What Can I Do Without A-levels?

[PaperRocketeer]

hi everyone
I'm a 20 year old guy and until about a year and a half ago all i wanted to do was become a pilot, at secondary school i got all A's for my GCSE's but for me college wasnt that great and i dropped out half way through and started training to get a PPL and eventually an ATPL.
i passed my class 1 medical with no problems and started training but after 20 hours of flying i developed a medical problem and after a consultation with the doctor i found out that i wouldn't be able to continue flying, so i left.

I wasnt sure what i wanted to do with my life and i was depressed so i just worked at a local supermarket from the time i left, i realise now that i need to move on but im not sure what i should do.

I want to do something in the aviation/aerospace indsustry.

I would have done an aerospace engineering course at uni but like i said i don't have any A-levels but i'm curious to know if you can join an enginneering foundation course at a university with only GCSE's?

So can you guys give me some advice on courses i could do which don't require A-levels as an entry requiremrnt?
The one thing is, that i'm good at maths but i'm terrible at complex algebra.

any advice will be appreciated

thanks


I initially posted this thread in the Spectators Balcony but i was advised to post it in the engineers section

[mrmagooo]

Pretty much anything you want really...... I never did A levels and Im a licensed engineer now. The best way if you want to go down the engineering route is an apprenticeship, Monarch, Virgin and Flybe all do them as well as others. This is considered by many to be the best route as you learn as you go along, gaining knowledge from engineers who have been there and done that.

100 times better than any of the colleges can develop you.

Then there is ops/crewing the list is endless, it depends where you want to go.....

(I dont know what your medical problem is but colour blindness could be a problem with engineering)

[Genghis the Engineer]

As Mr Magoo says, the lack of A levels is absolutely no barrier to entering the maintenance engineering professions, and there are plenty of threads in here about how to do that - just use the search function.

If you want to do a degree, then A-levels are the most common route in, but there are various direct access courses available. A foundation year won't do it - those are for people who have the wrong A levels, not people without. Also, to be honest, the FoE (Foundations of Engineering) year in most universities is hard going with poor learning support and enormous class sizes - you'd be much better going to the local sixth form college or equivalent and going straight into level 1 with A levels.

Incidentally, I can't for the life of me see how you can be good at maths but bad at algebra. Algebra is the main part and tool of maths, without it most maths doesn't happen. That said, you've presumably only seen GCSE maths as yet, which is incredibly basic compared to degree level engineering maths.

G

[PaperRocketeer]

thanks for the replies

also how about a course like this:
National Diploma in Aerospace Engineering - Course Leaflet - Kingston College (http://www.kingston-college.ac.uk/course/115/national-diploma-in-aerospace-engineering.html)
i could do this and then get a degree in aerospace engineering
would it be possible to finish this 2 year course in a single year?

would aerospace engineering be a good course for a person who has always liked designing different kinds of planes?

GCSE maths was pretty easy but when i did go into college for my first year i did maths and physics, i found the maths quite difficult (probably because i dislike the subject) but all the equations in physics were not that hard.

[PaperRocketeer]

can someone please tell me if its a good idea to do the course on my last post?

[Velcroworm]

I can't tell you whether it's a good course or not, but one of my colleagues at my previous place of work went to Kingston, and did a course something like the one you've mentioned. While it gave him all the theoretical stuff that eventually led to him getting all his licence modules, the one thing it didn't give him was the hand skills he needed to complete the licence and that took a couple of years on the shop floor to bring him up to speed.

[planecrazy.eu]

You cant do the two year course in 1 year, no.

The workload is a 5 day a week course. Only way to do a 2 years course in 1 year is if you can take year 1 and 2 at the same time.

My brother is doing this course, and spends 4 complete days at college, and is expected to spend day 5 revising and doing work.

Great route to getting on an apprentice scheme, or getting to uni.

2 years is minimal in the scheme of things, and your still young for sure. I am 5 years on and still thinking of getting into Aircraft Engineering after Uni.

[pigs]

The other thing is, its a CAA requirement to attend for the full two years if you want to reduce the time spent on the spanners from five years to two years after your course. If you just want to do the modules and then approach a prospective employer with the piece of paper in your hand, a couple of colleges do 'zero to hero' courses.

To be honest, you're better off trying to get an apprentiship. As its been said, without practical skills, you're not much use, even with all of the modules completed. The best way might be to self study a couple of the more academic modules and then apply for the apprentiship. Maths and physics (mods 1 and 2) would be a good start.

Join airmech, there's loads of people with help, advice and study notes.

Another option is join the services. I was in th RAF for 9 years. Like most people, I have never regretted joining and enjoyed most of my time in. Similarly, I'm glad I left!!!

[CY333]

Kingston offers also an aircraft engineering course together with the EASA part 66 B1 and they also offer the course at Bristol and the only difference is that that Bristol offers the B2 course also if you chose Bristol , you dont have to move to Norwich for the whole summer to do the practical as Bristol has a different approach to it.
I know because I did it like this and it was a pain to move every 4 months, not to mention the money.
Also Bristol appreciates the fact that the majority want the B1 or B2 and not the foundation degree in comparison to Kingston that will do everything in their power to make you believe that the CAA has a rule that says if you dont get the degree you dont get a lisence.

As for A levels, you dont require them but if the university decides that you have a low standart, they will put you on year zero which if you do in Kingston you will do together with students from other courses while in Bristol you will get you Cat A which is an advantage for what is coming in B1 the next year.

[faz1989]

its a CAA requirement to attend for the full two years

Pigs, it’s a requirement to do a specific amount of hours, not years, to receive an EASA Licence from a Part147. You can spread the course in how many years you would like, including 1 year, but have to do the minimum hours. Have a look at ELGD for the minimum hours. Even way the number of years will still be set by the college/university.

[CY333]

CAA requires 2400 hours in class room in a period of two years,most training providers increase that to 2500 so you have some time off if you get sick

[pigs]

Faz, you're right. The colleges spread the time over two years. When I did my course we had to be there from 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday to qualify for the total hours. The attendance rate was about 90 to 95%. Unless you've had previous military experience, in which case it is reduced down to one year of civilian experience.

[Edgar Jessop]

Another option is via The Barry College – International Centre for Aerospace Training (http://www.part66.com). You don't need any qualifications to enter the course, just the willingness to work at it. No complex algebra, to be honest I would rate it as no more than GCSE standard. Alternatively you can self study and just pay for the books and the exams. If you do the course you can get a BSc, if you just do the exams you will get the theory passes required for your licence. Ultimately it depends where you want to go with all that.

But that's what you can get by your own efforts, the harder bit is getting the practical experience for a licence, in our place we get applications all the time and sadly we simply can't take them due to the sheer volume and the amount of work it is to train new mechs and supervise them. Even if they worked for free it would be too much of a load on our experienced guys.

Alternative strategy, study for a degree and sign up with an agency to do tech records work or something office based.

Like I said, which road you take depends on where you want to end up.