"I need to add I think alot of people travelling in first class from say LHR to LAX would not imagine that P1 and P2 are considered below graduate level. Worse still if the bean counters get on to this they will be demanding pilots are paid less than nurses".
Sorry Homsap, A Pilot is not an occupation that requires a high academic entry level; the academic requirement to be a pilot is GCSE level. Other than the main stream airlines a lot of pilot jobs are not that well paid. A lot of turbo prop first officer salaries are only about 20 to 25K a year. Although in the long run the pay can be good, for most of us it would mean going bankrupt before we can/could get there.