I'm pretty sure that Virgin are rejecting anybody with MORE than a PPL. A PPL equates to around 45 hours? I think people with 60-70 hours are automatically being rejected.
I'm 27 have GCSE's, A levels and also a degree in Aviation Tech and I was invited. I'm a glider pilot and very close to going solo.
I was invited to the interview stage. The essay questions do carry a lot of weight. I assume any grammatical errors AT ALL would rule an applicant out. CTC confirmed via their facebook page during a Q&A session that ALL applications are read by a real person and not a computer.
I hope this helps.