About the Scholarship

If after applying you are considered suitable we will ask you to send us more detailed information about your personal and medical history. At the same time you will also be asked to submit a short essay. A Preliminary Selection Board, which is held early each year, will then decide whether to short list you for the Final Selection Board which is usually held in April at RAF Cranwell .

At RAF Cranwell you will undergo flying aptitude tests, medical examinations and interviews. While at RAF Cranwell you will encounter, perhaps for the first time, the challenge of aviation and demonstrate your ability to climb into an aircraft cockpit, which is not nearly as difficult as it might appear to be at first sight.

Each full scholarship student completes a 6-week residential course of training in South Africa, which includes 45 hours of airborne tuition and ground school. Currently training for full scholarships takes place at 43 Air School, Port Alfred, South Africa, which provides a complete residential service. Click here for details of this Flying School.

UK NPPL scholarship students complete a 4-week residential course which includes 35 hours of airborne tuition and ground school, and a Mini scholarship student a 1-week residential course which consists of 10 hours of airborne tuition and ground school. Training for both types of scholarship usually take place at either the Goodwood School of Flying, Chichester, West Sussex ( click here for details of this Flying School), or by the BDFA at Lasham Airfield, Alton, Hampshire (click here for details).

However, and depending where the student lives, other Flying Schools in the UK have been used both for the UK NPPL and the Mini scholarships. Accommodation for both types of scholarship is arranged nearby.

Click here to learn more about typical aircraft you will learn to fly for all types of scholarship.

Then if all has gone according to plan you will be invited back to RIAT the following year to receive your "pilot's wings".

Click here to read about the experiences of one scholar at RAF Cranwell and 43 Air School, South Africa and click here for another scholar's story learning to fly at the Goodwood Flying Club, West Sussex.

Why not apply now for a scholarship by clicking here? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!