British Airways Future Pilot Programme.
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Yes, I fully understand and I'm fully agree with you. But ! For example on the easyJet program they search fresh graduated peoples with no much hours of flight ...
For example, in my case, if I make an analysis on my maturity between now at 26 and before at 20 for example, I'm fully sure that I'm now more able to take the lot of responsibillity of an airline flight than before, it normal and happily ! But is it really an advantage for a cadet program selection ?
An other good example is about the GCSEs grades. Imagine at fifteen, school bored me and I obtained my C grades. In spit of my medium level, I was able to continue in an A-level equivalent college in France, in an university of science and computing engineering. Now I am graduated from an european engineering school in Financial computing engineering with an equivalance of a master engineering degree. Is the selection process will understand my academic parcours ? I'm not sure ... And I'm afraid that the computing selection system will stop my application analysis on GCSE levels ...
For example, in my case, if I make an analysis on my maturity between now at 26 and before at 20 for example, I'm fully sure that I'm now more able to take the lot of responsibillity of an airline flight than before, it normal and happily ! But is it really an advantage for a cadet program selection ?
An other good example is about the GCSEs grades. Imagine at fifteen, school bored me and I obtained my C grades. In spit of my medium level, I was able to continue in an A-level equivalent college in France, in an university of science and computing engineering. Now I am graduated from an european engineering school in Financial computing engineering with an equivalance of a master engineering degree. Is the selection process will understand my academic parcours ? I'm not sure ... And I'm afraid that the computing selection system will stop my application analysis on GCSE levels ...
Join Date: Feb 2008
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To be honest, there's only one way you're going to find out, and that's going to be by applying. Nobody here knows for sure.
Others have said on here (and I tend to agree) that as long as you meet the minimum requirements you should be fine.
Others have said on here (and I tend to agree) that as long as you meet the minimum requirements you should be fine.
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BBC documentary on BA launching on Monday 2nd June, BBC 2 at 9pm BST. Entitled "A Very British Airline".
Could be interesting viewing for all followers of this thread.
Could be interesting viewing for all followers of this thread.
Join Date: Dec 2013
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Oh my word I certainly hope it's a more cheery update, that video is rather bleak!
On another note, congratulations to those who were successful on this occasion. I hope to meet you on the flight deck some day!
On another note, congratulations to those who were successful on this occasion. I hope to meet you on the flight deck some day!
that video is rather bleak!
will tell you that their colleagues who were portrayed in "that video" were almost all, with good reason, well and truely ***** off at the way their contribution was edited to create a certain impression (one of the captains involved even felt the need to apologise to his colleagues in print).Those who have been around during the filming of the current video may be able tell stories of selective small sections of the "staff only" portions of T5 being repainted and dressed to create a nice backdrop to some of the scenes.............
Watch it by all means but treat it and the impression it creates with a great deal of caution.......
Join Date: Apr 2014
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When the FPP very first launched, BA stated that they were looking to recruit 800 pilots, 400 through FPP, 400 through DEP, if I remember correctly. So I think it has always been the plan to run the FPP alongside DEP recruitment. If I am right, the numbers taken on over the past three FPP schemes have been getting lower (I think it was 96, 72, 50) so I imagine there is still a need for more FPP intake. This is just speculation on my part though.
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Does anyone know roughly how many people were assessed at the FTOs in last year's intake? I was reading through this thread and only found the numbers for FTE (240ish). Assuming that CTC and OAA had similar intakes, this actually goes to show how much of an achievement it is just to reach stage 3.
Last edited by EZY_FR; 1st Jun 2014 at 08:38.
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I was at OAA last December and there were just short of 30 of us on the day. However, there were a lot of assessment days. A couple of us worked out that there was probably in around 1000 assessed at Oxford alone. It was difficult to tell as when we were booking our assessment day, we were unable to see the days that were already full. However, the assessments ran through the end (I think?) of November to the beginning of January. So, if 25 people were assessed per day, Monday - Friday, for roughly 6 weeks, it's my best guess that there were around 1000 in total.
I'm not sure how accurate the FTE figure of 240 is but it seems ok Probably a bit small if anything. Bear in mind however that FTE was/is the smallest recruiter by a long shot - CTC the largest. Again, an educated guess - I'd say there were around 1500 at CTC.
Since there was around 3000 assessed between the three schools a lot of people began to raise eyebrows at just how legitimate their chances were. If you read back to around December on this thread you'll see various rants about the cost of the assessment and it's value. It's true, FTE, CTC and OAA must have made a substantial amount of money but it'd be unfair not to assess somebody with the minimum qualifications and a decent application.
