The easing of Coronavirus lockdown restrictions has prompted Bristol Ground School (BGS) to update its own advice – including opening ATPL exam dates through its relationship with Austro Control.
“The Government have now clarified the rules for easing the lockdown,” said BGS. “The parts that particularly affect us are:
- Social distancing remains in force
- Schools, universities and further education colleges generally will not return, although there is a phased return for particular pupils allowed from the 1st of June
- B&B and hotel accommodation will not be allowed to open until early July at the earliest.
“The UK CAA have allowed us to replace the classroom courses with online learning so that the mandatory 10% of course time can still be credited,” continued BGS.
“Live webinars are available throughout the working week and a library of recordings is also available. Only live webinars and tutorials can be counted towards the classroom time.
“The UK CAA has cancelled its exam sittings up to and including the 12 of June. We have no other information from them.
“Candidates/ATOs will receive an automated notification of cancellation and monies will be returned to their respective accounts.
“For a period of three months, from 16 March 2020 to 16 June 2020, the CAA will waive any fees normally incurred for cancellation and/or transfer to a future CAA examination sitting.
“The option to run exams opens up from the beginning of June, but we are advised that strict social distancing measures will need to be adopted which might make it an unusual experience.
“In particular, there is no local accommodation open that we are aware of at the moment – all hotels and B&Bs are presently closed.
“Candidates will also need to recognise that the lockdown may return and that our plans may need to change yet again at short notice.
“Austro Control has confirmed that they are able to provide us with exam services for the 15th, 16th and 17th of June. We therefore intend to run an exam sitting on those days. This sitting is already fully booked, and the candidates who have booked on it will be getting email information about the conditions, including our social distancing requirements.
“We also intend to run the Austro sitting on 20th, 21st, 22nd & 23rd of July.
“We feel we should give our students some precedence over those who attend other ATOs. With regret, therefore, we will not be accepting new bookings for Austro Control sittings from anyone other than BGS students for the forseeable future. Existing bookings by non-BGS candidates will be honoured as far as we can.”
