Radiographers on 11,000? I'm sorry but I cannot believe that it is a graduate job as such, even if they are graduates working in them. If you get 2:2 or above from a DECENT university, and bother to apply for internships in the second year, and graduate jobs in the final year and you will easily get something over 20,000. The first year results are usually asked for now as well as a reminder to you youger ones to work a bit more.
BFS - you don't leave much clue as to your situation, but I would advise you to go to university.
Debt: the basic student loan is repayable only when you earn (11,000ish plus) and is at an inflation(ish) interest rate. Any greater than this [should] be covered by what you have earned before university and during appropriate holidays ie not the Easter when you should be revising. Don't bother with a car unless you can really afford it.
Benefits: get a decent degree from a good place and you will walk into a graduate job. If the arilines are not recruiting, you can joing the RAF, or walk into a graduate job that can fund your ATPL. The back-up this gives is FAR better than a callcentre job if you lose your medical, and allows you to do a more diverse range of jobs that are infinitely more interesting.
The mistake many make is that they feel they must get into flying immediately on leaving school or even university. The fact is that you can do better for yourself by holding off, and not blindly going into a job that is extremely limiting in alternatives with the given abilities.
As a graduate, you are entitieled to preferential loan rates after university and continuing interest-free overdrafts etc for a while. Take the long-term approach, and you will never look back.
Last edited by Lucifer; 1st Jun 2002 at 09:02.