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Aviation Management with Commercial Pilot Training in Helicopters

Entry requirements


A level

B,C,C-A,B,B

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE Grade 4 or above in Maths and English are required. We will consider equivalent qualifications.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

MMM-DDM

UCAS Tariff

104-128

A typical offer will require a UCAS Tariff score between 104 - 128. A minimum of two full A-levels (or equivalent) is required. Every application is considered on an individual basis.

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Travel management

Aerospace engineering

Are you looking to begin a career in the aviation industry as a helicopter pilot?

We are one of the few programmes that allows you to gain a Frozen ATPL (H) as well as a university degree – and at a lower cost than doing them separately. You’ll work with our UK-leading partner Heli Air towards your ATPL, and we’ll help prepare you for a career in the exciting world of rotary wing aviation. After you graduate and have completed all remaining elements of your ATPL (H), you will be able to find employment as a commercial helicopter pilot.

The aviation industry keeps the world moving and a career in this sector promises unique opportunities.

With the aviation industry constantly changing, this programme is continuously adapted to meet these ongoing changes so you can be sure you’re receiving up-to-date knowledge.

Our aviation management with pilot training degrees have been designed to equip you with wider aviation knowledge in addition to pilot skills to open up an array of future career opportunities, allowing you pursue a career in not just aviation but also in business, leisure, or the emergency services.

**Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?**
We have a strong focus on employability, and our training partners and professional connections give you the chance to immerse yourself in the industry. Our close proximity to Heathrow and other major UK airports – along with their suppliers – means you’re perfectly placed for networking, seasonal jobs and work placements that are available.

At BNU, we recognise roles in this field are hands-on – so you’ll take part in simulated learning experiences throughout the course using our specialised facilities, including our FNPT II Flight Simulator where you’ll be able to refine your skills and keep your reactions sharp once you’ve completed the required training.

As part of your studies, you’ll enjoy free membership of the Royal Aeronautical Society. If you're interested in the military world, UK students will be eligible to apply for a place in our regional University Air Squadron (part of the Royal Air Force). You can also benefit from free Air League memberships that enable you to apply for flying, gliding and engineering scholarships reducing the amount of your ATPL costs.

​​​​​​​Opportunity modules are a key part of the BNU curriculum. You’ll choose modules from a broad selection in areas such as sustainability, entrepreneurship, creativity, digital skills, personal growth, civic engagement, health & wellbeing and employment. Opportunity modules are designed to enable you to develop outside the traditional boundaries of your discipline and help you to further stand out from the crowd to future employers.

**What will I study?**
You’ll work with one of our UK-leading training partners towards your ATPL. Focused modules and study will develop your skills and prepare you for a successful career in rotary wing aviation.

You will study the core subjects relating to aviation in Year One, such as aviation operations, fundamentals of management and your PPL. In Year Two, you will study for your ATPL Theory Exams. This is a 6-9 month full-time course covering a diverse range of subjects such as meteorology, principles of flight and flight planning and flight monitoring. In Year Three you'll look in more depth at subjects directly related to current industry practice such as sustainability, operational management and the aviation business.

**What facilities can I use?**
We’re one of the very few UK universities to have an FNPT II Flight Simulator and as a student pilot you’ll have exclusive access. Our other specialised simulation facilities allow you to experience real-life airport scenarios, developing your abilities in airfield planning and operations, and crisis and emergency management. You'll also have access to the FlightGlobal software package which can greatly assist you in your learning and in the completion of several assessments.

