I went to oxford as a modular student and I'll just make a list of positives and negatives.I DID MY CPL/MECR/IR & MCC at Oxford.
Positives
- The quality of flying instruction was excellent. Having been lucky enough to have spent 3 years on a university air squadron (I consider the RAF to be the best flying school in the world) I found my instructors were more mature in age and experience than many other schools, and of a similar dedication and standard to the training I received on the UAS. OAT instructors do get paid more money than some other training schools so you would expect them to have better instructors- market forces say the best instructors will go to where they can get paid more.
- Free use of IFR computer training devices complete with all the switches, yoke and rudder pedals etc. They have a room that you can use for free that is a very good way of learning and practicing IR procedures and learning what the needles do and when. Many people will say Microsoft flight sim can do this, but in truth the two do not compare. I also got free time on a Seneca frasca II simulator, but was not allowed to add the hours- again I would be surprised if other flight training organizations offer that, although you do have to have a good relationship with your instructor to get on the Frasca II sim.
- On the whole the modern buildings are a pleasant place to learn to fly, I'm sure you would rather plan your flight in a nice modern building with computer access to flight planning software and weather, than in some dirty cramped place.
- Customer service staffs are very friendly
- Careers help, although being modular I did not qualify for this, I was helped with my CV - which now looks very nice and professional and was given time on a one to one basis on career advice. The lectures from visiting airlines are also very useful and allow you to hand your CV into the people who will recruit in person, or at the very least a contact name of who to address the letter to- I got a reply from every person who visited oxford that I sent my CV.
- The area where you train is nice, remember you will spend a long time there, the village of Kidlington is small but pleasant and Oxford is only a short bus journey or car ride away.
_ The over all quality of students seemed quite high, I did some hour building at the Riverside in Tulsa USA (I was very pleased with the riverside - not as good as Oxford - but very cheap and good value) and the other students there just did not seem to be as gifted (sorry I can not think of a better way to put it) as the OAT students, although many were better friends, if that makes sense?
- When I was there almost everyone on the integrated course had job interviews with BA, even before they had finished training- although out of interest most did not get selected, but still they had the chance to impress and unless they had gone integrated they would not have been offered that chance.
Negatives
-If you have a problem be prepared to make a noise and push your case. When I was there I was told my MECR/IR could not start until 3 weeks after I had finished my CPL and, this was while I was staying in the accommodation on site. Obviously I did not want a three-week gap in training so I tried to sort it out. Customer Services said it was impossible for me to start, the flying side of the business said no problem they have enough instructors and aircraft for me to start my MECR/IR. This went on for about two weeks while I was doing my CPL, not the hardest flying test you will do but the added Oxford induced stress was not welcome. Anyway I had to complain direct to the MD, I then got an e-mail from customer services asking me to come and see them and my problem was sorted out. This was not the only difficulty with my training program oxford caused me.Sometimes at Oxford you get the idea that the head is not talking to the body.
- The is a band of flying instructor that are sick of the system at oxford and will moan and you hear them moan about the company politics, there is certainly some discontented flying instructors at oxford.
- The onsite accommodation is way too expensive, even though it is very convenient. The Internet access they provide in your room is very very slow or often did not work at all. The food included in accommodation is not of good quality, although you can now opt out of food inclusive accommodation. The canteen was getting renovated when I was there - so the quality might have changed- ANY comments current students?
The cleaners for the accommodation are useless and do not clean properly.
-The slot and booking system for aircraft at oxford is very good............until
Some bugger in ops changes your booking. Example your booked in for a flight at 4pm tomorrow, so you go home today at midday. Next day you get a phone call at 9am asking where you are, ops changed your booking to 9am, but of course you were not at the school so had no idea and what is worse they will say it is your fault for not checking for any changes last thing at night. So you find yourself regularly check the ops booking board for changes.
- I keep in touch with a few modular and integrated students from Oxford, some have jobs and some do not. I would be surprised if the success of integrated is as high as they quote- especially if you look at figures of only the last six months- just my personal experience from talking to integrated graduates about there course success rates.
I was lucky and I got a job with an airline in less than a month after graduating form oxford, although in my case, its a foreign airline and they had not even head of OAT- so having there name on my CV did not help. In the month before getting employed I did send CV's to UK airlines and subsequently had two offers of interviews from two of them, so maybe Oxford on the CV is a good thing, it certainly is not a bad thing in my opinion.
As a side note I did my ground school at Bristol and I think they were fist class, when I looked at oxford notes, Bristol’s were superior and I actually helped some oxford students, teaching them some of the Bristol "tricks" for learning and remembering the stuff for ATPL exams.
If I could go there again, I probably would. My advise to modular and integrated students would be if you go there go there expecting to pay for the fATPL only, do not expect them to get you a job. If your happy to pay for the facilities they offer (which on the whole are very good) then pay your money it is a good school, think of any career help you receive (Including the Airline Prep course students) as an added bonus and you will be happy. If you go there just because you think you can buy a jet job, then you might be disappointed.