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Reply 1
Original post by TheIdiotAtSchool
I want to be a pilot but have chosen ' the wrong A levels' i study economics, accounting, business studies and law. Please help as i've gained such a big interest lately but dont have maths or physics as most courses need but i have also heard that the first thing employers look at is your logbook not your degree, is this true does it matter what kind of degree you do ?


Afaik, there's no specific degree (or indeed specific A-levels) needed to become an airline pilot although obviously a Maths A-level would have been helpful.
Original post by TheIdiotAtSchool
I want to be a pilot but have chosen ' the wrong A levels' i study economics, accounting, business studies and law. Please help as i've gained such a big interest lately but dont have maths or physics as most courses need but i have also heard that the first thing employers look at is your logbook not your degree, is this true does it matter what kind of degree you do ?


Hey OP!

There's no "required" A-Level subjects, but you might get asked why you didn't take Physics or Maths. Maths A-Level may be a requirement now though...

You don't need to go to Uni to become a pilot, you instead need to go to flying school (which costs around £100,000 - £120,000).
Original post by RoyalSheepy
Hey OP!

There's no "required" A-Level subjects, but you might get asked why you didn't take Physics or Maths. Maths A-Level may be a requirement now though...

You don't need to go to Uni to become a pilot, you instead need to go to flying school (which costs around £100,000 - £120,000).


I cant afford that and so your saying that i would have to learn after some other degree
Original post by TheIdiotAtSchool
I cant afford that and so your saying that i would have to learn after some other degree


If you want to be a pilot, and can't afford that; I'm afraid that you're going to have to look for a different career path.
Reply 5
Original post by TheIdiotAtSchool
I cant afford that and so your saying that i would have to learn after some other degree


There is no UK degree that includes a commercial airline pilot license in the fees.

How much research have you done into this career path?

Maybe have a look at this:
https://www.caa.co.uk/Blog-Posts/How-to-become-a-commercial-pilot/


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(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by TheIdiotAtSchool
I want to be a pilot but have chosen ' the wrong A levels' i study economics, accounting, business studies and law. Please help as i've gained such a big interest lately but dont have maths or physics as most courses need but i have also heard that the first thing employers look at is your logbook not your degree, is this true does it matter what kind of degree you do ?


Hi @TheIdiotAtSchool

Here at Bucks New University we offer a number of pilot training degree courses- BSc (Hons) Air Transport with Private Pilot Training, BSc (Hons) Air Transport with Commercial Pilot Training, and BSc (Hons) Air Transport with Helicopter Pilot Training.

These are all three year degree programmes which allow you to undertake your flight training whilst also completing a degree. Although as a previous poster said, flight training is expensive (around £80,000 - £100,000 for the commercial route on top of the fees for your degree), the flight training costs would be spread out over the course of your degree, and then the payments for your degree itself would be paid back in the usual terms for a student loan. Although there isn't formal funding available to cover the flight training costs, there are banks that we know of that have offered flight training loans.

We do not currently specify particular A Level subjects for you to have taken in order to enrol on the course, as long as you meet the UCAS tariff score and hold GCSE Maths and English at grade C or above.

Because this is such a specialist course, I'd definitely recommend coming along to one of our open days. The next is on Saturday 23 September. There's a presentation you can attend for more information, as well as speak to our staff and current students. We also have a flight SIM on site, so you can test your landing skills!

We have a detailed information brochure about becoming a pilot and the options here at Bucks - if this is something you'd like me to send you, just PM me your address and I'll get this in the post to you.

Hope to see you at one of our open days soon, but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Laura

P.S - Charlotte, one of our Bucks graduates features in the ITV show 'easyJet: Inside the Cockpit', which is on tonight at 9pm!
Have you researched this enough?

if you can't be arsed researching this basic information for such a competitive job then I'd say good luck to your lazy a**!
Original post by BTAnonymous
Have you researched this enough?

if you can't be arsed researching this basic information for such a competitive job then I'd say good luck to your lazy a**!


