Required arrogance
Mr P T Flea, its a shame for you that BA are no longer recruiting as you appear to have the required arrogance to fit into their scheme immediately. It seems to me that you are either reading from the oxford marketing script and posting it on this forum, or you are trying to convince yourself that this will work for you, and also that you seem to be that much better than everyone else (current and recently graduated students alike). Your 'quality not quantity' remark has confused me too. I beleive you said there would now only be 20 people on your course, compared to the 15 which was on the one I recently finished. Sounds like the instructors ability to teach on a one to one basis will be stretched.
Plus the implication that current/previous students are inferior has a distinct twang of 'I'm BA look at me' to it. Maybe you have got what it takes?!
Whilst I appreciate the hard work which you have clearly put in this far into your future training, I feel you should be very cautious about the blatent marketing of the APP scheme at Ox. Its nothing they didn't say two years ago, they have repackaged it, painted it in pretty colours and added three capital letters to the name, oooh. Also be cautious of your belief that in 18 months time there is going to be a glut of pilots. We were all told this too, and I know recent events have influenced this fact, but this is entirely the reason you must be cautious. Nobody knows what will happen in 18 months time, not you, not even the airlines, and definately not Oxford.
For your information as well, there are plenty of excellent pilots out here without a sniff of a job, and it is not through lack of ability or effort (on their own part, not oxford's I might add). There is a lot of slack to be taken up in this industry before you come out, and unless oxford actually makes an effort to improve its links with airlines - which at present seem pretty tenuous at best, not existent at worst - they won't be very succesful in achieving there promise to you.