PPL Schools - South East
Hi all - first time poster here in need of a bit of PPL advice.
I was due to start a whitetail integrated course at a 'big' FTO this year, which I have of course put the brakes on due to CV19. I've instead decided to do a Masters degree to further my aviation 'plan B' and buy some time to see where the world/industry is in 16-18 months. I have (or had) a good 3 or so months before starting, and as such was looking to do a relatively intensive PPL as I would love to get some flying in sooner rather than later (and likely complete my training via the modular route), but have been quite disheartened in my search for a suitable school in the south east.
I have enquired at 2 different schools and have been quoted no less than £185p/h dual rate on a C152, with seemingly no discounts available for blocks of x hours at a time. I am not sure if I have underestimated the cost of a PPL, but I had a figure of sub £10k in mind and as such this rate seems very high. Minimum hours at £185p/h already totals near enough £8.5k, not leaving an awful lot for everything else - additional hours, landing fees, club membership, equipment/books, theory exams, skills test, etc.
What was more disappointing was that I really didn't get a good feel whatsoever about either of the places I enquired with. Maybe this could be put down to the wrong person picking the phone up that day, rather than being able to pop in and speak with an instructor face to face, but unfortunately this doesn't seem possible at the moment. They certainly didn't seem to value the potential custom that a PPL (and likely beyond - hour building etc.) would bring and seemingly had better things to be getting on with than answer any questions or queries I had.
As such, I would be extremely grateful if anyone could advise on what I should be aiming to spend on a PPL in 2020 and also recommend a good school within a c. 30 mile radius of North Hants.
Many thanks in advance.