Polar Stereo,
here are the numbers Hand Solo was hinting at:
CEP starting salary = £22000 yr1. .DEP starting salary = £33000 yr1
CEPs also have £3000 each year for the 1st 5 years taken from their salary to contribute towards training costs.
BA negotiate a hugely reduced price for the ab initio course at OATS, I don't know what it is exactly but I heard a figure of £38000 per cadet. If you are a self sponsored Oxford student you will know this is far less than the price they are charging you.
So the CEP has paid back £15000 out of their own money, and has an £11000 lower starting salary than a DEP. BA has clawed back £26000 of the £38000 Oats course in the first year. It takes 7 years for a CEP to climb onto the same pay scale as the DEP and I think I am probably right in thinking that over years 2-6 the total difference in pay is enough to cover not only the OATS course but the MCC/JOC training as well.
BA in the past have had problems with inexperienced DEPs. This is not to say they are all bad, just enough to make BA interested in retaining the ability to weed out undesirables sooner rather than later.
It is possible to enter the company as a self sponsored CEP but of the 4 people I know who have done it straight out of OATS, not one of them averaged less than 95% in ALL their exams, frequently scoring 100% in things like Nav and Instruments, and they all passed the 6 flying exams first time with a score of 1 or 2. That is much more than BA requires of its' own cadets at OATS, and much more than most of them did score. Even so, these SS CEPs still have to pass all of the same interviews that the CEPs take, including the psychometric tests. There is also still an age limit of 30 (but I have it on good authority that this has recently become a bit more flexible). They make very good pilots but unfortunately are like gold dust.
So in the meantime, BA will continue to take a mix of CEPs and experienced DEPs, as the cost difference is not that great - they just don't want another retirement bulge in 25 years or so time, and the rare occasional CEP might just make it.