I hate to be the one putting a dampener on things but I feel I have to offer my opinion on what you say about the writtens. In my opinion to say that
and the theory stuff would barely test your GCSE knowledge!
is a very careless and misleading statement. In my opinion they are very hard and I know many people who will back this up. They require a massive amount of work and fair level of intelligence, a lot more than GCSE level. I have a maths and aeronautics degree and I am finding them hard work.
I agree though that a degree isn't necessary other than to gain a bit of experience. Personally I would get a job and save like hell. But don't be mislead by these careless guys, the writtens are difficult.