Modules

**Year one**
**Core Modules**
Aviation Operations
Academic and Professional Skills
Fundamentals of Management
PPL Theory
PPL Flying Helicopters

**Opportunity Modules**
2 x 10 credit year one Opportunity modules

**Year two**
**Core Modules**
Research Methods and Academic Skills
ATPL Theory 1 (Helicopter) – Instrumentation and General Navigation
ATPL Theory 2 – Meteorology, Human Performance and Limitations and Mass and Balance
ATPL Theory 3 – Radio Navigation, Air Law and Communications
ATPL Theory 4 (Helicopter) – Aircraft General Knowledge and Flight Planning and Flight Monitoring
ATPL Theory 5 (Helicopter) – Operational Procedures, Principles of Flight and Performance

**Year three**
**Core Modules**
Sustainability and Ethics in Aviation
Extended Independent Work
Operational Management in the Aviation Industry
The Aviation Business

**Optional Modules**
Airline Assessment Preparation Course OR
Aviation Strategy and Financial Performance OR
Digital Technology and Innovation in Aviation OR
Network Planning

Assessment methods

You will be taught by professional commercial pilots with many years’ worth of experience and will also benefit from the team’s connections and valuable networking opportunities. Industry-leading professionals often deliver talks and presentations, providing valuable insight into the profession. We take a multi-faceted approach to learning and teaching on this course, delivery can take the form of: lectures seminars workshops work-based learning employer or organisation-based case studies guest speakers live or 'real world' projects guided learning simulations practicals discussion groups virtual forums Every aspect of this course provides the opportunity to learn. We use a range of assessment methods throughout the duration of the course. This is a key feature of the programme as it enables early feedback to be given on your progress. Throughout your three years on this course you will carry out the following assessment activities: coursework presentations learning journals simulation examinations dissertation projects.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£15,000
per year
International
£15,000
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

Extra funding

Buckinghamshire New University offers a range of bursaries and scholarships. For more information, please visit https://www.bucks.ac.uk/study/fees-and-funding/financial-support-bursaries-and-scholarships

The Uni


Course location:

Buckinghamshire New University

Department:

School of Aviation and Security

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

76%
Travel management

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Tourism, transport and travel

Teaching and learning

77%
Staff make the subject interesting
85%
Staff are good at explaining things
74%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
59%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

76%
Library resources
65%
IT resources
77%
Course specific equipment and facilities
61%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

86%
UK students
14%
International students
81%
Male students
19%
Female students
26%
2:1 or above
12%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

Aerospace engineering

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

94%
UK students
6%
International students
72%
Male students
28%
Female students
89%
2:1 or above
5%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

D
D
A

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Tourism, transport and travel

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£20,800
high
Average annual salary
94%
med
Employed or in further education
56%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

35%
Transport associate professionals
9%
Leisure and travel services
7%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

This course sits in a wide group of smaller subjects that don't necessarily have that much in common - so bear this in mind when you look at any employment data. Most graduates took a hospitality, events management or tourism-related course, but there are a group of sports and leisure graduates in here as well who do different things. Events management was the most common job for graduates from this group of subjects, and so it’s no surprise that graduates from specialist events management courses did better last year than many of the other graduates under this subject umbrella - but all did about as well as graduates on average or a little better. If you want to find out more about specific job paths for your chosen subject area, it's a good idea to go on open days and talk to tutors about what previous graduates went on to do, or to have a look at university department websites.

Aeronautical and aerospace engineering

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£18,500
low
Average annual salary
97%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

34%
Design occupations
10%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
7%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

Just over a thousand UK graduates got a degree in aerospace engineering in 2015. There are a few dedicated employers, unevenly spread around the country, and so there's often competition for graduates looking for their first job - which leads to a relatively high (although improving) early unemployment rate, and a good grade is particularly important for graduates. Sponsorship and work experience can be key if you're after the most sought-after roles in the industry. Starting salaries are usually good and graduates commonly go into the aerospace (yes, this does include manufacture of equipment for satellites and space operations) and defence industries. Bear in mind that a lot of courses are four years long, and lead to an MEng qualification — this is necessary if you want to become a Chartered Engineer.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Tourism, transport and travel

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£19k

£19k

£24k

£24k

£26k

£26k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Aeronautical and aerospace engineering

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£37k

£37k

£26k

£26k

£36k

£36k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here