Well, while the majority agree that the requirements should include some flying time or a licence even, you do seem to forget the younger people with ambitions to fly. Learning to fly is an expensive affair, and many young people (such as myself) are in full-time education and lack the funds to pay for the training. Sponsorships are the best and often the only way we can learn to fly, and the lack of restrictions reflects the obstacles facing cash-strapped students. Getting a job after a degree and using the money to pay to learn to fly is an option, but one that takes many years, often spent in a job that I would rather not be doing. I hope for my sake at least that the industry recovers from the recession and sponsorship schemes become available once again. After all, it seems that it is the only way I will be able to learn to fly!