TD - if you're going modular, you definitely have to pay AFT (although they don't do ppl) a visit. I can tell you straight off that they are certainly not glossy and their aircraft are old, but they are extremely well maintained and the whole time I was there, I never lost a single lesson due to an aircraft going tech. But what you will be impressed with is their quality of instructors, the personal level of training you receive and all the photos on the walls of past students - it's full of harrier, tornado and red arrows pilots to name a few. They are a good price, no hidden extras and they are the opposite of money grabbing. I travelled the width of the country every week to get there for a whole summer and it was worth it.
It depends on how quickly you want to get through everything, but you could happily stay working through your ppl, atpl theory and hour building and quit work when it comes to doing cpl/me/ir full time. As a teacher, I assume that you get chunks of time off, so you could start and finish your ppl during the summer hols for instance? You're in a very good position in this respect and even with working up until cpl/ir, there is no reason why you couldn't finish everything within about 2yrs.
That's a great attitude and enjoy your training and the lots of friends and contacts you will make along the way. Quite often it is these very same friends and contacts that will get you your first job. Whilst late 30s is getting on a bit by airline standards today, it's by no means impossible to get into the RHS commercially. I started too late really and had hoped to be qualified by 39 but the recession bit hard, so I used the whole 3 yr atpl theory validity period before doing my cpl/ir. I got my first and current job on a light jet at 42. Not the heavy metal that Truckflyer flies, but my goals were always to get into bizjets for the lifestyle and I was lucky to have some good friends in influential positions.
In 3 years time the industry could be and is likely to be a very different place. We are seeing the green shoots at the moment, albeit primarily in the increasing number of cadet schemes. But whilst it is extremely unlikely that we will ever see another boom time in recruitment, in 3 yrs time it probably will be a lot better than now - hopefully!
Good luck with your training and let us know how it's going? Please feel free to PM me with any questions, especially if you want some more detail on AFT? Exeter is a great place to train and the scenery in the area is fantastic. You are very lucky, even if you chose to train further afield.
Last edited by 119.35; 6th Jul 2013 at 10:00.