I did a lot of work looking at the financing side and trying to justify £80-100k of debt + lost earnings for 2 years + interest to be paid on debt to go integrated so I spoke to a load of current pilots to get their view (my old man was with BA etc).. .most of them fell off there seats and had to pick their jaws up off the floor when told how much integrated training cost. Note these weren't just "old hands" who were lucky enough to have BA pick up the tab for their training (like my old man and his mates) but also my peers some of which self funded 8-9 years ago (most now at Cathy, BA or Lo-cos). If I had a pound everytime one of them said "madness" I would have had enough cash to go to Oxford several times over!
The other thing that struck me is not just to base your decision on "can I pay off the debt" without considering other issues likely to be increasingly prominant in your thinking over the next 10 years.... to get on the housing ladder today you will have to save at least £15-20k.... plus you also will have to start thinking about paying into a pension asap unless you believe the 10k most company schemes will give you to retire on is enough to support your lifestyle.
I think MikeCR has many many point that I wholeheartedly agree with. Also ask yourself why are 90% of the people that go through Oxford in the 18-25 year age bracket when those that are most likely to be able to afford the cost are 25-35 bracket with 5-10 years of work behind them?? Perhaps 5-10 years of working for a living gives you a better appreciation of just how much debt £80-100k is and what a weight around your neck it can be.
Look at it this way....
80k with an interest rate of 6.5% paid back over 10 years means your total repayments will be £105-110k.... that is the cash cost of your training not £80k... that is also out of post-tax earnings (your debt payments are not tax-deductible) so gross it up for tax you are looking at £150k worth of gross salary going to repay your debt over the 10 years... so on average 15k a year.... add 20k for a type rating and these numbers go to £135k and £190k respectively.... 19k of your gross salary a year.... frightening isn't it? Don't forget to factor in that the bank is not lending you the money for free so include the cost of the interest you will pay on your loan into the cost of the course.... I am amazed at how many people don't include the cost of interest paid on debt when calculating the cost of their training.
I'm not knocking Oxford its an excellent course and even the modular route isn't "cheap" but I am not surprised so many of the pilots I have spoken to think the costs involved for a newbie today are terrifying.
Oh well thats my 2 pennies worth.... having visited Oxford I decided to stay in work full time and go modular.... hey I may be wrong but heck at least i have no debt, 150-200 hrs in thelog book and most of the exams out of the way.... I sleep easy at night and my bank manager doesn't even know who I am
Once I get the little blue book next year I may even be lucky enough to get onto the CTC ATP scheme which strikes me as one of the most cost effective way into the airlines these days