Should I finish year 12?

[Persona]

Hi,:):)
I am a Year 12 student.I passed the Class 1 medical.I'm dreaming of becoming a Boeing pilot :p
In school, I am doing following subjects: Mathematics Standard, Community and Family Studies, EAL/D (English as an additional language or dialect), Modern History, Russian Continuers.

So,

1.Is there a point in finishing Year 12 with my current subjects, if I want to become a pilot? I've read that some airline companies require pilots to finish Year 12 with English and Physics.I do EAL/D and I don't do physics.
2.If I don't finish Year 12 and finish the flight school, how likely are airline companies to hire me?How much would my lack of Year 12 prevent airline companies from hiring me?
3.If one day, I would want to become a high-tier pilot,like an airplane captain, would lack of Year 12 stop me from becoming one?Is there anything I can do about it?

Why I want to quit Year 12 - Instead of spending time in school, I would get PPL(my family will pay for that), and start working at the construction(my father works at construction, so he can find me a job easily), to save up money for CPL.I can't just take a student loan, because I am not an Australian citizen.I will become one in about a year, but it might take more time or I might not get citizenship at all(extremely unlikely, but still).As soon as I become an Australian citizen, or save up enough money, I will enroll in the CPL course.

[4 Holer]

The Major Airlines will ask for your HSC and education. Gone are the days of leaving at 16. Stay and finish year 12.

[Tankengine]

Finish year 12. If you need to later there are bridging courses in physics etc.
Then the cpl course and work.

[Traffic_Is_Er_Was]

What were you planning on as a career when you picked those subjects for Year 12?

[Kelly Slater]

Year 12 is finished for the year, it is December after all. Do you mean that you are starting year 12 next year and if so, why not choose different subjects.

[Bend alot]

It takes a while to get citizenship after you become eligible. They are also trying to add a few extra years to the eligibility Permanent Residence time.

No idea of the path that lead you to Australia but a sibling on a Partner Visa is about a 8 year process to citizenship in many cases.

That wait and any increase could drastically effect your desire to be an Airline Pilot in Australia.

[ElZilcho]

I assume you're Year 12 next year and have just finished/finishing Year 11?

Anyway, yes, stay in School.

Financially, I can understand the temptation to start working and saving for your qualifications, but honestly, I'm yet to see anyone "better off" by doing so. In New Zealand, we went through this a few years back. Air NZ added University entrance to their minimum education requirements and suddenly Q300 Captains were having to sit High School equivalency exams if they wanted to progress onto Jets. I'm not sure about in Australia, but fortunately there were no specific subject requirements, they merely suggest Maths/Physics/English as they are relevant to Aviation.

In the modern world, dropping out of School to pay for flying lessons will not come across as a "passion for Aviation", instead it will show a "lack of commitment" or "difficulty in learning"... perhaps even a "problem with authority". I suggest you do some research on these forums about modern day Airline interviews, there's plenty of threads from multiple Airlines. Very little of it has anything to do with your flying ability outside of the Sim ride. There's a lot of online testing, problem solving, math reasoning, HR questions etc... I'm not saying you'll learn much along those lines in School, but certainly more than you will if you drop out. If nothing else, School should help you to think for yourself, analyze information and make decisions. When I left School (20 years ago), forms 3-5 (Years 9-11) were almost gap years. The bulk of my learning was in Forms 6&7 (Years 12&13 in NZ).

A PPL is relatively easy to accomplish. If your family is willing to pay, then I'd suggest doing it while finishing School. A number of years ago I took a kid from start to finish in about 6-8 weeks over the Summer Holidays. Mum & Dad were paying of course, and he'd done all the exams earlier in the year so the only limitation was Aircraft availability! He became part of the Furniture at the Aeroclub, any cancellations and he was there to grab the booking.... if I recall, I believe we even gave him a few free hours for washing planes.

[megan]

Education, get all you can. Knew an unfortunate who lacked education and became a permanent co-pilot on DC-3 and CV440 until retirement. Johnny Robbins by name, flew everything with wings in New Guinea before the war, during the war it was Captain with Guinea Airways. With the coming of peace the authority required the passing of exams in order to hold an ATPL, and Johnny just didn't have the mathematical skills to get through the exams.

