I've commented on. It follows a similar subject
By all means ask as much as you need. I know how big a decision your facing.
thanks for the links, so would you recomend getting my PPL at my local airfield? and continuing on with my A-levels? what about after them? is oxford alot more expensive than others, if so what are its benefits that make it that more expensive? if applying to oxford is succesful for me after my A-Levels would you recommend me taking the opportunity rather than uni? also what happens after getting into oxford and how hard really is it to get into???
As someone who is about to complete his first year of a degree that incorporates a FATPL (as part of the degree course), I have to say looking back on my choices this time last year that I think given the benefit of hindsight, I would have preferred to concentrate on my flying, and given the degree a miss.
That isn't to say a degree isn't worthwhile (unless you do something like Underwater Basket Weaving etc) but for me, it isn't really essential to my goal of flying commerically, and it is putting me in debt & taking up time and effort.
I don't think there is a single airline out there that requires a degree to become a pilot, and it will cost you at least £11200, or whatever the figure is these days with top-fees becoming imminent. And it will be three years before you start your commerical training (assuming you don't do my course).
Having said that....it's a great laugh, the social life is great and you're only young once! And a degree is a handy backup for an alternative career if your flying goes tits-up, through medical issues or whatever.
You could also make an argument for a degree on the grounds of increased maturity, but personally IMHO I think that's more to do with the personality of the person involved.
If I were you though, I'd go for my PPL as soon as possible - I wish I had done so a few years ago.
So to sum up my own opinions: A degree is not essential to becoming a pilot, and is a serious undertaking of time/money/effort, but has benefits in it's own right, which MAY be right for YOU - there's no one "right" answer here for yourself.
Best of luck choosing your career path! - please feel free to PM if any other questions.
Im jumping into OAT with just a-levels in a month or so. I personally thought about University, but decided its not what i want to be doing with my life. At this moment in time the airline industry is increasing dramatically. So I believe its a good time to get my foot on the ladder.
With just a-levels if my medical or anything goes tits up, im not as qualified as many others, but life doesnt end there. If i have the spare time, i will try an Open Uni course while working, if that doesnt work oh-well, if one day i lose my medical and actually need a degree, i will just go as a mature student. (oh and not too insult you Uni lot, degrees are not what they use to be)
I agree purmus that a degree does mature people, i have many friends who have gone, and are know back, and they slightly different(and can drink shed loads ), and seem to have there head screwed on that bit more, unlike mates of my age.
If you want it, go for it. Ive got a little flying experience though the air cadets and enjoyed every minute of it, so you dont have to do your ppl, just get some trial lessons, as a ppl adds another £6000 to what oxford will already teach you.
If you havnt done so, id go and get my medical sorted, just to make sure you can actually pass it. Also if oxford is your school go take there aptitude tests and see how you do.
I hope you all the best, any questions or anything PM me.
Enjoy
(if my grammar is crap (most prob), i do apoligise, but ive just got up, and off to finish my a-levels)
At 18 with A-levels, there was nothing more I would have loved than to go straight into an integrated fATPL. However, uni is more than just about furthering ones education. It enables you to mature as a young adult and learn the essential life skills.
Admittedly, I didn't have a choice on the flying (no money ), but having gone through university, I'm glad I did and I wouldn’t change a thing. I enjoyed it so much I got a job at my uni! I met great friends and enjoyed a GREAT social life.
My degree is my back up, and the degree has enabled to me to get a fairly well paid job. So now I plan to start the scrimping and saving to start my flying through the modular route. I came out of uni with 9K of debt, and me personally, I don't want that debt plus £60-80K hanging over me - but that’s a personal choice. Of course, I will end up borrowing some money, but I'm hoping that with the money I can save, it will be more around the £25K region.
You can have a great social life while flying too. In fact the reason I had so much debt after I finished, and I suspect I wasn't the only one, was beer...lots of it!
Is a flying school like a uni campus? for example if i went to Oxford what would it be like? do i just turn up at the airport for a lesson or groundschool then left to my own devices? or is it like a full time thing, i.e monday - friday selected hours? Also i would much rather prefer to finish my alevels and go straight into a flying school forgetting about UNI. Is 2 alevels in physics and chemistry both A's or B's enough to impress or not? also how is the loan possible to get for someone who has just finished their A-levels?
Regards,
Felix
Last edited by Felix Saddler : 15th May 2006 at 14:16.
Yes there is the debt, and you must take that into account. However, there is the fact that you futher yourself educationally and also in the school of life.
Most importantly it will leave you in a good position when something happens which is unexpected. I went to uni, and was part of the Univeristy Air Sqd, had a good laugh and a few beers, lots of flying and then was going to go comercial. Then I failed a medical. And it was all over. I had passed a class one aged 18, and then failed it aged 20.
However, because of my degree I have walked into a great job and a career that I enjoy - and as a result I can fund my bad habbit of private flying.
As you can see everybody is going to give you different advice, there really is no right answer!! I did my ATPL got 500 hours after sept 11 2001 couldn't get a job and I was in debt. I got a grant to come to uni and are on my final year, while I work part time.
Take the expenses into account, in aviation everything is VERY expensive, the training, yearly medical checkups and licence refreshers...it all adds up very quickly.
I have been through your situation and would advise the following:
If you are considering going to uni by all means do so, you could join a flight club and get your PPL and build up a few hours. You would get the feeling of how flying really is and decide once you have tried it out.
It is also hard to come to uni once you have trained, as I have done, as I haven´t flown many hours since I started, the hours are expensive and I owe money to soo many people I lost count .
On the other hand people will say "you don´t need a degree to fly" which is true, but you will allways have the degree as a backup if you can no longer fly for whatever reason.
ABOVE ALL DON'T WORRY TOO MUCH; YOU ARE YOUNG AND STILL HAVE LOADS OF TIME FOR UNI, ATPL, AND TO HAVE FUN!!! GOOD LUCK
I was in the same situation, uni or flying? i chose uni, because at 18, very few people really know what to do. uni will help me mature and grow, and when i'm finished at 21/22, i'll still be young and able to go train to be a pilot if i want to! also, with a degree, should you decide to get out of the pilot world, you'd have no problem finding a job! although i'm studying, i still think about flying all the time, but i can incorporate aviation/airline related things into parts of my course! this summer, i will be working in an airline, so for the moment, its as close as i'll get!
What could i do if i happened to do badly in my a-levels and not get into uni? i mean its just a thought, would i take out a loan and go to a flying school or not?
Also to add, that if i was to fail my a-levels, i wouldnt have the neccesary qualifications some airlines look for, thus not getting employed at the end! am i right?
Flying V Uni <<when should i start flying?>>
.I would like to become a commercial pilot. Im currently 17 and am studying for my A levels, my question isnt 'which or how is the best path to becoming a pilot' as i know this has probably been posted several times, my question is, what are the chances like when qualifying through an Oxford aviation training scheme that i will be succesful and become employed by an airline? What happens to people that dont get employed have they just wasted £60,000? 
What would you suggest that i do now? finish my A-levels and go to UNI? or not? when should i start flying??? your help is needed very much so!! 
), and seem to have there head screwed on that bit more, unlike mates of my age. 
go take there aptitude tests and see how you do.
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