Astigmatism
not the office jnr,
Providing you have a PPL, are over 21 and have stability in your specs prescription for at least three years, the CAA should give you a Class 1 medical with short term deviation. When you obtain your CPL, providing your astigmatism is still within renewal limits, the short-term deviation is lifted from your medical making it a full, unrestricted class 1. I've heard that people have obtained the medical with a deviation without holding a PPL, but don't whether that's true or not. Give Gatwick a call and see if Adrian Chorley will look at your case.
sam109,
I'm in exactly the same position as you - there is a small risk that my astigmatism will get worse before getting the deviation removed, but the risk is small, and I'd much rather have completed the training and lost my medical than do nothing and live with the regret. If you can afford it and are passionate about a career, go for it!
Just one thing that may be of interest: I applied to CTC with my Class 1 medical with short term deviation and passed Stage 3 in June. Unfortunately they didn't fully understand the whole deviation thing at the time I applied, so decided to stop my application before I got to sit stage 4. However, they did say that if I had the deviation lifted after getting my frozen ATPL they would take me onto the ATP scheme; hope that helps anyone else who might be in a similar situation!
Good luck to all with getting (and keeping!) your medical certs - don't forget there's always the FAA if the CAA won't play ball!
waterpau