Cabair
on the good side, most the instructors are nice, knowledgeable and very helpful when they teach. They have handouts that are updated and good reference. They do not hesitate to give up their lunches to help out! Generally most students do pass on first attempt, but no matter where you go, IF YOUR WILLING DO THE WORK YOU WILL PASS TOO.
On to the not so good side now. The problem here it's a pretty lengthy list, but I'll talk about the most popular ones. 1) The text books, are out of date and a complete waste of time to read. Pretty much why the instructors are forced to give out hundreds (yes hundreds) of pieces a paper per class to make up for it. A lot of students for example bought Bristol GS books in the beginning to make up for the crappy books. 2) Yes the walk to the planes can be annoying, but not a ridiculously big deal. 3) Getting any money owed to you is utterly useless! At times I walked in quite politely asking for the money and kept getting excuses such as they have to talk to head office or I should get everyone together in the class who wants there money. (that is not my job, I was only asking for what was mine). At times I really needed the money too. 4) The building could be in a little better shape but not a disaster 5) this is the biggest problem. Over the instructors heads and yes to someone high in the ground instruction section. This person literally treats the ground instruction like "headmaster to students/kids" in a boarding school. Not "teacher to students" and adults/customers, like it should be. A rude offending comment/threat was made to the class in an occasion, which was not necessary! (I will keep the actual comment on the down low for its offending matter). This person hands out letters about absences and has suggested getting Dr. notes if sick. (this cost 10pounds, plus 90% of the time a Dr. note it not necessary just a day or 2 of bed rest) If absences is a problem with some students, this person would get so much further ahead if he/she just sat down the class and said at the beginning about there is a minimum amount of hrs to be made and over the course it works out to "X" amount of days. You miss out that much then you can not write, THAT SIMPLE! Instead of hiding the actual minimum from everyone and talking down (literally like your 10yrs old). 6) Also kind of has to do with 5...recently a certificate was brought out upon completion. At first it seemed like a good idea until when you take a look at it, it litterally looks like a 10yrs old did it on photoshop, with a cartoon looking plane in the back. Also at the end of the certificate student may have a 95% in the end but got 1 test e.g. 79 the certificate will say a bare pass student. Should say "honour role 90%+ or nothing at all) Pretty unprofessional really, what's currently there. Take a look at any degree or certificate handed out from a school and it looks professional, not an embareassing one you wouldn't want to show to an possible employer.
I myself have turned away a friend from school at Cabair for it's ground school reasons (which probably effects it's flying side of the school) I just hope Cabair take a look at a couple issues and fixes it for there own sake!