Any advice on whether to complete a 5 yr University degree (still in 1st yr) or else proceed with the CTC selection tests?

Thanks for any replies!

Flying Vs Degree
 

If Airline Pilot is your Goal then Uni is not necessarily needed - Look at Self Sponsored Flying Schools for ATPL.

I went to uni first because i wanted to get a degree before applying to to ctc, i think its a personnel choice,

does any body have stage 3 on the 26 of september?

I applied using the online form yesterday and I wait in anticipation of the outcome.

Can anyone give me an idea as to how long it took for their application to be checked before being invited to stage two?

Does anybody know if people without A Levels have been accepted on to the ctc wings scheme? I am hoping my life skills and my working life in the industry is going to help me out a little.

Cheers

Slow Progress

It really depends on how busy they are at Bournemouth at the time you apply I think. If they have lots of people going through selection at the present time, it can take anything up to a couple of weeks to hear back. On the other hand, I applied at 3pm on a Tuesday and was told I was through to stage 2 the following morning.

As for having no A-Levels, that might be a tougher thing to get around. The Wings cadet criteria require the applicant to have a minimum of 2 A-Levels or equivilent (I think it is generally compared with having suitable qualifications to get you into uni so if you have other qualifications, this does not discount you) so I guess CTC will look at what you have done up until now and assess from there. I think the reason they require A-Levels is that the partner airlines look for these as minimum employment qualifications.

PPL152, I think uni is really a very perosnal decision. There is no getting around the cost (it can quite easily cost £15,000 for a three year course) but as a potential pilot, you are able to display the fact that you are mature enough to manage your own learning to a technical level, you have the academic potential to study more technical subjects and you get exposure to loads of extra-curricular activities that always look good on your CV. Plus you give yourself a 'Plan B' if for example you were to at some point lose your medical. Plus uni is great fun!

Back to the drawing board then..
 

Oh well. :(

Had stage 3 at CTC yesterday, didn't make it but have the opportunity to re-apply in 6 months. Thought the day had gone reasonably well but I know where I went wrong. I agree with what's been said on this board before though, you need to be well up to scratch to get through. I know I wasn't up to scratch. I find it almost reassuring in a way though that the application process is so strict, when you're going to invest the fat part of 70 grand in a course, you need to know you're cut out for it.
Looking forward to receiving CTC's feedback as well to see where I can improve for next time.

The quest continues.... :ok:

Keep at it Stu. I was in the same position as you 6 months ago. Im now off to New Zealand. Just make sure you listen to the feedback given and use it! Make sure you can prove that you have taken on board what they have said and are able to demonstrate this second time around! Use the 6 months to your advantage.

As stoop said it's not a problem. Just use your six months well!
I failed stage 2 but got asked back and I'm off to NZ soon as well, spent alot of my time reading and reading for stage 3 and counting down the days till my 6 month period was over.

Stage 3
 

Sorry to hear your news Stu,any advice for a fellow irishman going for stage 3 in a few weeks? Have had a few testing interviews in the past....can only be a good thing!

Age?
 

Excuse the simple question, but I was planning to apply to CTC just before finishing my second year at college. I was wondering if anyone else has, and if so have you been accepted onto the course?

Thanks,

1mag

I did 2 years college, did not finish the degree but I had a reason to not finish it. I am going to NZ on CP55... so I guess it doesn't really matter.

Stu, hang in there, I also failed my phase 3, in the 6 months I improved my profile by a lot, I got my PPL, started the ATPL groundschool, read up on CRM... let them know that you mean business and focus on whatever they tell you on the feedback.

I thought that if you've begun the ATPL groundschool you're not eligible for integrated schemes? Maybe it only applies if you've completed the ATPL exams.

who said that?? I don't see no rule anywhere stating that I can't do the integrated training with CTC... I think that might be school policy from whomever mught have told you that... anyhow... I signed up with Bristol GS but haven't taken any tests with the CAA so It{s worth as much as if I only had bought the books from them.. no real formalities.

To clarify you can't credit exams from modular distance learning across to an integrated course; therefore if you start a modular ground school and passed for example 6 of the 14 exams and then signed up for an integrated course, you would simply have to repeat the exams and ground school as part of the integrated course.

that makes more sense!! hehe... but I haven't taken any tests, just bought the first 7 books and the CD from bristol and Started studying just in case I didn't make it into CTC I'd be ready to take the next step... fortunately my next steps are going to be in NZ hehehe

Stu, keep going mate. Study hard matey and also take heed to CTC's feedback. I failed Stage 2 and was completely gutted. I was asked to reapply in 6 months, did so and I'm off to NZ on CP57 in January.

Failing one stage is definately not the end of the road. If you are as determined to become an Airline Pilot as those on the Wings Programme and those who are now graduates of CTC then you will have no problem passing the stages you still have to do. Make CTC realise just how determined you are.

Good luck mate :ok:

phase 3 26 september
 

Hi,

Did anyone attend phase 3 on the 26th September?

Hi all. New to the forum. I've passed all stages and i'm booked in to go to NZ on CP58 in Feb. Any one else here on CP58?

anyone on phase 2 on october 9th at 1pm??
if so, i will see u there.
hope ur all revising hard :P

Hi, anybody got any advice on how to prepare for stage 4 has anybody got stage 4 on the 4th of october

Chris

I had my phase 4 on Sept 20th... PM me with questions if u want, when did you have your phase 3?

