Originally Posted by
ZOOKER
eglnyt...We went through in 1979-1982. About 36 on the course, all of which had the qualifications I outlined above. I think there were 4 who didn't qualify/validate. Three ended up as senior ATSAs, one guy left the service completely, a great shame. A couple failed the odd exam, but ended up re-sitting stuff and eventually validating. Of those who validated, 4 left and became senior airline captains. So, about a 90% success rate, in terms of unit validations achieved.
Lots of variables since 1979 though and one group is a small sample. It would be interesting to know what it looks like over a longer period & whether there was a point at which validation rates dropped significantly. I believe 18 year olds now are just as clever and intelligent as they've ever been they just know different stuff nowadays. The intensity at Gatwick in the 1980s was very different to now.