Are There Any Apprenticeships for Pilot Training in the UK? A Comprehensive Guide for Year 12 Students
If you asked this question 1 year ago, the answer would have been no. However, this year, both TUI and British Airways have created pilot pathways that cover all your training from no experience to a job on their fleet. Local opportunities also include scholarships for a private pilot license.
Cost of Becoming an Airline Pilot
Flight training to become an airline pilot costs around ￡100,000. After that, some airlines may ask you to pay for a type rating up front, which can be another ￡10,000 - ￡25,000. The reality is that this is not sustainable, and the trend is likely to change over the next decade, with more airlines starting to fund people's training, similar to what was done in the 80s and 90s.
Increasing Opportunities for Pilot Training
Yes, there are quite a few opportunities for pilot training, and the number is increasing. However, this isn’t the place to look for them. Sadly, I will not be a huge amount of help in telling you where to look, but I can guide you by suggesting that you search for aviation forums rather than general ones if you want sensible answers.
The reason for the lack of help is twofold: Firstly, the sort of person who will succeed in our industry is resourceful enough to solve simple problems such as the one I have posed. Secondly, it is potentially a mistake to leave 6th form and head directly into aviation without going via university.
University Versus Direct Entry to Aviation
You have no idea when or if you will pass your training, regardless of your skill set and aptitude. People do lose their medicals, and many simply do not make it. Going to university at 22 or over is a vastly different experience compared to going with your peer group. Not going to university will leave you ahead in the game, but when it comes to the mid-career point, you will be wishing that you had invested a very small time period of 3 years at university, especially in management positions, where you may be constantly sidelined.
I am not saying that you cannot succeed without a degree, but it is becoming increasingly the norm for all positions higher than just line flying to require more than just experience. There is simply no reason to not go, and it provides you with a fallback position and possibly a career. On top of that, being an 19-20-year-old non-grad pilot places you in a position early on where you have to make a lot of big decisions. Granted, many have coped, but it is not the time or place to find out if you can when you have an incapacitated captain halfway across The Atlantic with 400 passengers behind you.
From my experience of many decades now, I would say that the vast majority of non-grad pilots I have met were far too immature to be in the positions they found themselves in, and were fortunate to not have to cope with bad scenarios. It could have led to poor outcomes in many cases.
It is not good for the industry or you. Passengers don't like it, most captains won't like it, and you will have missed out on university when you can spend the next 45 years of your life flying.
Conclusion
Get yourself a UCAS form and a decent fallback or supplementary career, and then worry about flying. If you must go, consider options like the London Metropolitan University, where the course incorporates the frozen ATPL exams. At the very least, by doing both, you will be 3 or 4 years older when you hit the airlines, which makes all the difference in the respect you will be given.