Originally Posted by
McBoo
Hi all,
I am lucky enough to have been offered a place with NATS and subject to medical and security clearance will hopefully be starting college in September.
If I am sent to Gloucester I will have to rent a room.
However, I live around 1h20m from Whiteley. Does anyone with experience of the course think this would be a doable commute factoring in the amount of study required etc?
Not having to shell out for a room in the week would make my home situation a lot easier, with a mortgage to cover.
Thanks in advance!
I would strongly advise you to rent a room nearby.
When I did my course at CTC 9 years ago, I rented a room in Southampton initially and I had no car. My door-to-door commute was at least 1h if the trains were on time - big if. I hated how much time I wasted on it daily.
I had no aviation background and the volume of theory that needed to be absorbed in a short amount of time was high (the basic course is about 3 months long including the exams). I nearly failed my basic course. What did save me though was putting in a lot of extra hours in the evenings and at the weekends with my colleagues (btw, nobody else I know lived further than 30 minutes by car).
For the next two courses I lived in Whiteley within walking distance from CTC, sharing with other trainees and it made a massive difference.
Don't underestimate the training, especially after you've made it so far already.