It was obviously the first brush up for many of us. Luckily, I could stay with a friend which made things easier and cheaper again – another bonus of choosing CATS which meant I didn’t have to find childcare for so long. The brush up weeks at CATS tend to consist of four days: Tuesday – Friday, 9.30am-5pm, with one day focusing on each topic. I never did figure out a way to work through the ambiguous phrasing.ġ4 exams need a lot of brush up time Brush up weeks Despite studying and learning all the material sometimes I would get 40% on the first tests because of the way the questions were phrased which felt very disappointing. Then I started testing myself on the BGS question bank which soon became monotonously dull and can be a real strain on your motivation. Once I knew I was going to complete all the progress tests I booked my next brush up. I felt like I was getting into the swing of studying and CATS worked for me. I used them to identify gaps and consolidate my learning. You need extremely high levels of motivation, resiliency and self-discipline to get through it all.Īfter I’d read all the books at each stage, I set about completing the CATS progress tests and whilst they didn’t necessarily resemble the question banks or the CAA exams they were helpful stepping stones. I experienced a relationship breakup, the death of my dog, and other various family challenges so be prepared for things not to go as smoothly as you’d hoped. Throughout the nine months of studying, I continuously struggled to combine working, family commitments and studying. The subjects in Stage 1 felt the most familiar from studying the PPL so it felt more like a natural progression. I set a day-to-day, week-to-week plan for studying and tried to keep to it. It was much more intense, technical and time pressured. Many years had passed since then and this was a very different type of studying and examination process. I felt out of practice of being a student despite the amount of previous studying I’d done. I plunged myself into studying for the first stage and booked myself on to the first brush up week while I was on annual leave at work. Generally, each school segregates the topics differently into three stages. I’ve completed various triathlons so given this it was more relatable to me and it felt more achievable. It’s set in three stages, like a triathlon, and at each stage you have to build up and peak at the end by completing the exams before the next stage starts. I knew I could use the Bristol Ground School question bank which still kept the costs down – every penny mattered! I asked Nick, one of my PPL instructors, what he thought about the two places, “I don’t think it matters where you study” he replied, “you’ll be fine studying anywhere”.Įveryone seemed to be saying that doing your ATPLs was like a marathon, but I thought it was more like a triathlon or maybe an Ironman (whilst juggling if you have a job(s) and family). I read an article about the pros and cons of each school that was on offer for me after narrowing it down: Bristol Ground School (BGS) or CATS Aviation.Ĭontrary to the article, I decided to choose CATS Aviation because the brush up weeks were much closer, more affordable, and there were frequent brush up sessions, and Lisa, the CATS administrator, was really helpful and friendly when I called up asking questions. I had spent a while looking at the different options available – full time, part time, UK, abroad, locations, reputation, costs etc. She is a member of the Leicester Aero Club and British Women’s Pilots AssociationĪs soon as I received my PPL licence, I signed up to CATS Aviation to start my ATPLs through distance learning. By Helen Owton, psychologist and researcher with a PPL, a night rating and is completing an IR(R).
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