thanky for the replies, i'll defintatly check it up with the german authority before signing up for the distance learning course.
The paragraph i'm referring to is:
German JAR-FCL 1: 1.050 (b) (3)
"Einem Bewerber, der die theoretische
Prüfung für den Erwerb einer ATPL(A) bestanden hat, werden diese Kentnisse auf die für den Erwerb einer PPL(A), CPL(A), IR(A) geforderte theoretische Ausbildung angerechnet."
which is translated (roughly, cant do any better):
"A candidate,who has passed the theoretical examination for aquisation of an ATPL, is credited this knowledge on the for an aquisation of PPL,CPL or IR required theoretical training."
The way i understand it, is that after passing the ATPL exams you only have to do the practical parts of the PPL,CPL and IR training.
But apart from the legality of this issue, would you recommend that way?