Chap chap chaps,
First of all well done to Callum, its a huge leap for some one so young to take, i first soloed in a glider at age 16 and can remember the shear terror of being responsible for an aircraft. I hope you keep it up. Being able to do that so young shows a maturity that not many people possess at your age. again i salute you. I would certainly buy you a beer.
Now chaps, i think my sentiments in my post are echoed buy captainchairborne but he misses my meaning, yes exams are a hurdle to get past,... but my opinion i was trying to convey is with aviation pass and forget is quite dangerous. I fly in an area sandwiched between several schools with a lot of new or Training CPL's and their airmanship, RT, Nav (position reporting) is woeful and in sometimes bloody dangerous. These cookie cutter courses i think are contributing to a malaise in aviation, learning enough just to get through the syllabus and as quickly and as cheaply as possible, in my humble opinion produces accidents waiting to happen.
A few months ago one of these students having a very near airprox with me near Foxpine in NZ due to unintelligible and incorrect position reporting and flying non standard altitudes (this i filed) that is covered in the Nav and Air Law exams..
I am not saying the OP is at all representative of this, just the general sentiments of treating exams like hurdles and not learning experiences. I continue to go back to my books and revise. I have also continued to fly new types of aircraft and try new things having just completed my tail dragger rating on the delightful cub. continuing to learn is key. that's all i wanted to say the defense rests.
FK
Pompous Aviator extrodanaire