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Mar 21 / Rebecca Lougheed

Becoming a Pilot: What Should You Study?

“What are the best subjects to study if I want to become a pilot?”

This is a common question for aspiring pilots to ask, and an important one too, so we thought we would share some insights on it.

But before we jump in, a quick (but equally important) thing to note - if you have finished your studies already, don’t worry! There isn’t really a “wrong” subject. There definitely isn’t a list of “must take” ones. What is important is a capacity to learn, and the right knowledge, skills and attitude, and a lot of that comes with experience and isn’t directly teachable.

But yes, there are subjects that can help you for your pilot training and career because they develop the ‘way of thinking’ needed for certain aspects of the airline pilot role, and if you struggle significantly at some of these (or really hate them), then that might be an indicator that you won’t thrive in the profession.

In general though studying subjects you enjoy and excel in is really what counts. This will help you achieve good grades, provide you with a strong foundation to build on, and be top points on your CV for when you apply for those first airline assessments. 

Let’s start at the end…


Airline pilots need to be fairy well-rounded in terms of their knowledge and skills. Of course, the specifics are taught - you learn to fly, you learn the type you will be operating and all its systems, and you learn all the SOPs, technical details etc at your airline. But alongside all this are nine key things we call competencies: these form a ‘tool kit’ of skills that build resilience and help pilots deal with all the challenging situations they might face within the role and operation.

These are broken down into tech and non-tech.

The tech ones are:
  • Flight management - Automation
  • Flight management - Manual
  • Application of procedures
  • Knowledge


The non-tech competencies are:
  • Communication
  • Leadership & teamwork
  • Situation awareness
  • Workload management
  • Problem solving & decision making


Again, these sound like things you need to practice and learn within an aviation context, but remove the “flying” terms, and these are also areas you can develop and improve from early on and which you will find are very transferable skills for the airline pilot.

So let’s look at the subjects you might study.

Maths & Physics

These are the two core subjects that are most beneficial for airline pilots. That said, it is a bit of a myth that you have to be an A* student in these. You don’t, and you absolutely don’t need a degree. What you do need is a decent grasp of them though.

To gain your ATPL, you have to write theory exams (theory which is then applied practically when you fly). Some of these subjects are relatively technical: understanding aerodynamics, principles of flight, understanding how certain systems and equipment work etc.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist, but you will need to understand how things work and this involves a level of physics knowledge. So if you hate the subject, chances are you won’t enjoy learning what is needed for the airline pilot role. The same goes for maths - pilots do use mental arithmetic, some equations and other calculations which require a relatively solid grasp of numbers. 

Our performance for take-off, how we plan our speed and descent rates, understanding weights, conversions etc, are all things we do on a daily basis, so we need to be proficient in maths for this. When you head to many of the airline interview and assessment processes, they will test your basic ATPL theory knowledge and often throw in psychometric testing which can involve some maths as well.

Maths and physics: do you have to have them? Not at degree level, but certainly a solid working knowledge of these subjects, and an interest in the principles involved is needed since this forms a large part of our role. These tie in with our flight path management and our knowledge competencies, and will assist with our decision making.

Geography

This is an interesting one. I really disliked it at school and my geography knowledge was not great when I stared out as a pilot. Of course, we have flight management computers nowadays, so we are ‘told’ where to fly and don’t have to handle plotting charts and navigational maps and all that stuff. But a grasp of geography is actually still a pretty important thing for pilots to have.

First up, meteorology (one of our ATPL theory subjects) requires us to know enough about where countries are to understand the general weather patterns and conditions that will be prevalent there. This does get used a lot at the airline pilot level - we have to understand weather (pretty darn well) because it is one of the biggest factors in our route planning, risk management and decision making processes. 

There is another non-weather related reason that requires geography knowledge though too. Conflict zones are one of the biggest threats, or at least operational disruptors, to commercial aviation, and we need to understand where high risk countries are, what it might mean for our routes, and also have some awareness of the situations themselves. So basic geopolitical knowledge is of use, and can sometimes be critical for pilots to have.

Geography: You can build this up as you go, you don’t need to study it, but it is a very handy one if you like it! It ties in with our situation awareness and our knowledge competencies, and will assist in decision making.

Languages

The language of aviation is English. So being fluent in English is needed. In fact, you are tested in it (the English Language Proficiency test), and a minimum level 4 is needed to fly at the airline level. Really, level 5 is the standard minimum for a lot of major airlines.

OK, but for you native English speakers, are having other languages useful? Needed? Necessary?

Well, they’re not necessary, but they are definitely very useful. Despite English being the standard language in aviation, you’re still going to be heading to a lot of places where it is not widely spoken so having a grasp of other languages can be really beneficial. But there is something more to it than that.

First up, native English speakers who only speak English often don’t appreciate the challenges non-native speakers face. This can lead to native speakers using colloquialisms, speaking too fast, or even lacking an ability to find other ways to explain things. Having learned another language helps because you have then experienced this yourself! It can also be beneficial in providing the skill to work with other, unfamiliar accents.

A big part of our communication competency is the ability to listen, to know when someone is ready to receive information, and being able to convey that information in a way it can be received and comprehended. It is a lot more than just talking, so advanced language skills can really assist with this. Through learning languages, we also tend to pick up more understanding of the culture and country, which can help build our emotional IQ and awareness of diversity.

Languages? Really useful for the abilities they provide, as much as the actual capacity to speak it. So very useful, but not a necessity. Ties in with our communication competency and teamwork, and can assist in CRM. We offer an English Proficiency Course at ASP if you want assistance.

Sports & team activities

The giveaway might be in the title there, but playing sports can be really beneficial for three main reasons.