[Persona]

Oh, thank you a lot, everyone, who responded!Thanks for such long responses and thanks for explaining everything to me!!!

I'm definitely going to stay in school, it seems that high school certificate plays a major role in Aviation.The last thing I would want to do is to limit my employment opportunities in the future.

I wish you all a good day :)

[Berealgetreal]

Year 12 was awesome fun, I'd go back and do it again if they'd take me.:}

[flopzone]

Year 12 can be the best year of your life. When I look at a Resume, if the applicant has not got the ability to knuckle down for a year of study at 16 17 18, I worry.
You should have some sort of passion for the subjects that you study so you are not bored. If you think of year 12 as the first step in becomming a professional pilot, I think you will do year 12.
Why would an employer choose you over someone who has completed year 12? You are not Chuck Yeager, you are one of thousands without finishing year 12 your application will be throwm away.
Write to the airlines, to pilots, tell them you need a mentor. You need someone real to guide you.
Go to your local airport, meet real people. Do not sit at home looking for answers online.

[Flyboy1987]

Year 12, best party I ever had.

[machtuk]

I never even finished form 5 (11) but ended up driving planes having never gone any further with my education, today however is a diff story, the Airlines don't consider the ability to fly as their number one priority (they will find that out soon enough) it's the ability to bluff their psyche crap people & have a long list of degrees on yr CV, any mug can drive a plane, it's the hairy fairy stuff that's the difficult part!
In answer to your question.Yes finish year 12 as it's needed to get the job not to fly a plane!
Do what you have to do (bluff them) to get into that shiny jet, figure out the rest along the way:-)

[megan]

You are not Chuck Yeager, you are one of thousands without finishing year 12 your application will be throwm awayActually Chuck is a good example of someone whose career was limited by a lack of requisite training, in as much he couldn't qualify for astronaut training as he only had a high school education, and he regarded the astronauts with a degree of animosity. An outstanding and gifted pilot with the gift of being able to explain to the engineers what the aircraft was doing, but with little understanding of the science involved. Didn't much care for the new breed of test pilot with engineering degrees, and took some delight in placing them in embarrassing situations. Folk such as Armstrong and his ilk saw themselves firstly as engineers, and the flying part as the physical testing laboratory.

[harrryw]

Get your year 12....some countries insist on bits of paper even though they are not the most important thing. I know someone with a University Masters Degree (got with Adult Matriculation) who cannot get a job in an Asian country as he does not have a year 12 Certificate.
Good luck

[Aussie Bob]

Don’t listen to all these fuddy duddies, go with your heart. It has been said that there is nothing more boring than a man with a career. If the building industry beckons, this could be a good start to an entrepreneurial persuit that could make millions.
There is more to life than 40 years of working for the man. Think for yourself. Make your own decision.

[Seabreeze]

Calvin Coolidge (former President of the US) said in the early 1900s.Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/calvin_coolidge_414555

But today, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) underpins everyday life, including the aircraft you will one day fly. While it is true that some people (e.g. Dick Smith) are smart enough to learn to fly and make a good $ in business without an education, it is rare. If your intelligence and skills are above average (but not exceptional) you will need an education. Suggest you read the "Uni or Not" thread under "Professional Pilot Training". Most of those pilots who didn't do a degree ( and say education is not necessary) became a pilot long ago, and their experience will not be yours.Today having the lot is very handy: i.e. Talent, Genius, Education, Persistence and Determination.

You inherit Genius, but Talent can be built with Education, Persistence and Determination so you can build your intellect and skills
Remember, Prior Preparation Prevents Pathetically Poor Performance (P**6)

Seabreeze

[logansi]

Make sure you complete year 12 not just because its needs but because its something to fall back on if something goes wrong.