I have researched but most courses need maths and physics which i dont have and all i was asking was is there any uni that offers pilot training that i can get into please if you dont have anything to say then i would appreciate if you wouldnt comment at all
Original post by TheIdiotAtSchool
I have researched but most courses need maths and physics which i dont have and all i was asking was is there any uni that offers pilot training that i can get into please if you dont have anything to say then i would appreciate if you wouldnt comment at all


my pleasure
Original post by TheIdiotAtSchool
I have researched but most courses need maths and physics which i dont have and all i was asking was is there any uni that offers pilot training that i can get into please if you dont have anything to say then i would appreciate if you wouldnt comment at all


Clearly you haven't researched if you didn't realise theres a fee of about £100,000 to pay...

And you don't need specific A-Levels (apart from Maths I believe) in order to go to a flight school. Do some research on it.
Original post by RoyalSheepy
Clearly you haven't researched if you didn't realise theres a fee of about £100,000 to pay...

And you don't need specific A-Levels (apart from Maths I believe) in order to go to a flight school. Do some research on it.


Please understand that i have done my research i simply want to know if there are any unis apart from the one above that offer integrared pilot training alongside something like aviation studies with entry requirements that are not physics and maths based. I know such courses exist several universities like brunel do it but they require physics and maths, so clearly i have done my research. No hard feelings but please keep your sassiness to yourself 😊
Reply 12
Original post by TheIdiotAtSchool
Please understand that i have done my research i simply want to know if there are any unis apart from the one above that offer integrared pilot training alongside something like aviation studies with entry requirements that are not physics and maths based. I know such courses exist several universities like brunel do it but they require physics and maths, so clearly i have done my research. No hard feelings but please keep your sassiness to yourself 😊


And the Bucks course above?

Have you made a list of all the universities offering the course you want, then gone through the list and checked the entry requirements?

And did you check the CAA link I provided?

Also what about the airline schemes such as VFF
https://careersuk.virgin-atlantic.com/future-flyers-pilot-training-programme


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(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by TheIdiotAtSchool
Please understand that i have done my research i simply want to know if there are any unis apart from the one above that offer integrared pilot training alongside something like aviation studies with entry requirements that are not physics and maths based. I know such courses exist several universities like brunel do it but they require physics and maths, so clearly i have done my research. No hard feelings but please keep your sassiness to yourself 😊


Hi there

There are some universities that don't include maths and physics as part of their entry requirements. Have a look on the UCAS website for a full list of institutions offering courses in this subject area. At Bucks, we offer more of an aviation management degree alongside the flight training, with modules such as aviation finance and economics, sustainability management, and safety and security. Other universities offer the flight training with more of an engineering steer to the degree, so the entry requirements may be different.

Any more questions, just ask! :smile:

Laura
Reply 14
Original post by TheIdiotAtSchool
I cant afford that and so your saying that i would have to learn after some other degree


I wouldn't say A Level Maths would be THAT helpful; you would have been better off doing A Level Physics. My brother is at CTC Aviation doing his Commercial License Training and they you way more mechanical principles than mathematical. There will obviously be Maths involved, but none of it will be too difficult, especially as you get taught it while training (such as angle of descent, V1 speed etc.)

Hope I helped :smile:
Original post by TheIdiotAtSchool
I want to be a pilot but have chosen ' the wrong A levels' i study economics, accounting, business studies and law. Please help as i've gained such a big interest lately but dont have maths or physics as most courses need but i have also heard that the first thing employers look at is your logbook not your degree, is this true does it matter what kind of degree you do ?


You can get your ATPL for 50k, but it will be harder to get employed. Doing a degree as well seems unnecessary and will only add extra debt but if you want.
I'm towards the end of my ATPL training, and I don't have maths or physics A-Levels. I haven't had any trouble at all during my training so far, but I do know myself that you need to have good common-sense, awareness, and level-headedness if anything. I will say that academic ability is vital to getting through, I've seen many people try and fail who just weren't bright enough to hack it. The old "you need maths and physics to be a pilot" isn't true, but you 110% need your head screwed on.

The ATPL theory exams you take will be the biggest test of your maths and physics. The Principles of Flight exam will be the biggest test of your physics, but it's just a case of remembering rules and applying common sense. This exam is in my experience the one that most people struggle with. Meteorology can be slightly physics-based too, and that always caught a lot of people out. Radio Navigation, General Navigation, Mass and Balance and Flight Planning are more mathematical based, but they're simply a case of remembering formulas, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, all with a calculator and flight computer.

