Integrated Pilot Training (LEAP)

Yes. As long as you meet all of our other prerequisites, you are eligible to sit our skills assessment and join our course.

Unfortunately, we are not financial advisors and cannot legally give financial advice. If you are struggling to finance the course, you may wish to seek help from an independent financial advisor.

You may already be aware, but as our Integrated LEAP course is an accredited degree course, you may be eligible to apply for student finance from the SLC (Student loan company). If this is your first degree, you could be eligible for tuition fee loans of £19,070 (2 years at £9,535 per year). These are credited directly to your course fees, helping to reduce the cost of commercial pilot training.

Dependent on your circumstances, you may also be eligible for maintenance fee loans of up to £19,514 (£9,757 per year for 25/26). These loans are means-tested and further information, including a student finance calculator, is available at the SLC. If eligible, they are paid to you.

Yes. We offer 1-1 Academy tours and regularly hold Open days at our Oxford campus.

Our Open days are the perfect opportunity for you to meet our team in person. Get a feel for Leading Edge life by meeting current students and staff members. Explore the campus and accommodation, get up close to our aircraft and best of all have a trial flight in our DA42/A320 simulators.

You can book onto one of our upcoming open days here.

The next step in securing your place on our Integrated LEAP course is to sit your Leading Edge skills assessment. Our skills assessment is a day-long assessment that usually takes place at our Oxford Academy.

Prior to your assessment day, you will be asked to do several online aptitude tests. Following this, on your assessment day, you will do a formal interview and a group exercise. Experts in each of these fields will score you against set criteria, then at the end of the day you’ll be given feedback on how you’ve done.

If you are successful, you’ll be offered a place on the course with a training guarantee. One of our training advisors will then issue you with a training agreement with your desired start date, which you will need to review and sign, in your own time. Once you have returned your training agreement and paid your deposit, your place on our course is confirmed!

If not successful on the day of your assessment, please do not worry. We give detailed feedback on the day of what we think you need to work on and a cool down period which will give you time to go away and effectively work on the areas of improvement, for you to come back and be successful the next time.

We have a new Integrated LEAP intake every month, however on some rare occasions, we may have two intakes per month.

At Leading Edge we keep our class sizes smaller than a typical flight school may have. We have a maximum of 20 students in a class because we believe that by keeping the courses small, it benefits learning, allows a collaborative environment but at the same time allows the students and instructors to receive individual, focused teaching and overall is of a greater training benefit.

Time off is generally not permitted during training however scheduled leave is built into the programme in between phases to offer you a chance to relax and prepare for your next phase.

Once you have completed Ground School and go into the flying stage, you will be allowed to book time off, but this will need to be approved as it will come down to if your instructors believe that this won’t negatively impact your progress.

Mental and Physical Wellbeing for our Students and Staff is extremely important to us. Throughout your time with us, our Customer Experience team will work closely with you to support your progress and give you any extra support you might need.

If you are enrolled on our integrated course, we aim to have your pilot training complete in as little as 18 months. Due to several mitigating factors out of our control, our students are currently experiencing timelines of around 20-24 months, however we are actively trying to reduce this. 

We currently have three accommodation blocks in Oxford:

• Between Towns Court, Cowley – Students typically stay here during their ground school phase of training.
• The Arc, Kidlington – Students might expect to stay here during their advanced flight training.
• Tree View, Kidlington – Students might expect to stay here during their advanced flight training.

We have one accommodation site in Alhama, Southern Spain:

• El Condado – Students will stay here during their foundation flying stage.

No, you do not need a PPL to join our Integrated LEAP course as our programme is designed to take you all the way from zero flying hours to fully qualified commercial pilot.

If you do have a PPL, you are still eligible to join our Integrated LEAP course and we may even be able to credit you for some of your flying hours.

Whilst we don’t guarantee you a job at the end of your training, we do provide you with all the skills and support you need to be successful at Airline interviews. Currently, 99% of our graduates are securing their first airline roles within 3 months of course completion.

Our Airline Employment Services include Simulator training through our APS MCC and our three day Airline Preparation Workshop.

Your accommodation will be fully equipped with all the essentials that you will need throughout your training, including kitchenware, furniture, duvets and pillows. You will need to bring personal belongings (to make your new home yours), toiletries, bedding and anything else you think you may need.

Once you have enrolled onto a course, our Customer Experience team will be in touch letting you know exactly what is included.

As part of our commitment to our students, we offer a variety of support services throughout training:

The Whole Pilot ® Training Programme: We want our pilots to be the highest in demand across the industry. To do this, our goal is to create a training environment that is conducive to the successful growth of our students, providing them with the tools they need to develop, and progress into a commander’s role.

KSA 100: Our Ground School Instructor’s continually support our students with our industry leading KSA 100 programme, equipping our students with a base understanding of the core pilot competencies. This is something our students are consistently assessed on throughout their training with us. This results in our instructors being able to support our students individually on their strengths and weaknesses.

Graduate services: The graduate employment services course is taught by a team who have a wealth of experience in pilot recruitment and is held at our academy in Oxford. Our instructors will walk you through the assessment process, tailoring the workshop to your experience and ensuring you are ready for your first airline interview.

The 3-day course will cover:

• Airline applications
• Maximising your first impression
• Personal development plans
• CV workshops
• Cover letter creation
• Interview techniques & mock interviews
• Group exercise training

Training guarantee: Covers any additional training fees should you fail any elements of the course for reasons of aptitude rather than attitude.

Additional wellbeing support: We have several mental health first aiders situated at both of our campuses. They are trained to support you with your mental health and help you navigate through anything that you may be experiencing, positive or negative.

No, all utility bills such as gas, electricity, wifi and water are already covered in your course fees.

No, food is not included in your course fees, so you will need to budget for this separately.

You don’t need to apply for your student loan until you have secured your place on a course. Our customer experience team will send you a step by step guide on how and when to apply for your student finance, usually four weeks prior to your course start date.

You will need to have your Class 1 medical in place at least 3 months prior to your course start date, to account for any possible referrals. Failure to have your class 1 medical in place may result in your course start date being postponed. Please note that if postponed, you will be placed on the next available start date and not just the next month’s course.

If you are doing any part of your training in Spain, you will need a EASA Class 2 Medical, however if you are doing dual licence, your class 1 medical will cover this. This will be covered by Leading Edge as part of your course fees if you need one.

Your medical is your responsibility. You need to pay for this yourself as it is something you will need throughout your whole career. However, once you join an airline, they will reimburse you for each yearly renewal.