Average course length
Thread Starter
Before "Ze Germans" get here
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 319
Likes: 0
From: ?
Average course length
How long does the average ATPL course run for? I am currently doing a 6 month course at the moment and coming from a very average educational backgroung am struggling a fair bit with it. I think most people would find it fairly tight for time. How many of you out there did a 6 month course and finished it within the 6 months? Whats the longest course out there. I reckon closer to a year would have been better for me.
What sort of background were you coming from. E.g college, aviation?
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 603
Likes: 0
From: UK
I'd say the average is around 8 months but budget for a year. I wouldn't put too much stay on people's background educationally. I know it has been done to death but you cant really tell too much by that as it is purely based on so many factors.
It is so specialised and you cant blag any of it like Degrees and A-Levels as it is simply a pass or fail.
I wouldn't worry too much, the only way you are going to fathom how hard it all is is when you get there as different people will tell you different things.
It is so specialised and you cant blag any of it like Degrees and A-Levels as it is simply a pass or fail.
I wouldn't worry too much, the only way you are going to fathom how hard it all is is when you get there as different people will tell you different things.
PPRuNe Handmaiden
Joined: Feb 1997
Posts: 4,910
Likes: 184
From: Duit On Mon Dei
Umm, college?
What's that?
I had an Australian ATPL with time on a few turboprops before attempting the JAR thingo. Still took some effort to shift countries and live somewhere new. Especially with a very sick (terminal actually) parent back home.
That just made me lift my game some more.
What's that?
I had an Australian ATPL with time on a few turboprops before attempting the JAR thingo. Still took some effort to shift countries and live somewhere new. Especially with a very sick (terminal actually) parent back home.
That just made me lift my game some more.
Jet Blast Rat
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 2,081
Likes: 0
From: Sarfend-on-Sea
Turkish
You are not alone. Part of my job is to give ad-hoc training to individuals or small groups of people who have been struggling. I see a lot, as I specialise in Gen Nav, one of the subjects many people have difficuty with. They come from all sorts of bakgrounds, all schools, full-time and distance learning.
On the other hand I have known a student who had left school at 16ish to be a farmer, came to us 20 years later and passed the lot first time in the usual 6 months. It can be done.
Good luck!
You are not alone. Part of my job is to give ad-hoc training to individuals or small groups of people who have been struggling. I see a lot, as I specialise in Gen Nav, one of the subjects many people have difficuty with. They come from all sorts of bakgrounds, all schools, full-time and distance learning.
On the other hand I have known a student who had left school at 16ish to be a farmer, came to us 20 years later and passed the lot first time in the usual 6 months. It can be done.
Good luck!
!
PPRuNe Handmaiden
Joined: Feb 1997
Posts: 4,910
Likes: 184
From: Duit On Mon Dei
A couple of my class mates passed first go too. Some had uni degrees, others just worked intelligently.
A few dropped one or two subjects and got them in the second hit. Some had degrees, others didn't.
A few dropped one or two subjects and got them in the second hit. Some had degrees, others didn't.
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 870
Likes: 0
From: UK
Don't sweat it if you consider yourself to be of less than stunning academic ability.
My course of 15 had a real mixed bag of abilities and backgrounds, but only 4 of them had to resit anything and that was only 6 exams. Not bad out of 210 papers. They all passed the resits at the first attempt too.
Total time in groundschool was 26 weeks including a couple of weeks of solid revision with the instructors.
Your biggest advantage is if you find any of it remotely interesting as this will help you to make the time to study outside of the classroom. Most of it is a memory test rather than a test of knowledge, but there are a few tricky papers where a good understanding of the subject is needed to figure out the answer.
My course of 15 had a real mixed bag of abilities and backgrounds, but only 4 of them had to resit anything and that was only 6 exams. Not bad out of 210 papers. They all passed the resits at the first attempt too.
Total time in groundschool was 26 weeks including a couple of weeks of solid revision with the instructors.
Your biggest advantage is if you find any of it remotely interesting as this will help you to make the time to study outside of the classroom. Most of it is a memory test rather than a test of knowledge, but there are a few tricky papers where a good understanding of the subject is needed to figure out the answer.
