I work at Oxford Aviation, so I have an interest to declare. I also know that Scroggs and WWW have a firm policy on no use of pprune for advertising - which I
understand and respect. However, there are so many half-understood ideas on this
thread that I hope that the following will be seen as a simple statement of the facts
and a correction to misapprehensions, not as hyping the product. If you’re
badmouthing us, we ought to have the right to reply. May I also say that I’m writing
as a private individual, not a management-approved mouthpiece?
We are talking about 2 different things here. One is the standard course - about
£54K - which we run at present. This includes both airline-sponsored and self-
sponsored, and we already try to help the self-sponsored by advice on CVs, extra-
curicular lectures from airline recruiters, and - if any of our client airlines are short of sponsored recruits - by actually recommending suitable self-sponsored students
towards the end of the course, when we have had time to see how they have
actually performed.
This new Partnership Programme is different. There will be a selection procedure.
We expect (we can’t guarantee, but we expect) to be able to place EVERY
Partnership student with an airline. We cannot afford to take on people who are not
likely to be at, ot very near to, the standard of airline sponsored students. Otherwide
we would be taking their money under false pretences.
These selected candidates will then be expected to perform to a high standard on
the course - about 85% on every progress test, internal exam, and JAA exam. If
you’re not hacking it, you switch to the normal course (at a lower price).
It’s much more than just a guarantee of an interview. We write very comprehensive
reports on you at Oxford, both on the ground and in the air. They are usually 3-5
pages long and are similar to a military Annual Report. We make these available
(with your consent) to the Partnership airlines. We expect most of the Partnership
students to havbe a firm offer of a job well before the end of the course. We expect
everyone who makes the grade to have a job at the end of it. We also expect that
many of the airlines will pay part sponsorship, once they have offered a firm place.
In that case, your course might end up costing you about £30 - 35 K - your career
development loan. I use the word ‘expect’ because we can’t guarantee it yet. We
will have to wait and see how it all ackles down. In the meantime, this course is not
for everybody - only the best. It also includes simulator and airline orientation. - to
save the airlines time.
Airlines are short of pilots, but they won’t recruit just anybody. The knowledge that
there was a guaranteed standard of candidate, a full report on his perfromance, and
a simulator-trained candidate would take so much doubt away from them and would
save them so much time and expense in recruiting.
Paul Hickley