Just wondering what you think about doing ATPL exams before JAA PPL? Has anyone gone this route?
You cannot do this.
There are only two qualifications required to start an approved JAR ATPL THeory Course. These are.
1. You must have an ICAO PPL.
2. You must be able to pay for the course.
If the CAA find that you have started a course before obtaining your PPL they will often get very shirty.
I am aware of one student who started his ATPL ground school having completed his PPL exams, PPL flight training and skills test and applied for his PPL.
But he had not actually received his PPL. There was a delay in processing the application and when the CAA found that he had started the ATPL course with having been issued a PPL, they threatened to declare all of his ATPL training invalid. It took a lot of arguing to change their minds.
I have also known other occasions when the CAA have been asked if it would be OK for a student to start the ATPL course while his/her PPL application was being processed and they have agreed. But even when they are in their best of moods, they will never agree to let a student start the ATPL course before he/she has qualified for the PPL.......Unless of course the student is on an Integrated course, in which case they will never get a PPL at all.