Firstly, the teamwork element. Understanding how to work well in a team can be gained through many ways, and playing team sports and being involved in team activities is definitely one of them. But it goes a bit deeper than just working with others and knowing your spot in the team hierarchy.

It can help you build self-awareness of your behaviour and how it works with others, how your personality interacts with them. It can assist you in learning how to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, and really importantly, having some exposure to human factors (how things like tiredness affects your performance, how pressures affect you etc) can be gained from it. It can also provide you with the skills to mentor and coach (and potentially later move into training related roles).

Secondly, playing any sports can be really helpful for things like hand eye coordination. Pilots need good coordination and relatively good reflexes. We aren’t talking fighter pilot level skills here, but just a decent standard.

The final one is possibly a bit more random, but some team sports and activities involving strategy and planning can help us develop skills like planning several steps ahead, thinking about the bigger picture (beyond what you’re doing directly, at that moment) and how to manage our workload and capacity through methods like delegation.

So playing sports? Well, I was rubbish at near on all sports and have no issues as a pilot, but I can definitely see the benefit colleagues have found from this. Good for teamwork, manual flying skills, and a little bit of workload management. They are also good just as a fun hobby for managing that well-being and work-life balance.

‘Thinking’ subjects

Odd choice of title I know, but I’m talking things like English literature, philosophy, history, that sort of thing. Your social sciences and humanities, It is easy to think these will have no benefit for pilots, but it is not true. ANY subject that teaches you a way of studying, comprehending, analysing and objective thinking is beneficial for pilots because we do a lot of this in our day to day operation, as well as during complex decision making processes (which form a big part of our role), risk assessments and threat management. 

Sure, understanding the structure of a Shakespearean verse, or having a deep understanding of society in medieval times  might not be directly relevant, but the method of thinking you gain from any of these subjects really is, as is the simple ability to study, learn and to apply yourself. Some of them may also support you if you head into roles like compliance or operations management positions.

‘Thinking’ subjects? Yep, useful. It’s the studying of them as much as the subject that matters. Ties in with our ability to learn (knowledge) and to process information (communication, situation awareness, problem solving and decision making).

Sciences

I could have dropped this back up the top with maths and physics. Having a ‘scientific brain’ means having the ability to think in a certain way, to understand complex topics and technical concepts, and these are really critical in the pilot role. So a yes to these being useful, even where the specific subject matter isn’t directly transferable.

I’m going to add computer sciences, and also subjects like business studies in here too because the analytical skills, and the technical way of thinking is applicable with these too.

Psychology

While a social sciences subject, I’ve given this a mention of its own, We talk a lot about human factors in aviation. It is very applicable to our role because, well, we’re human, but also because the high performance standards requirements and pressures we face within the role mean we (or rather our performance and safety levels) can be quite susceptible and impacted more critically by human factors.

Things like cognitive biases, startle and surprise, distractions, degraded capacity etc. So this can be a very beneficial subject to study because of the understanding of these ares which it provides, and if you are interested in it then highly recommended as it may open up opportunities to head into other areas like safety, CRM and training as well.

Arts

I think art and music are really important subjects, and surprisingly, a lot of ‘technically minded’ people tend to have creative sides to them as well. But it is a tougher one to really link to the pilot role directly because there are not necessarily any obviously ‘creative’ elements within the job all that much. In fact, psychometric tests often look to pinpoint people who might be overly inclined to “find new ways” and who don’t like structure and following tried and tested and procedures (we’re talking real outliers here).

But… as I said right at the start, studying subjects you enjoy and excel it is the most important thing, not trying to pick subjects you think “fit the role”. At the end of the day, if you only enjoy arts based subjects and don’t enjoy technical subjects, then chances are you might not enjoy the airline pilot role, but if you if you study an art based subject, or even two, alongside a mix of other more relevant ones, it won’t harm your CV.

I will add as well that often music and art are considered ways to improve mental well-being, and having hobbies outside of work that improve your mindfulness, give you ways to relax, to decompress, or which you just love doing, are really important. 

Qualification levels

If you are heading into the profession straight from education, and especially if you want to apply for some of the (very competitive) cadet schemes, having academic achievements which help you stand out is a big benefit. But you can also gain a similar benefit from having things like air cadet experience, volunteering experience etc.

Many state a minimum of G.C.S.E (with A-C grades) but realistically, studying to at least ‘A’ level (beyond compulsory education) is probably required nowadays. The more competitive programs, and some airlines, can have more specific requirements, and particularly in the USA/Canada a lot of airlines require a degree.

A degree is one way to stand out more, and on top of that provides a good fall back option which is very useful given how volatile the industry can be at times. Weighing up the cost of this with the benefits in relation to your planned career path is necessary,

The main downside of studying further education is the debt you may accrue through this and your flight training, however, there are options nowadays to tie your degree in with your flight training, through an aviation of travel and transport type degree.

Further down your career, having further education and qualifications in specific subjects may open up additional opportunities for you.

Let’s get academic

How important is it to be a pro at exams?

There is a lot of information and knowledge to cram in on your journey to becoming a pilot, and there are a lot of exams to pass. That’s the bad news - you can’t avoid them. The good news though is that folk who struggle in exams will find a lot of support within the industry both at the flight training school level, and also through mentorship and coaching programmes.

Being “good” at exams is often down to two things. One: understanding the subject matter (and being interested in it really helps as well) and two: building up mental resilience to help you handle the pressure of them. This can be developed and there is support if you need it.

How can ASP help?

We offer a range of courses designed to help you achieve your dream airline job, but we aren’t just trying to teach you “the answers” to get in. We want to help pilots develop their knowledge, skills and attitude, to really understand what is required, and to help you build a solid foundation.
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