For me Year 12 was a fantastic year, you learn so much about yourself, something which is more important than the content IMO, while you mightn't get to apply that much of what you learn in yr12 to aviation what you can apply is the study skills you learn. Prior to year 12 I was a shocker at exams, I was a smart student but put me in an exam and i always seemed to struggle, I focused on this in both year 11 and 12 and 2 years after finishing Year 12 I had passed all CPL, IREX and ATPL exams first go - even flight planning. (and hopefully my first Type rating exams next year haha)

Year 12 is not about knowing how to do complex maths quickly or know random facts about Russian history, its about how you take slabs of information or complex ideas and remember and understand them, something which definitely applies to aviation. As an Instructor i've seen plenty of students who can fly better than I can but give up because they can't pass exams.

[Seagull201]

Hi,:):)
I am a Year 12 student.I passed the Class 1 medical.I'm dreaming of becoming a Boeing pilot :p
In school, I am doing following subjects: Mathematics Standard, Community and Family Studies, EAL/D (English as an additional language or dialect), Modern History, Russian Continuers.

So,

1.Is there a point in finishing Year 12 with my current subjects, if I want to become a pilot? I've read that some airline companies require pilots to finish Year 12 with English and Physics.I do EAL/D and I don't do physics.
2.If I don't finish Year 12 and finish the flight school, how likely are airline companies to hire me?How much would my lack of Year 12 prevent airline companies from hiring me?
3.If one day, I would want to become a high-tier pilot,like an airplane captain, would lack of Year 12 stop me from becoming one?Is there anything I can do about it?

Why I want to quit Year 12 - Instead of spending time in school, I would get PPL(my family will pay for that), and start working at the construction(my father works at construction, so he can find me a job easily), to save up money for CPL.I can't just take a student loan, because I am not an Australian citizen.I will become one in about a year, but it might take more time or I might not get citizenship at all(extremely unlikely, but still).As soon as I become an Australian citizen, or save up enough money, I will enroll in the CPL course.

You should finish year 12 and the subjects you're doing, i noticed you're studying the lower level Maths course, i can understand that!
Many students don't study advanced Maths (2 unit) or physics, because it's a difficult course.

If you want to apply for QF/Virgin/Cathay/Singapore Air, in the future, they all want to see that you passed a higher level of Maths (2 or 3 unit) and Physics.
You have more chances of passing the airline psychometric tests, if you got a Maths and Physics background.
There's no point in re-doing years 11 and 12 again, I can tell you that 2 unit Maths and Physics is NOT an easy course, extra tuition is needed, to understand the topics.
You cannot be an expert in Maths overnight, it takes time.

If you ask me, you're better off finding a job and working, after your HSC year, and study 2 unit Maths at TAFE, online, over 2 years, then do Physics, when you can.
I'm saying, to fix up your education, before you start flying and save enough money, instead of getting a $100K HECS debt.

If you want to fly in America in the future, you also need a University degree, you can do it online.

QF are opening up their own flying school soon, it appears, they want students with HIGH HSC marks, OR students, that have good HSC marks, that will allow them,
to enter a University course, before applying for their flying course.

You say, you study Russian (I presume you have a Russian family background), I can tell you, that, virtually ALL Russian airline pilots, have a high education standard,
and can do, Maths and Physics, quite well!
Russians are very good pilots!

You're young, you have TIME on your side.
Even if you get your first aviation job in 10 years time, you will be flying bigger and better things!

Don't ignore the Education standards, the airlines want to see your advanced Maths and Physics scores!

[Jethro27]

Yes you definitely should stay in year 12 and reconsider your subject choices. The biggest advantage you have at the moment is your age and time. Get good marks in relevant subjects, advanced maths and physics. If your parents are willing to pay for a PPL better off spending that money on a tutor if necessary. Don’t take on any fluffy subjects if you can avoid it. Get this foundation in place before investing significant money on pilot training. Having competitive grades will help make your application stand out from the crowd and with the entrance testing. Then consider a cadetship with QF or VA or even entry into the ADF as a pilot if you have the citizenship.

But just as important as academics, flying experience, qualifications and entry test results is a good attitude. Like any other job, your potential employer wants to see if you’re a good risk. They’ll be investing significant resources in your training and development. Just like any other job with any other employer, getting a job as a pilot is not a right. Your potential employer does not owe you a job just because you want it or have spent significant time and/or money in your own development. Be able to provide good positive reasons as to why you want the job and what qualities you bring to the position and organisation.