Professional Aviation Pilot Practice (Helicopter) BSc Honours at Middlesex University

Receive comprehensive helicopter training with our degree. We’ll give you the opportunity to get academic credit and qualifications based on your technical and practical flying training. We’ll also help you get plenty of early career practice, preparing you for the world of work.

Our course is built around the principle of work-based learning. This means our modules have been designed to target the working and training practices of particular industries, sectors, and employers. All your daily learning as part of your regular training and practice will be assessed and recognised in an academic framework, eliminating unnecessary duplication.

Our degree programme is the first of its kind in the UK to make it possible for you to gain a BSc Honours degree at the same time as you complete ‘ab initio’ helicopter pilot training. 'Ab initio' training refers to an airline sponsoring and mentoring a student from the start and throughout, hiring them once the student is type-rated and certified.

Develop your practical skills with us

The programme incorporates Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulated training, leading to the award of a commercial pilot’s licence (CPL(H)). The Honours level (Level 6) programme prepares you for employment through two different routes. The first route is the Flight Instruction (Helicopter) option while the second is Aircraft Specifics (Helicopter). Don’t worry - you won’t have to decide on your preferred path until third year and you’ll have plenty of advice.

You’ll also develop plenty of transferable skills that many employers find desirable. These include working flexibly, communication, IT understanding, and many more. Since you can tailor the degree to best suit your interests, the skills you’ll gain will be highly relevant to future career prospects.

What will you study on the BSc Professional Aviation Pilot Practice (Helicopter) (Helicentre Aviation Academy)?

At the start of the programme you will join HAA and proceed through Initial training, Ground School and Flying Training. You will be examined in accordance with Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations at the appropriate points and awarded academic credit for completion of:

• The CAA Initial theory, flying to PPL (H) level and CPL (H) Theoretical Knowledge units of study which have been embedded within four Level 4 University modules – Initial Theoretical Aviation Knowledge (Helicopter), Introduction to Helicopter Flying, Flight Operations (Helicopter) and Aircraft and Air Environment (Helicopter)
• The phases of Flying Training which have been embedded within three Level 5 University modules - Basic Flying 1 (Helicopter), Basic Flying 2 (Helicopter) and Advanced Flying (Helicopter) leading to the issue of your CPL (H) licence