ATPL exams - Books and Revision weeks separately?

[-GQ-]

I have a couple of questions based on the following information:

Firstly, Oxford charge £1,200 for their ATPL books/CDs. At the end of each of phase 1 and 2, there is a 2-week compulsory residential revision course. These are £275 each (not sure if it's £275x2 twice, or £275 twice?).

Secondly, the OAT books/CDs can be found at discount, e.g., transair.co.uk for £850.

Questions are:
- can I buy the materials cheaper than OAT offer them and then pay for the revision weeks separately?
- if yes, can I go to any approved FTO for the revision weeks, i.e., not necessarily OAT?

OAT's answer is 'No', but I'd appreciate views/experiences from those who do not benefit financially from that answer.

Thanks

[maxdrypower]

I stand to be corrected , but you have to be enrolled on an accredited course and have to attend classroom time (usually 4 weeks ) prior to taking the exams .
So you cannot buy the books then take exams unless registered .
But having gone through the whole rigmaroll if your gonna go DL go Bristol forget Oxford their books are way too in depth and contain a vast amount you wont need.

[sion22]

You can go on the CATS course for £999 with online study guides and that includes ground school

you can buy extra study guides only if you feel that you need them

the saving is over £1000 on other courses

[UAV689]

second Sion, go to CATS! :ok:

Another thing to remember is you will have to take 2 weeks off revision and then another week off for you exams, not sure if you work but some jobs dont let you take 3 weeks off in a row. With CATS its a week ground school, (included in price) and then week at home/work then exams. Much easier to manage.

Look around on ebay/pprune for old books, i picked up an old oxford set of notes for £40 for the entire set! I think pooleys have a couple of old sets they want to sell on cheap, give their warehouse at cranfield a call.

UAV

[-GQ-]

Thanks Chaps

UAV, if you recommend getting Oxford's books in addition to the CATS material, does that mean you didn't think the CATS study material was good enough?