Assuming that Dylan has made a genuine post and is not a wind up troll I will try to provide a balanced answer. There is absolutely no requirement for GCSEs or A Levels to study for the ATPL written exams. You can be issued a CPL on your 18th birthday, you need to have passed all 14 written exams before starting the CPL course and most people do not have their A levels cracked out before their 18th birthday, make no mistake the exams are far from easy but GCSEs or A levels are no indication of sufficient intellect to pass them.
G-FORC3 has been talented and fortunate enough to be offered a place on the BA Future Pilot Programme for which they and the other successful candidates have my sincere congratulations. Like most ab-initio cadetships the BA course does require applicants to have certain academic qualifications and many integrated training providers will try to dictate that certain academic qualifications are necessary which is complete rubbish, some even equate the theory requirements to degree level study which is laughable.
I notice the use of the phrase 'frozen ATPL' or 'fATPL' which is misleading as no such qualification exists, in the days before EASA it was a slang term (not recognised by CAA) to indicate that a pilot had passed the 14 written exams and skills test for CPL and MEIR but they did not have the flying hour requirements for issue of an ATPL. Try telling any professional operator that you have or are working towards a frozen ATPL then you will very soon be talking to their back, after training you will have a CPL with Single Pilot MEIR, no more, no less, unless of course you study for the award of an MPL.
The Jet2 apprenticeship is different from the ab-initio cadetships in that it requires the applicant to have already completed CPL and MEIR training (I can't remember any specific GCSE or A Level requirements) before applying whereas ab-initio cadetships can be awarded to someone with zero hours and do require GCSE and/ or A Levels. So the Jet2 apprenticeship offers some hope to those that have completed training at their own expense and are looking for an elusive flying career with a decent airline.
Good luck G-FORC3 and all those accepted onto the BA course
Last edited by magicmick; 24th Apr 2014 at 06:13.