Don't let the numbers deter you! They shrink very fast.
I'm not sure how accurate the FTE figure of 240 is but it seems ok Probably a bit small if anything. Bear in mind however that FTE was/is the smallest recruiter by a long shot - CTC the largest. Again, an educated guess - I'd say there were around 1500 at CTC.
Since there was around 3000 assessed between the three schools a lot of people began to raise eyebrows at just how legitimate their chances were. If you read back to around December on this thread you'll see various rants about the cost of the assessment and it's value. It's true, FTE, CTC and OAA must have made a substantial amount of money but it'd be unfair not to assess somebody with the minimum qualifications and a decent application.
Don't let the numbers deter you! They shrink very fast.
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I don't mean to be rude EB 747, but how do you know that there was approx. 3000 applicants being assessed across the FTOs?
The 240 figure came from a post in this forum after the applicant discussed it with one of the FTE employees when he/she was doing the assessments.
The 3000 figure does seem a bit startling, but I think that is more to do with CTC and OAA just inviting people forward with the required qualifications and probably half-decent essay questions (no offence to those who got invited, you all did well to get invited in the first place), while FTE looked at the essay responses more vigorously I guess.
The 240 figure came from a post in this forum after the applicant discussed it with one of the FTE employees when he/she was doing the assessments.
The 3000 figure does seem a bit startling, but I think that is more to do with CTC and OAA just inviting people forward with the required qualifications and probably half-decent essay questions (no offence to those who got invited, you all did well to get invited in the first place), while FTE looked at the essay responses more vigorously I guess.
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Ok, just to avoid any arguing or what have you, it sounds like there is some mix up about numbers of people and stages of assessment. The 3000 is a rough estimate of how many people applied in total for the latest FPP, that is not to say that all of them got invited to assessment at the FTO. EB747, it does sound like your estimates of numbers are a bit off. 240 sound sounds likes a very reasonable figure for the number of people invited to FTE for assessment,I believe the OAA number was in the mid hundreds, and I can't speak for CTC. EZY FR, it sounds like you are suggesting that OAA and CTC were a bit cavalier about who they invited forward to assessment. As far as I know, every application is scored against a set standard (the same for all FTOs). If the applicant meets this standard, then they were invited to the next stage, it was an entirely objective process no matter which school you applied to.
Don't worry about the numbers so much. It goes without saying that this is a very tough selection process and you will be up against several thousand other hopefuls. Spend your energy concentrating on what you can do to make yourself stand out.
Don't worry about the numbers so much. It goes without saying that this is a very tough selection process and you will be up against several thousand other hopefuls. Spend your energy concentrating on what you can do to make yourself stand out.
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Shawrey, both EZY FR and I were talking specifically about the application stage, and the process involved to be invited to FTO assessment, you are referencing later stages of assessment, at which point there were judgement calls involved.
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I suppose it's interesting to speculate about the numbers of applicants, and we've all done it to some extent. However, estimates and speculation are just that. For reasons unbeknown to me the number of applicants has never been publicly disclosed. I can't speak for OAA or CTC, but based on how many FTE assessment days there were and the number of candidates in each, I would stand by my earlier estimation on how many they invited and suggest that 240 is a little on the light side. So perhaps it's a safer estimation to state that FTE invited no fewer than 240 and no more than 400 to the first round of assessments.
Whether or not that's because fewer candidates applied to FTE or that FTE are more stringent with the way they assess applications (or a bit of both), who knows? Realistically there must be a procedure in place to make sure the process is wholly objective in terms of the final outcome, even if it's difficult or impossible to ensure universal objectivity across schools. It has been suggested that one of the main reasons for a final stage at Waterside is to ensure a level playing field so that all candidates can be assessed equally on the same tests and measures. This almost implies that there is a known possibility of an unquantifiable disparity between FTO assessments. Nonetheless, it's not by default an admission of a disparity, it's only a suggestion that it might exist (if indeed that really is one of the main reasons for the Waterside assessments). And nor does it mean that one is easier than the others, because people perform well at different things. What's easy to me is hard to someone else, and vice-versa.
