@mad_jock - I agree entirely with what you say. For me personally it's the loan part that would have been of most interest rather than getting a degree out of it which in reality would probably not be a very useful degree in any other job/industry.
I'm sure everyone on here would agree that some form of government backed and issued loan, paid back only once a certain wage had been achieved would be of a massive benefit to those not able to borrow the money off parents etc.
The problem for a lot of us is that the money would have to be earned while training and whilst paying for living costs as well. The main problem though is that while the pilot jobs market is pretty daunting and unpredictable the main worry is that the £50-70K you sink in to a modular course is worth pretty much naff-all if you don't get a pilot job. Not meaning anyone that has replied to this part of the thread but I do get the impression quite a few people fail to see some of the major issues like this. If you are 18 and go and do say a English degree, you will probably have a great three years and even if you don't get a job at least the loan repayment scheme isn't that bad these days, plus you have a degree that might at least get you an interview somewhere. But you haven't spent vast sums of money upfront like you would in pilot training.