I wouldn’t take the ryanair mentored program that serious. There is no difference in anything other than the apsmcc with ryr SOPs being part of it. ppl cpl me ir etc all identical to the ‘regular’ program. At least this was the case last year.

In the end the vast majority gets invited to the ryanair assessment, regardless of the flightschool etc. Age seems to be the hardest criteria to pass on.

Perform satisfactory on the assessment, bring the 30k and you’re settled.

sure Bartolini is a good quality for money school, but certainly not the only one in Europe. Spain, Greece, Poland they all have schools that offer quality courses for a good price. At the end of my trip I discovered that it doesn’t really matter that much. Especially if ryanair is the goal…

So I would advise to go to a place that you feel comfortable with and don’t get sidetracked by the labelling and marketing

Definitely not amongst the best ATO’s in europe, but it is one of the best cheap ato’s in europe.

Regarding he assessment, it looks like a bit of a moneygrab since it isn’t free nor cheap. Especially considering the above.

​​​​​​At what age do the problems to get called for assessment start from?

I will write my honest review of this school after doing my entire flight training here and I will try and write it as fair and balanced as possible.
Generally the quality of flight training is very high, the instructors (mostly) are very good and they have excellent SOP's and train you to a high level. With regards to the level of instruction, I have no complaints. Unfortunately, everything else that comes with a flying school Bartolini falls short. The organisation is really poor and the communication with students is basically zero. You have to constantly chase them for information that they should have provided to you, and generally, even if you chase they will just ignore emails, messages, phone calls. It seems to me that this is not through bad intentions but sheer disorganization/ understaffing. The flying although high quality is slow, which is often due to bad polish weather (fair enough) but more often simply due to a lack of bookings for seemingly no obvious reason. Over the course of my training I averaged around one flight a week, so it is no surprise that the integrated training took nearly double the advertised time. After speaking with many students it seems like this is a very common theme with everyone.

Maybe if you are a modular student I would recommend if you are only coming for a few months (although allow for double whatever time is advertised), but if you are looking at an Integrated ATPL course, it seems they still have not got the experience and organisation to deal with this course structure yet and the course has been plagued with little problems. Yes the price is attractive, but what you are saving in costs you are sacrificing with your own time.

I would find it easier if they were transparent with students, sending emails or apologizing for any delays/ trying to explain the situation, but instead they simply leave you in the dark until you complain or raise an issue.

Thanks for your input !

"this is a very common theme with everyone" You mean everyone at Bartolini, or everyone in Europe ? :)

Also worth considering whether you actually want to live in one of the more boring Polish cities. It hasn't got that much going for it over winter when its cold and dark, needs to be factored in as it can impact motivation in the long run

Flylot123

Hell yeah, I had the same impression, when I was in Lodz at Bartolini. Sometimes they just don't inform you or forget just things, which were important for us (they wanted to provide some important documents e.g.)...

Is this a professional behaviour? They pretend to be professional, but in the end? You pay for the low prices with your time.

I would rate them 6/10, which is okayish.

i would advise looking at other schools like smart aviation / zonda or adriana

Low prices ..? I must have missed that...

I think a lot of people forget that ALL schools have their pluses and minuses. Even people at schools costing €120,000+ have things to complain about. I know because I have heard lots of them.

The other issue is most people only go to one or two schools during their whole training journey. Very few have been to multiple to schools and are able to fairly compare. Not to pick on anyone, but look at Richard's post above. He obviously has an issue with Bartolini, but then recommends three other schools. I am certain he hasn't studied at all four and doesn't have full information on all of them. One of the schools he lists, for example, has an appalling reputation based on hearsay, but, again, I haven't been there so can't really say.

Bartolini is a lot cheaper than those €120k+ schools and also has a great reputation. Look how many of their former students now fly for the airlines. Very few modular schools can boast the number they can.
Though I am sure there is plenty of negative stuff too.

What advice can be given is that students should go into training with their eyes wide open.

Yes, do lots of online research, like on here, but take it with a massive pinch of salt. Take marketing information with an even bigger pinch of salt.
What's super important though is to visit the schools. Speak to real students outside of the earshot on sales staff. Try to talk to instructors/ operations too. Try to get a feel for what the school is really like.

i dont have an issue with bartolini, i was just advising other schools in Poland where the training can be done in less time than bartolini and price wise aswell, could you state which school has an appalling reputation? I have had several friends whom attended the schools i stated and the positive feedback which i got was Adriana Aviation in which two close friends whom all finished training in less than 7 weeks ( summer intake 2022 ) whereas the two other friends at Bartolini were having issues being scheduled and plane availability etc and they finished their training in 4 months compared to the 12 weeks they were promised by the admin team and the last friend finished training at smart aviation in 11 weeks again he had to push for bookings and be proactive as well as factoring days of planes being in maintenance or bad weather, again each school has its issues and i agree to go visit each school and speak to former and current students by social network or ask the school.. at the end of the day the licence does not state which school a student studied, I do agree prior 2019 Bartolini was a very respected and a good training provider but it seems recently they have more students than instructor/booking availability etc..

very true. instructor availability, and weather can change a lot of this. some get it done faster and others get unlucky with the weather, instructors or aircraft.

Is it difficult to get into the mentored course? Anyone who’s got in got any tips for preparing for the aptitude test & maths and physics day etc? With recent news from Ryanair regarding bonded type ratings for mentored students I wish to train at Bartolini after finishing my ATPL’s.

I confirm
Bartolini is not what it used to be
after Bartho left the staff cant manage to organize things anymore
ghosting emails, not answering calls
sad sad sad
fortunately there are good schools around in PL, quick, affordable and efficient
try in poznan or ventum air in warsaw

and you own which school?

None.
but i was a customer of many and spent years in education business
you on the other hand seem to be missing some basic education

This must be one of the worst smear jobs I have ever seen.
Bravo!:D

Your education seems poor. Ask for a refund as you didn't learn much during the course

It's surprising how fast people dismiss any critique as a smear campaign from other flight schools on this forum...
The feedback I've heard from former students about Bartolini describe the same issues: delays, lack of communication, and so forth.

i can also agree on this, happy to advise those whom are interested in enrolling to speak to current students or visit the school