RE, academic or not ....who cares ?
If I wanted a degree I’d have been to university . There was nothing of interest. I wanted to be a pilot and nothing fitted the bill....I had a vague interest in space, but I was average at maths and physics.
The thing with the ATPL exams is the volume ( there’s nothing particularly difficult ) and the fact there is a large clump of them, combined with ( in my case ) part time study as well as a job. I was overjoyed to get first time passes. Flying is not academic , it’s about mental agility .
I don’t need BA or BSc after my name . In actual fact 2/3 of my peers that did degrees never used them for that purpose they were intended .