You should ask the schools what they think, but you can get a rough idea from the hours required.
The 13 ATPL(H) exams are supposed to be 650 hrs work, the 9 CPL(H) are supposed to be 500. Taking the distance learning approach, the pre-exam brush ups are going to absorb around 150 and 100 of those respectively, which leaves 500 and 400 hours to you. At 10hrs per week that gives you about a year for the ATPL and nine months for the CPL. The classroom people seem to quote five months for ATPL.
I've no personal experience of the CPL or the classroom approach but the year or so seems consistent with the guys I came across who had done ATPL(H) distance learning on a part time basis. Those who could manage to do it full time cut this down to about five or six months, ie. about the same as the classroom.
Allegedly the record is six weeks, and some nutter at my school decided to do all 14 (ATPL(A)) in one sitting (and passed !) just to show off.
The distance learning/classroom thing is really up to what you prefer, how you work best, how easy it is to take time out, and how much money you have.
PS. This assumes no resits of course.
Last edited by puntosaurus; 26th Jun 2005 at 20:17.