Ground School advice

[p.savage]

Hi guys.

I am starting my g/s with Bristol shortly and I was just wondering what I should expect. I know its going to be hard, so i've given up my job, and went freelance, so i'll be studying pretty much full time. It says on the Bristol site that the average student takes 4 to 6 months to complete the first module and generally a month less for the second. Do you think that is based upon part-time study? Or just as much as you can !

I have a few bob in the bank, so can you advise me of any good reading for the ATPL exams?

Tips and advice about studying are welcome.

Cheers
Paul

[APU FIRE]

P.Savage

If you're doing the JAA ATPL theoretical exams, the best advice I can give you is to get your hands on as much current/up to date feedback as possible. As I understand it, the exam body is only required to change four questions within the subject's database each month. Typically with a database of three to four hundred questions it really doesn't make a huge difference. If I were you I'd contact cadets from big flightschools, like flightsafety, oxford, western, jerez, etc etc... see if they can send you some... Might be hard convincing them to send it to you, but worth EVERY ounce of effort I reckon. Plus talk to guys at Bristol who have done their exams recently and see if they have any.

Ok, obviously learn the subject, but to be honest in my opinion that won't guarentee you a first time pass in everything. Some of the questions are ridiculous and you'd only get the lot from learning the material AND having seen the feedback.

Good Luck

[The Islander]

Paul,
I've got what you're looking for! Check your email for details.
cheers
Islander

[Bodie]

Hi p.savage

I'm with Bristol and am almost at the end of the first module. The 4-6 months is PART TIME. I work full time during the day and study 2hrs each night and another 5-6hrs or so at the weekend. I'll perhaps take a night off once or twice per week to avoid burn out. Even so I have managed to read and sit the progress tests of the first module since the start of November. I plan spend 2-3 months going through the tests again and making notes before booking my brush up around april/may.

To be quite honest I thought there wasnt as much to the first module as I though there would be, which is reassuring because Bristol say this is the longest of the two. The folders contain loads of reading but it's very well spaced out so you will cover it quite quickly.

My advice is to stick to the Bristol notes at first. Get a good foundation from one source and then as APU FIRE says, source all the mock questions you can.

I plan to study over 12-14 months, at the moment I am hour building and saving towards my CPL/IR, so there isnt any rush for me to get the study out of the way. Having gone freelance, you will probably be covering the topics at a much greater rate than I.

Others may disagree, but the content isnt that hard at all. Some things like gyroscopes can be tricky, but they provide mpeg videos to help you.

Bodie

[p.savage]

Thanks Islander, I'll get back to you.

Bodie, glad to hear that. Because I'm booked for EFT Fort Pierce around the first week in January! I'll be studying my ass off.

Cheers
Paul;)

[Rote 8]

Chaps

I must say I find the contents of this discussion rather interesting. I had no idea that Bristol suggests 4 – 6 months per module. I am coming towards the end of Module 2 and anticipate that by the time I complete it will have taken me 2 years. That is 2 years studying on average 4 hours every day in the week, with no work at the weekends. I have given myself a week or so at Christmas time and an annual holiday of a week or 2 weeks (depends on the holiday circumstances).

Some of you may be thinking I am stupid. I am afraid you would be wrong. I have 4 A Levels, a degree and work full time as a Software Engineer and Business Process Analyst.

I am always rather surprised that some people get through this stuff so quickly.

The flip side of all this is that perhaps I am far too thorough and spend more time working on it than is strictly necessary. I have an entire bookcase of notes at home and sometimes wonder if I have gone over the top with it all.

The work is not hard, but there is a huge amount of it and if you have a demanding full time job then it takes a serious dose of discipline. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of evenings that I have “taken off” with the exception of Christmas and annual holidays in those 2 years.

Can’t wait to finish. I wont know what to do with myself.

[Send Clowns]

I agree with APU Fire, with the caveat that you should use the feedback questions after learning the material. Otherwise there is a temptation to learn for the feedback, and that has caused some difficulty with students I have taught not really understanding the subject. It is better to understand the material then look at the type of questions to practise for the test. All the established schools, including Bristol (a good choice for DL) have enough material for this purpose, they all collect unusual questions!

Best of luck :)

[Capt BK]

Im studying Mod 2 with bristol at the moment to sit my exams in May. Both modules will have probably taken me about 6 months each.

Don't worry too much about reading endless past papers, you'll get to do plenty of that later. Alex and the gang have been doing this for years and you will be brought right up to date at your brush up.

Spend all your time learning the subjects and get all the principles and theory into your head. The shortcuts and points to note will be shown to you later.

[TubularBells]

I know this subject has been done to death, but seeing as we are on the subject of distance learning and rather than starting a new thread....

I wonder, when cost is considered (BGS is somewhere around the £1900 mark I believe?) is it fair to say that if one has the time, there is no replacement for full-time groundschool?

I'm mainly concerned with the materials. BGS and other such high ranking DL schools tend to have fantastic notes but obviously not the tutors (until the brush-up anyway). From scanning the forums, full-time groundschools that cost roughly the same as a DL course, have average notes and tutors. Any thoughts?

:confused:

[vicarofdibley]

Make sure you have your brush up course booked and also your chosen exam venue.

There is nothing more frustrating that doing all the work and then finding you have to sit on your hands for a couple of months waiting for exams/brushups.

I know of someone who completed both modules with first time passes in all subjects in 7 months.

I guess it depends how dedicated you are.

[Send Clowns]

Tubular Bells

It depends on how good and how dedicated you are, and how good you are at self-motivated, lone learning. I have an interest - I teach in a full-time groundschool, though we are about to start distance learning and I actually get extra work if we enroll DL students (as they demand individual attention with their questions during the distance phase). I still say however that if you are able to do so (financially and the time commitment) sitting an attendance course is far better for most people.

These exams are difficult, and require a lot of work. Many people find steady work easier in company, and in class.

Best of luck!