Which modular course

[mach252]

Hi there,

Apologies if this has been raised already, but I am currently about to embark upon the road to an ATPL and have elected to go the modular route. I am down to two schools in my search, Oxford and Bristol. Both seem to be very good, Bristol seems to win in terms of their customer service, but their pass rates are an avg 85%, whereas Oxford wins as a well established name with good learning material and a pass rate of 90%, but lacks the personal touch. The stas were given to me by the marketing dept of each, but if anyone has any direct experience/knowledge of these two schools, I would be glad to hear it. Also, if you have any views on studying full time with the school or distance learning, that would be great to.

Cheers!

[FlyingForFun]

I'll answer your second question first. I would definitely suggest a full-time course over a distance learning course, as long as you have both the time and money to spare. I did distance learning because I couldn't spare the time to study full-time, and although it's not impossible, it's certainly difficult. Having said that, though, a few people have commented that they prefer to work at their own pace, and that distance learning suits them better - I think this is a minority, but there's an element of personal preference involved.

As for Oxford vs Bristol - if you decide to study full-time then your choice has already been made, because Bristol don't do a full-time course. If you go for distance learning, then I can personally recommend Bristol, but from what I've read on here you won't go wrong with Oxford either, so visit both of them and go with whichever you like the best. Don't worry too much about comparing the numbers - it is you who will pass or fail the exams, not the school. I don't know exactly where either school derives their numbers from, but it's possible that Oxford's numbers include full-time and integrated students, whereas Bristol's won't, so you're not comparing like for like in any case.

Good luck,

FFF
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[barnaby]

Just to give you a little info on Oxford, where I did the modular course. I definitely give Oxford the thumbs up. I know that the customer service is not the best in the world (experience had), but in my opinion if your sole aim is to give yourself a good chance of getting in and out as quickly as possible with a fighting chance of getting through the exams first time then you will not be disappointed with Oxford.

I'm sure that some of the other schools are equally as good but if you want to hear it from the horse's mouth then there you go. If I had to go and do the ground school again then I'd be straight back to Oxford!

Hope that helps,
Barnaby

[county87]

Oxford is a very established firm their staff are highly qualified to teach the theory subjects and even I managed to pass all the subjects first time.

The training is delivered in a lightharted but professional manner and as you have already identified the training material is first class.

If you are intending to do your flying here get it booked sooner rather than later.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Both as good as the other - don't put any weight behind statistics like pass rates. Unless you measure what goes in you can't draw any conclusions about what comes out.

Toss a coin, pick the nearest or pick the cheapest.

Good luck,

WWW

[mach252]

Thanks guys for taking the time to reply, having read all the info, it seems that Oxford is the way forward and I have contacted them already....one more ATPL student in the pipeline! Good luck to the rest of you.