Originally Posted by
Mu-2pilot
Hello Everyone,
I am a 17 year old studying in England but have been raised up in America (Florida) all my life up until 8 months ago when my dad (who is British) decided to move back to the UK. So as you can imagine my life has been turned upside down and I'm trying to resettle, and as I didn't finish High School so have no qualifications.
You are however 17 - the move to the UK has lost you a year or two - so just recover that time without worrying too much.
I have wanted to be a pilot all my life, since I stepped into my dads Mitsubishi MU-2. And at the moment I am having a little difficulty coming to grasps with a number of things which I hope someone out there will be able to help me with.
I'll try - I've worked across most of the areas that you need to crack.
I am studying a BTEC First Diploma in Business (worth 4 GCSEs A-C) and a Maths GCSE. I am predicted to get a B overall in both of those. But if I got a C overall would, and got a C in my Maths GCSE would I still be eligible for Flight Training in the UK?
Eligible yes, because flying training in the UK really doesn't care about qualifications. However, potentially unemployable.
As an absolute minimum, to be employable in the UK you want 5 GCSEs - including maths, english and some form of science - a foreign language is also highly advantageous.
These combined grade ND schemes are not very good for somebody like you, because they're normally built upon a foundation of GCSEs, not instead of them. You need to be signed up for English and combined science GCSEs if you're going to get anywhere, as well as the maths. This is in life, not just flying training (which is easier).
I am sort of bad at maths, grade B would be an achievement and my dad told me I really need to improve if I wish to be a commercial pilot, however he is an old style pilot and I was wondering if he is still right or has the maths standard dropped?
You need maths skill equivalent to about grade B GCSE - the actual qualification will be fine at grade C which is what is regarded by the "real world" (as opposed to the school system) as a pass. Some maths in the ATPL course is A level standard, but you can learn that as you go along.
I will be doing a BTEC National Diploma in Aviation Studies (worth 3 A-Levels A-C) next year, so again if I did this with Maths Grade C would this make me eligible.
You need to ask the admissions tutor at the college. Personally I favour traditional A levels, these BTECs are often dodgy educationally.
I just consulted with a university admissions tutor on your behalf (I'm married to her), who knows this ND course, and is very sceptical about it. It will in all likelihood repeat what you'll do later in groundschool, but if you want to get into a degree course - do proper old fashioned A levels, which will be much more academically rigorous, and will be regarded in much better light by a university.
I do plan on going to University and if I did, ould I be better on getting a Business or Aviation related degree, I only ask this because my dad has always told me to have a back stop in case I lose my medical. And those are the only two subjects im interested in.
Aviation degrees, the ones that are worth having, are generally engineering or science related. In which case you want maths and physics at A level, plus something else. A business degree will accept you with those qualficiations as well.
But, I disagree with your Dad - a degree is a licence to learn, just as much as a pilots licence is. It is not a backstop and would be a massive waste of time and money if you only really want to be a pilot. If you want a backstop, get a licence in something immediately employable like catering, plumbing, teaching swimming...
If you plan a military flying, aviation management career - maybe a degree then flying training are right. But I say again,
a degree is not a backstop.
Since I am an American citizen and a British one I can easily go between the two, would someone be able to recommend where I did my training? I know its much cheaper in America but I'm thinking about where the job growth will be, in Europe or america?
The job growth is in Asia, the USA is cheaper to learn to fly, a European licence is much easier to convert into an FAA licence than the other way around. Getting a job anywhere is hard at the moment.
Also if someone could provide me with information about loans for flight training, it would be greatly appreciated.
Just use the search function. There have been a lot of threads on this.
Many MANY thanks for reading all of this, and for your responses,
You're welcome - one further point: university admissions tutors in the UK and US all have access to explanations of each others qualifications. So, A levels will get you into a US degree, US school graduation (if you did the right subjects) will get you into a British university. So it is possible to switch education systems.
The big danger however, is going for noddy qualifications with no substantial academic content like the BTEC, or like a basic US school graduation certificate. Schools will push students they don't see as academic high flyers in those directions - but fight this and do the stuff that you need, not what will give you and them an easy ride.
G