Bristol Groundschool has launched its latest applications window for its ATPL scholarships, announcing details at the Leeds Professional Flight Training Exhibition, held at the Leeds Hilton on 13 July. The applications process opened on 13 July and will remain open until 12 August. Louise Wayham from Bristol Groundschool explained, “Today’s exhibition has been a great way to launch our latest applications window – there are seven scholarships up for grabs which will be announced towards the end of August. We’re really pleased with the response we’ve had already, and the first group of winners have already started training.” Find out more and apply for an ATPL scholarship at www.bristol.gs/atpl-scholarships.
The Leeds event was the first of its kind, and according to exhibitors and visitors alike, was a great success. Plenty of visitors had come from Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, and a number of potential pilots made the journey south from Scotland. The general consensus was that the new event location made the Exhibition more accessible and was a great opportunity to find more information about a pilot career.
Dan, 17 from Hull, explained, “It’s a really great to have one place where I can come along and find out all my options – everyone has been so enthusiastic and it’s been really great to find out that I actually can do this. I’ve always had a passion for flying and had my heart set on fast jets, but now I’m too tall – so being able to find out about all the other routes to a pilot career is really positive.”
Dan’s mum Rhona added, “The great thing about these events as a parent is that you’re free to come along and accompany them and get information straight from the horse’s mouth. Parents are often the ones that drive all the way from home to RAF Lynton and back again and it’s great to have a place to find out where both we and our kids can go to get the information they need for their future – and it’s an accessible event, the location is great for us as it would have been a lot more difficult for us to attend if it was one of the events in the south.”
There were also a number of visitors who were hoping to make a change of career. David, 26 had visited the exhibition from Liverpool and is considering routes towards a pilot career. He said, “It’s been a great resource for me and was really convenient in terms of location and price too. I’ve attended a few of the seminars and for the most part I’ve been really pleased with the information on offer and it’s made a few of the routes more clear to me – I now feel more informed about what would be required to make the change.”
The seminar programme was well-attended throughout the day, and included a presentation on a pilot career from Leeds-based airline Jet2 and more information on government funding towards a pilot career from the Aviation Skills Partnership.
Exhibitor Multiflight commented, “It was a very busy day for us. It was great to see so many people at this new Leeds event, the hot weather didn’t seem to affect visitor numbers, with the event extremely well attended throughout the day. The team spoke to many people interested in flight training.”
FI Jori Dinsdale from Tayside Aviation explained that the new location is a welcome change for northern-based trainer and they have had a positive response from visitors, adding, “The calibre of visitors today was great, we spoke to a lot of people who are clearly already very knowledgeable about their chosen career and know all the right questions to ask, so it was great to get some face-to-face time with them.”
There was also information available on military flying careers. Master Airman Stu Watt from the RAF explained the new location is brilliant to spread the message across the country. “It’s a great event as it’s a really focused audience. We reach the target demographic that we would ideally like to reach – people that are interested and passionate about flying as a career. There’s also plenty of interest in ATC courses.” He added, “As for RAF recruitment – it’s still frozen currently but more will be released in the next few years most likely. It’s still good to get our message out there so that when opportunities do become available, people are aware of the kind of career we can offer.”
Who exhibited:
BOURNEMOUTH COMMERCIAL FLIGHT TRAINING
FLIGHT TRAINING EUROPE (JEREZ)
PAN AM INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT ACADEMY
You can view more photos from the Leeds event here. The next UK Professional Flight Training Exhibition will take place on 26 October at the Sofitel Hotel, London Heathrow.
