Hi,
Here goes my first post!
I came out of a production enviroment into a/c eng, & made it to LAE in 5 yrs! There have been guys that have done it quicker
but requires alot of hard work. mainly home study, up to 2 hrs a night 3-4 days a week for 12mths-24mths & longer. you make your own time scale.
I dont know much about these nvq's it was C & G's in my day,
but any decent employer will allow/sponser you through further
education for onc,hnc,hnd or even a degree.
LAE will be about as far as you will get if you want to stay playing with a/c, otherwise you'll have to join the management ranks.
Theres plenty of scope for a career it's all a matter of what you want to do
If i can pass my licence's then anyone can,provided you put the work in.
Hope this helps.