Hi Dicegirl,
Firstly welcome to Gatwick Fleet!! In answer to your question, yes you will be flying long haul from day one. Current LGW longhaul route are: Atlanta, Orlando, New York (All 24 hour stopovers), Tampa and Bermuda (Between 24 and 48 hours stopovers), Barbados, Antigua, St Lucia and Kingston (Anything from 1 night to 5 nights away). The longest trip for this winter is Kingston which is a total of 6 days (You leave on a Monday, land back on a Saturday), there is also a 5 day Kingston as well. I think St Lucia is between 5 and 6 days as well.
Although in both Antigua and St Lucia your trip will generally be broken up by a shuttle. (From Antigua to Grenada, Tobago or St Kitts) and from St Lucia to Port of Spain. All are little return trips from Antigua..You will leave the hotel early afternoon and be back at the hotel by around 8pm.
Don't forget that we do whats called mixed flying at LGW, which means you will also be doing a fair amount of shorthaul, ranging from 1 day trips (there and backs) to 4 day trips. As we also stop over on shorthaul as well..Currently we nightstop in: Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Amsterdam, Geneva, Toulouse, Jersey, Malaga, Bologna, Venice, Naples. Am sure my colleagues will add to any that I have forgotten!!
Good luck with your course, any thing else you need to know, let me know
Bunny X