My personal advice is look into how you're going to fund your commercial pilot training before you start making life career choices. Sadly, in this day and age, to be a pilot you're expected to pay every penny of your training, and it's certainly not cheap. Fully-sponsored schemes are pretty-much dead and buried in the UK, as the industry has well and truly shifted towards self-sponsoring. The "I'll join the military and get my licence there for free..." route is nearly non-existent, as militaries are becoming ever smaller, but want to be increasingly elite, so competition is unbelievably fierce.

A sad thing to note with aviation is that a pilot's licence isn't like a driving licence. The "my licence is the same colour as yours" mentality doesn't really work. Airlines want to know where you got your licence, how you got it, and how well you performed in training. You can take the modular route for around £60,000, but you will probably struggle in finding an airline job. You can take the integrated route for around £90,000, and have a much better chance of getting an airline job. Over the years, the big integrated schools (CAE Oxford, L3, and FTE Jerez) have climbed into bed with most airlines, who use them as the main source for their recruits, and to this day the majority of new pilots are sourced from these schools.

Really, you need to know that you have access to around £60,000 before you even think about commercial pilot training. I hate to say it, but it's just the way it is at the moment.
Original post by Rottweiler22
I'm towards the end of my ATPL training, and I don't have maths or physics A-Levels. I haven't had any trouble at all during my training so far, but I do know myself that you need to have good common-sense, awareness, and level-headedness if anything. I will say that academic ability is vital to getting through, I've seen many people try and fail who just weren't bright enough to hack it. The old "you need maths and physics to be a pilot" isn't true, but you 110% need your head screwed on.

The ATPL theory exams you take will be the biggest test of your maths and physics. The Principles of Flight exam will be the biggest test of your physics, but it's just a case of remembering rules and applying common sense. This exam is in my experience the one that most people struggle with. Meteorology can be slightly physics-based too, and that always caught a lot of people out. Radio Navigation, General Navigation, Mass and Balance and Flight Planning are more mathematical based, but they're simply a case of remembering formulas, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, all with a calculator and flight computer.

My personal advice is look into how you're going to fund your commercial pilot training before you start making life career choices. Sadly, in this day and age, to be a pilot you're expected to pay every penny of your training, and it's certainly not cheap. Fully-sponsored schemes are pretty-much dead and buried in the UK, as the industry has well and truly shifted towards self-sponsoring. The "I'll join the military and get my licence there for free..." route is nearly non-existent, as militaries are becoming ever smaller, but want to be increasingly elite, so competition is unbelievably fierce.

A sad thing to note with aviation is that a pilot's licence isn't like a driving licence. The "my licence is the same colour as yours" mentality doesn't really work. Airlines want to know where you got your licence, how you got it, and how well you performed in training. You can take the modular route for around £60,000, but you will probably struggle in finding an airline job. You can take the integrated route for around £90,000, and have a much better chance of getting an airline job. Over the years, the big integrated schools (CAE Oxford, L3, and FTE Jerez) have climbed into bed with most airlines, who use them as the main source for their recruits, and to this day the majority of new pilots are sourced from these schools.

Really, you need to know that you have access to around £60,000 before you even think about commercial pilot training. I hate to say it, but it's just the way it is at the moment.


Ok so do you think its a good idea that i work in some other career first say finance make the money then go for training ?
Original post by TheIdiotAtSchool
Ok so do you think its a good idea that i work in some other career first say finance make the money then go for training ?


Realistically do you think you'd be able to do that? Saving up that much doesn't happen in a year. You also have to pass a Class 1 Medical to become a pilot, and as we get older our bodies tend to have more problems making it harder to pass this medical. Also if you do it the modular way be prepared to be down 60k and with no job, as it can be really hard to find a job
Original post by TheIdiotAtSchool
Ok so do you think its a good idea that i work in some other career first say finance make the money then go for training ?


If you want to know how to become a pilot, then look at this video.

It is made by a rather well known commercial pilot who makes youtube vids about aviation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PUcTLk73NE

Please watch somme of the other videos that he made.
(edited 6 years ago)

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