Torn between ATPL distance providers

[OCW]

Hi Guys,

Know this topic has probably been done numerous times but yesterday I got my initial class 1 now need to decide over the weekend who to do the ATPL distance learning with.

The choices are either:

Bristol ground school £2350 plus exam fees etc

Oxford CAE £3000 plus exam fees etc

Or an outside option of Captonline.

Any advice greatly appreciated, many thanks

[Jaair]

I heard BGS have a great question bank but how have they adapted to the new CAA question style?

[rudestuff]

You'll (probably) end up studying from multiple sources. I used google, question banks for rote learning, YouTube for polar charts etc. You can't take the exams without having 'done' a course, so you might as well get the cheapest one. There are a few for around £1499.

[Black Pudding]

I used BGS back in 2003 whilst working full time.

Great books and material.

I can say I would use them again and strongly recommend them.

The instructors at the time were top blokes and made the brush up weeks fun.

I can only remember 4 of them. Baz with his 6 foot height CRP thing that looked like a drip feed stand, a guy who use to fly for Cathey Pacific who loved his Airbus tray, and a South African guy who I forget his name. There was another guy but I can't remember his name. And of course the god of ATPL, Alex.

The girls in the office also top.

[Groundloop]

Oxford material is very detailed, maybe too much if you study in distance learning.

Surely if you are doing distance learning you need as much material as you can get as you are not able to ask question in a classroom until the brush-up sessions?

[ersa]

I would choose between BGS and Captonline

[AirbusLover]

a guy who use to fly for Cathey Pacific who loved his Airbus tray

His name is Tom,one of the best.What about Tony?This guy was a legend!Really enjoyed BGS time when was still in Cheddar.Good old days!


Surely if you are doing distance learning you need as much material as you can get as you are not able to ask question in a classroom until the brush-up sessions?

Not almost true.If you want an ATPL exam encyclopedia full of details and (useless for the exams) definitions, then Oxford is your bet.if you are a more oriented to the exams guy then you should go with BGS/Captonline. 650 quid difference isn't that bad but at the end is your call.

[hoduka]

I used BGS materials and the "teaser" CAT3C videos from youtube helped me a lot as well, and I just came across Padpilot which seem to be really good at first glance, so you might just have a look of that aswell.

[mftx7jrn]

Bristol or CAPT for me, both quality providers, tried and tested for many years.

[OCW]

Thanks for the replies so far.

What’s everyone’s thoughts on the Wings Alliance? Bristol are the only affiliated ATPL provider I think.

[flybyschool]

I believe the Wings Alliance is a Bristol GS baby... It was launched and promoted by them.

[banditb6]

I'm just back from my Bristol Brush up and I thoroughly learned a lot and the instructors are top blokes.


Sorry to hijack slightly although it may prove useful to others, how was the revision week laid out, mod 1 is 5 days so do you spend a day on each module and the 5th for practice exams or what's the setup? I have my Mod 1 course next week and wondering if there is anything I can do to help prepare for it or things that I don't need to be studying so hard for to grasp myself? (would like to know as much as possible but if it is weighted to one particular area that most people struggle with then I would rather try and learn this in the classroom.