Jimmy 123
I did my A-levels and applied to CTC during a gap year whilst working and travelling. It was great fun, gave me a bit of money but most importantly gave me time for the drawn-out application process and also minutes worth of stuff to talk about in the interview to make them think I was mature. I applied to uni in my gap year just in case. The day I was due to start at Durham I flew out to sunny NZ from Heathrow. I have no regrets about the way I did it - not many ppl get to fly 757's at 21, but I do have my medical renewal next week! Fingers crossed. A degree is a good fall back remembering job security isn't great as low hours airline pilot.
Best of luck with your application if you go for it.
P.S Hello to all the guys still out in NZ and down in BOH, head down, chin up!