My point was simply this:
To become a commercial pilot you need to undergo expensive training. The BA TEP scheme pays that training bill for you and (provided the commercial needs of the airline are still ok when you qualify) you are guaranteed a job. OK you pay back some of this training cost from your salary and by being worked hard, but the other option is to work for years to save the money to train, by which time when you do join an airline you are lower down the seniority list and might not progress as far in your career, or you take out a loan, on which you make repayments each month from your salary. If you pay for the training yourself you are not guaranteed a job at the end of it.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think BA are doing their cadets a 'favour' or doing it because they are being kind, they do it because they know they get something in return. I also realise that the likelihood of being sponsored by BA or anyone else is slim, but from where I sit at the moment, what I can see as the quickest and safest (from the point of view of a guaranteed job) to become a commercial pilot is by being accepted for sponsorship. It is also the first option to explore before looking at self-sponsorship.
However, I know that I am not going to sit around for years trying to get on a sponsorship scheme with an airline. I will go out and raise the funds somehow and pay for my own training.