From what I can gather, certain schools don't help themselves by promising the world to get guys in and the p1$$ing on them once they are in the door by treating them unfairly and unequally. It also doesn't help that some also give a very elitist/aloof image until the point that they are in the dwang and then wonder why folks won't go the extra mile to help them out. Quid quo pro.
Perhaps a little more of give and take rather than convincing new FI's that these schools are doing them a favour and that they should be grateful for what they can get would help. After all the FI is the major customer facing element of any flying training organisation, and a motivated and well looked after FI is likely to do more for himself and the school than one that pays to go to work for one 45min trip a week versus the school "golden child" that gets all the flying. Reputations have been made and destroyed this way, and schools seem mystified why they are not flooded with applicants to make the big move to the frozen north.
I must stress that this is not reflective of all flying training orgs in Scotland, but there are some that need to modernise their outlook and give some consideration as to who is helping who. I suspect that Scotland is not in isolation here but the further south you are, the less it appears to be tolerated or taken as the norm.
I think most wannabe's accept that pay is not the attraction as an FI, but paying for the privilege of being exploited is not a very attractive deal for anyone. At least when Ryanair do it the cadets eventually do get a positive balance in their bank account for a short time each month!