However, thanks to the Waterside assessments it can be guaranteed that it makes no real difference to your overall chances irrespective of which FTO you initially apply to. Even if it is marginally more likely to make it through to the final stage with one FTO over another, you're then still up against the best from the other FTOs anyway and would have to outperform most of them to make it. If you're good enough to do that without a whole lot more training, then you're almost certainly not marginal in terms of getting to Waterside in the first place. And - after all - it's getting onto the BAFPP people want; not making it to the final hurdle only to fall.
Incidentally, I agree with Alleyesup. It's much better to focus on making your own performance the best it can be than worrying too much about how many other people there are.
Whether or not that's because fewer candidates applied to FTE or that FTE are more stringent with the way they assess applications (or a bit of both), who knows? Realistically there must be a procedure in place to make sure the process is wholly objective in terms of the final outcome, even if it's difficult or impossible to ensure universal objectivity across schools. It has been suggested that one of the main reasons for a final stage at Waterside is to ensure a level playing field so that all candidates can be assessed equally on the same tests and measures. This almost implies that there is a known possibility of an unquantifiable disparity between FTO assessments. Nonetheless, it's not by default an admission of a disparity, it's only a suggestion that it might exist (if indeed that really is one of the main reasons for the Waterside assessments). And nor does it mean that one is easier than the others, because people perform well at different things. What's easy to me is hard to someone else, and vice-versa.
However, thanks to the Waterside assessments it can be guaranteed that it makes no real difference to your overall chances irrespective of which FTO you initially apply to. Even if it is marginally more likely to make it through to the final stage with one FTO over another, you're then still up against the best from the other FTOs anyway and would have to outperform most of them to make it. If you're good enough to do that without a whole lot more training, then you're almost certainly not marginal in terms of getting to Waterside in the first place. And - after all - it's getting onto the BAFPP people want; not making it to the final hurdle only to fall.
Incidentally, I agree with Alleyesup. It's much better to focus on making your own performance the best it can be than worrying too much about how many other people there are.
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I was just speaking to a training advisor at FTE about the BA FPP. One of the questions I asked was how many people were invited to stage 2 of the process Apparently 190 people were invited to attend stage 2, so it really is an achievement in itself for those who did manage to get invited. Another interesting comment he made was that failing the application form does NOT count as one of your three attempts, which I find a bit peculiar.
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Just found out some very interesting information about the FPP selection process at FTE:
"I have already taken an Airline Pilot Assessment at FTEJerez, can I reapply?
If you have taken an assessment at FTEJerez, then this assessment is valid for 6 months. This means that if your assessment is still valid it will be used as part of the BA selection and need not be retaken. However if your assessment has expired, you will need to retake it. "
Surely this depend on how well you scored, considering the standard of FPP is higher than that of the FTOs?
"I have already taken an Airline Pilot Assessment at FTEJerez, can I reapply?
If you have taken an assessment at FTEJerez, then this assessment is valid for 6 months. This means that if your assessment is still valid it will be used as part of the BA selection and need not be retaken. However if your assessment has expired, you will need to retake it. "
Surely this depend on how well you scored, considering the standard of FPP is higher than that of the FTOs?
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You'd still have to attend to do the BA test and interview at FTE's assessment centre, you just wouldn't need to do the FTO tests too. One guy was in that boat on my first assessment day and was waiting around for a while between things.
I think FTE's view is that your test scores from six months ago are similar to how you'd score now, and either good enough or not. As it's the benchmark that's changing and not your scores; there's no real need to take them again.
I think FTE's view is that your test scores from six months ago are similar to how you'd score now, and either good enough or not. As it's the benchmark that's changing and not your scores; there's no real need to take them again.
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Sounds like it'd be a huge weight off your shoulders though? If you knew you had already met the standard in some tests then you could just focus your efforts on those tests you'd have to take as part of the FPP specific assessment?
Going through the FTE website there seems to be very little information regarding this mysterious "stage II" that occurs before the actual assessment day...
"Once your application has been assessed and accepted, you will progress to Phase II of the selection process. Phase II consists of a series of questions that you will be required to answer within a given time. If successful you will progress to Phase III which is an assessment day"
Does anybody have any clue what this even is? I hope there'll be some activity on this thread soon, as it's getting close to that time again!
Going through the FTE website there seems to be very little information regarding this mysterious "stage II" that occurs before the actual assessment day...
"Once your application has been assessed and accepted, you will progress to Phase II of the selection process. Phase II consists of a series of questions that you will be required to answer within a given time. If successful you will progress to Phase III which is an assessment day"
Does anybody have any clue what this even is? I hope there'll be some activity on this thread soon, as it's getting close to that time again!
