Chrisbowe82 - you're right. Not having A-Levels should never put anyone off choosing to become a Commercial Pilot - it hasn’t done so for me. I sat the first 6 months of 6th Form and left. I was bullied at school and couldn’t take anymore.
I forgot about my A Levels and based upon advice from a flight school in Oxford, I said to myself that I wouldn’t bother going back to study for them. That was when I was 16 and easily influenced by a school’s course coordinators or ‘sales team’ as I now like to call them!
Now at the age of 19 I want to prove, like many others have done already, that you can become a quality pilot without having the high school education that many think is necessary. However, I have made up for not having A Levels in other ways..
When I left school I turned my part time job at Sainsbury’s into a full time job – earning as much money as possible to fund my driving lessons. The day after I passed I had an interview for a job on check in with easyJet. I did this until I was old enough to become Cabin Crew. I flew as crew for 18 months and now work in an Operations Department for a major UK airline. This isn’t a self gloss but I’m pretty proud of where I am now. Not bad for a 19year old that only has GCSE’s.
If I had the choice of 3 A grade A Levels or my experience – I’d go for the experience. I think it’s more valuable – especially in this industry.
In retrospect, yes – it’d be nice to have the qualifications. However if I had the opportunity to go back and do it all again id decline. One thing I will say is that 9 times out of 10 its not what you know but who you know.
S88