Info
 

Could anyone be so kind to tell me where I could get some reliable info for reading up for my stage 3 interview? i have some stuff but its not in enough depth. Would really appreciate the help

Partner airlines' websites are a good place to start, although not all have loads of info. Wikipedia is an excellent source of info, detailing the basics behind relevant mergers, brief histories, fleets etc (although you should just bear in mind that it might not be completely up to date. As for info about CTC, their website is as good a place as any to get the info you will need. The interview is going to focus a lot more on you and your experiences and qualities. There is some info if you read through this therad about stage 3 too.

Phase 2 - 13th November
 

Hi everyone, im new to this posting malarky but ive been a long time reader of this thread. Its got some great info in it and has given me a good insight of what i can expect during my CTC application! Many thanks to everyone who has contributed already!:ok:

Anyways...... I graduated from Leeds Uni this summer after getting a 2:1 in Aviation Technology, and ive finally taken the plunge and applied to CTC. So i was just wondering if anyone else has got their stage 2 on 13th November at 13:00?? Also, can anyone remember how many applicants are at each phase??

Thanks in advance,

Chris

At my phase 2 there were about 20 people, at phase 3 about 10, and phase 4, 2 of us.

Hi all,

I am going to phase 2 selection the 6th of November.

Will see you there, good luck and study hard! :ok:

PilotChris........during my Stages there was approx 20 at Stage Two, 6 at Stage Three and 3 at Stage Four.

I think these are fairly typical numbers. All in all, I believe CTC have approx 4000 applications for the Wings programme each year and at the end of it all have 12 people on 12 Courses i.e. they train 144 each year (this is just for the Wings Programme, I'm not too sure about their other ones).

Hope this helps

Hi all,

I booked a flight to England, but I'm now in doubt where if you get called for phase 3 its the next day after phase two? Will I have to stay one more day in England just for safety as to be ready to come in for phase 3 the next day? Or is the phase 2 and phase 3 spaced out?


Thanks in advance.

-Mhj

My understanding is that if you are travelling far, CTC will provisionally book you a place on stages 3 & 4 to save you making multiple trips back and forth to the UK. So in other words, if you pass stage two, you could have stage three the day afterwards, and then stage four the day after that. It might be worth speaking to the admin people at BOH and asking them.

Insurance
 

Did anyone get different insurance to the one CTC suggested?

If so who did you go with and is it a lot cheaper?

Hi James,

I took the insurance package with Paul Jones Services in the end. Got in touch with a financial advisor and he searched around and came back saying for the price, the deal with Paul Jones is a pretty good one, and will make things simpler if you need to claim etc.

I'm due to go to NZ on CP55, so the insurance is now in place.

(I think i was on your phase 2 assessment day a while back, glad to hear you also got through!)

Good luck,

Matt

Thanks Matt,

I have just sorted the insurance out through Paul Jones.

Yeah I will see you at the meet and greet. I think I remeber you but it was so long ago and I ain't too good with names.

Thanks again

James

Hi chaps.

Just a quick question regarding application age.

I am 16 and will be sitting 5 Scottish higher's next May. CTC take this to be equivalent of 2 A-Levels.

When i get them back i will not quite be 18, however should i get the required grades will i still be eligible to enter my application for stage 1?

Many Regards,

Tom

The website does say that your age at date of application must be 18 or above. If you do not meet that you willl not get past stage 1! Hope this is helpful.

Hi Guys,

I know I haven't been one of the more regular contributors on here, but I thought I'd share this anyway. Had my phase 2 yesterday and have found out today I've been unsuccesful. They said I was close though, and may re-apply in 6 months.

I'm quite disappointed as I know I did very well on several of the pilapt tests, but I guess the numbers just didn't add up overall, and in comparison to the other candidates.

To everyone that has now gone on to phase 3 from yesterday afternoon's slot, it was a pleasure to meet you alll and I wish you all the very best of luck:ok:

CF

Chin up fokker, you can still re-apply and believe me they do take the ones who have failed before if you improve whatever it is that you didn't perform well, I am not familiar with phase 2 repeats but in the phase 3 repeat which is what I did they give you a long and detailed feedback on what you did right and wrong, if they do give it to you then read it carefully and change for the better, good luck!!

-Polo

Don't worry about it Fokker. I failed at phase 2 and was invited to re apply - waited my six months and now I'm off to NZ in November!

You'll probably get an email over the next week or so telling you where you failed and where you did well, and if they've said you can re apply then you must have been pretty close.
Have a look at where you failed and maybe get the cockpitweb software or something similar and focus on sorting it out.

If anything failing phase 2 has made me more determined to work hard and be less complacent about the whole thing.

Sparksy, Polo,

Thanks alot guys for your words of wisdom. I've no intention of giving up yet, but I was just a little jarred from the news, as I'm pretty sure I got a 100% on a few of the pilapt tests, sure I may have done miserably at others, and I know I screwed up the maths test badly. But I know you can re-take the maths test at phase 3 or something similar...so this had me wondering about my overall performance.

However, I believe things happens for a reason, and I guess it just was not my time to go through to phase 3 yet. I will use my 6 months to better myself and prepare to re-apply. I hope they send me some more feedback so I have something more specific to focus on.

Again, thanks for the pep talk :ok: It was very much in need.

CF

crazy fokker...keep fighting. i know u can do it :)