Clear Prop, well as a JAA qualified Approved flying instructor only 6 months 'retired' to the airlines and as PPRuNe Moderator I have a pretty good insight into the current state of pilot training.
To be honest at the moment you've never had it so good.
a) Airlines are hiring low time pilots at a rate not seen for a decade
b) JAA Groundschool exams have been cut a lot of slack to get people through e.g. the veto of 'bad' questions, the lower pass mark and the lifting of the requirement to pass the modules in limited sittings.
c) Flight training is now better designed to get you through the flightests first time even if it is more expensive.
d) Total Integrated Course bills are lower now than ten years ago. Yes they are. BAe is £13k cheaper now than in 1991, SFT are cheaper than 8 years ago and CABAIR nee Seacoat are cheaper.
I concede though that it was slightly cheaper to go BCPL and Instruct like I did. However, without the RAF/ATC my bill would have been £9k higher which is pretty close to - say - the Multiflight ab intio to Frzn ATPL. Plus I was lucky and passed everything first time which you can't count on - I actually budgeted for £20k.
Oh and there was no PPRuNe in my day. Well until Danny invented it and I piped up as just about the first Wannabe! Look where that led!!
Good luck though,
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