I'm currently a 3rd year student at Leeds Uni, studying aviation technology with pilot studies.
A note to all wannabes on the discussion of uni or not? I say go to uni, the course i'm doing is great. I now know about 50 soon to be pilots and have nearly gained my ppl (Cleveland flying school, great instructors!!!!) as part of my course! I've learnt so much that has really prepared me for an airline career. I got a bursary from the uni, it was £1,500 towards my ppl. I also covered a lot of the atpl syllabus in further depth than needed, not to mention learing how to start an airline. One thing i really enjoyed was designing an aircraft and flying it on a simulator! I learnt alot of engineering and management. One thing this course does test, is to see if an aviation career is for you, one of my friends on my course has now decided he would rather be a long jumper! Also there are a few students learning to fly an A380
(Dissertation)!!!
To now gain a bursary at leeds you need AAA
in your A-levels, so school is important. I did geography, physics and design, and found these a great help on the course. I hated maths and that's why i didn't study it at A-level. I got to leeds and was taught maths to a very high standard, so i didn't miss out.
You don't need to do an aviation related degree, but if flyings your passion then why wouldn't you? Hopefully when i return from going round the world building hours, i'll know plently of pilots flying for airlines. Which can help when trying to get a job
. GO to UNI!