Unwiseowl: BALPA make a stand? Not going to happen. Ever! But I'm sure that you know that. But I agree about the CTC scheme. It has shor circuited those of us who have done self-sponsored, self-improver type training followed by turbo-prop 'apprenticeship', and consigned the 'traditional' career structure to history, and with it alot of experience. in my opinion the CTC scheme is akin to taking a medical student from the first year of a medical degree to being a senior registrar surgeon in one easy leap, and the general public wouldn't like that, and neither would the BMA. So why did BALPA let it go? I have no idea.