I'm not a pilot. I am an engineer and for all sorts of reasons know a bit about what goes on. I know two youngsters who are training to be pilots at the moment:
- The first is from a wealthy family (i.e. UK upper-middle class). The parents are supporting the child to go through an aviation-related degree and also paying for them to do the integrated course, plus buying the child a rather smart car in the driveway. And living at home, costly holidays, etc etc. Essentially the family are seeking to buy the child a fully-assured pathway into a high status white-collar career. Other families put their kids through medical school or law school for the same reason, in this instance it is piloting.
- The second is not from a wealthy family. Took their school exams then moved out of home at age of 18 (plus one day !), into lodgings. Selected the lodgings to be close to cheap (but good) flying school and cheap lodgings, so is about 80-miles away from parents. Immediately started paying their own way in life by cleaning toilets (domestic house cleaner) and used the spare cash to go the modular route, bought their own (small, old, cheap) car. Worked and studied all hours, ferociously determined to be a pilot and to do it on their own. Zero parental support - the parents have never visited us (we happen to be the lodgings). As you can imagine this got noticed and within a year the local airline had taken them on for aviation-related airport (ground) work so was able to cut back on cleaning toilets, whilst still studying and paying their own way on the modular track
It is not the rich child's fault to be a rich child. But I have utmost respect for the second youngster. All things being equal I know I'd hire the second one over the first. But all things are not equal and the first may be able to ride out the financial economic cycles and be in the right place at the right time with the right connections in a way that the second one may not be able to. I've seen it work both ways over the years, sometimes life is not fair.
So - as others have said - it can be done, but have a plan B.
Meanwhile us engineers are doing our best to eliminate aircrew and to deskill them and to make them cheaper. That is an ongoing and longstanding trajectory - flight engineers and radio officers and navigators have gone and I expect that pilots per plane will reduce to one during the career duration of your son, perhaps to none.
In addition climate change issues are a very real concern. It is not popular to mention this around here, but the growth in aviation that has taken place since WW2 is (imho) unlikely to continue in the same way. That is going to cause a career crunch at some point.
Lastly, as others have mentioned your sone would be well advised to try to be on both sides of the UK/EU licencing regime.