If your thinking of going commercial then the one thing everyone that has your interests in mind should say is get down to gatwick and make sure you can get you class 1, if you cant get this then it;s a non starter.
As others have said before you pick a school visit them, see how well they look after you, are they just telling what you want to hear ? do they show you around their planes ? do they make time for you, after all it's a lot of money.
Can also ask if they do anything specific for you considering your thinking of going commercial, CPL standards are much higher than PPL if you get into best practises from the start will make your CPL easier.
While there are data protection points to think about, ask the school to let you talk to a current student see what they say.
I've flown a grob at Barton, great ac, loved the seat and controls set up the most and it's very sensitive to control inputs. However the C152 is the most common training ac in the world and the PA38 is the most popular low wing trainer. There is a reason
I teach on Pa38 and it makes life so much easier when an a/c is designed to be a trainer.
But go with what you like, its good to like the ac you fly
For sure the best addvice others have written is no money up front, if it's full upfront payment of all of the PPL I'd run, fast ! but pay as you fly is near always going to be more expensive than a package, this is mostly down to the second bigest cost being landing / circuit fees and these are usualy always all included in a pack, but check the small print some schools sneek small print in of 'only at base airfield'
When it comes to packs I've still to find one that does include all the costs and is upfront about the extras, having a bug bare on hidden costs, students paying over the odds and no real totaly impartial place to go to get advice from was how Target Aviation was born.
If you need any info on options be it ppl cpl or atpl, costs or how to attack it then drop me a mail to customers.first AT targetaviation.co.uk I also have some factsheets and pathway sheets that you may find helpful.
Regards
Oh and maybe looking like a good time to think about commercial know of 4 instructors that have been offered airline jobs in the last 2 months..... at last
