TRISLANDER,
It is good to hear that you are happy with your training. But some of the factors which you have listed as justification for the higher price need further examination.
"Smaller class sizes (Max 15 rather than 20+)"
EPTA has never had a class of 20+. The largest that I can recall was 17. The average class size over the past 2 years has been closer to 12. I have heard that BCFT guarantee not more than 15 in a class. But is this not simply because their rather small classrooms could not accommodate more than 15? If we were ever to have a class of 20 at EPTA, the students furthest from the instructor would still only be in the third row. The fact is that EPTA classrooms are far more spacious than those at BCFT.
"Genuine interest from the instructors in ME rather than my wallet"
If you talk to any of our students you will find that they are delighted with the attitude of all of our instructors. For example, it is not at all unusual for instructors to give up their lunch breaks to go over any problem subjecst on a one to one basis with students. You will also find that they are all absolutely baffled as to why anyone would want to pay almost twice as much to go to BCFT. A further significant point is that EPTA and its ground school instructors will never charge you anything for this extra tuition.
The BCFT instructors may well be interested in the welfare of their students. But can you say the same of the management? Earlier in the year the CAA wanted to have an examination centre at Bournemouth. They were particularly keen to conduct a trial during the September exams, when an unusually large number of students would be participating.
Having spent the best part of three weeks researching possible venues, I suggested five possibilities. The first four were hotels, all of which would make a rather large charge for their services.
In each case there was also a possible problem with parking and regular long term availability.
The fifth was an offer of the free use of an EPTA classroom. This could have accommodated all of the students from the Bournemouth schools, plus an extra 8 or so from other schools. All concerned were happy with this arrangement, until the BCFT management decided that they were not prepared to let their students use the EPTA classroom. They would prefer that their students incur the additional cost and inconvenience of going to Gatwick. Because of this the trial was cancelled and an extra room was used at Silsoe.
"Wasn't whisked off into an office by a sales rep a soon as I entered the premises"
It is certainly true that Liz likes to provide a quite area in which to conduct discussions. Most prospective customers prefer this as it enables them to discuss their worries and problems in private.
"Had a chance to chat alone with the current students to see what they thought of the place"
I always advise prospective customers to do this. The comments made by our many happy students are the best possible advertisements of the school.
"Wasn't given an irrelevant tour of European Aviation's flight simulator hall"
Many prospective customers are interested in seeing the full range of facilities that we have availalable. The European Aviation simulator is the one used for the MCC, so it is relevant to people who may envisage doing the whole programme with EPTA.
"Chatted informally with an instructor and was shown the training manuals"
I and all of the instructors are always delighted to chat with prospective customers. We are also very pleased to let them see our manuals and to discuss their strong and weak points.
"Didn't have a load of building work going on right outside the classrooms"
It is true that building work was being carried out in an ajoining part of the building earlier in the year. This was beyond the control of EPTA. But it lasted only a few weeks and was completed many months ago. Can any school really say that such work will not affect them at some time in the future?