Hi 123.40,
I am currently on an ab-initio course with BAE and can say that as far as the training for the JAR groundschool goes (widely excepted as the toughest part) a degree will pretty much only be usefull in the sense that youŽll know how to study and will be used to the task of absorbing data. I know of guys here with aero-engineering type degrees and they find subjects such as Principles Of Flight just as hard as those with no degree or even A-Levels for that matter.
It all comes down to how hard you are willing to work and of course your general ability for grasping concepts reletively quickly, although some do struggle in a short time span but pull through with a little midnight oil burning! Hard work is the key......most of the time.
As for employement, who knows these days! The way I see it is that if you have the licence and can jump through the hoops of the interviews then you are there. Make the most of your background prior to training when you get an interview.
Coming out of an approved integerated school youŽll have the best chance going.
Sounds like you are going to self sponsor whatever so my advice would be to get out here now!
All the best,
VFE.