Im sure FTE help to apply for a BBVA career development loan if needed. OAA do it and im sure FTE would offer some help for any loan application such as a risk assessment. £25k is enough to self fund a modular Cpl ME IR in South Africa though. Think about that! Converting to easa takes an additional 20hours min instruction and you need to pass all easa atpl exams also. IM sitting my easa atpl subjects first then heading to sa to do the Cpl, i believe if you have passed all easa atpl's then you just need to do SA CPL exams for air law, met and human performance. This is my plan A. Aer Lingus cadet is a good opportunity to save a bunch of hassle and get a bit of a chance of a job at the end too.