I arrived in Kidlington the day before my enrolment (definitely didn't give myself enough time to settle in or unpack but what the hey!) feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement but fairly prepared for the course ahead. Here's everything I had to get sorted before starting:
CAA UK class one medical
I actually got this one back in October before I went for my OAA Assessment just so I knew everything was alright before I started. You need to bring the medical certificate and your current passport in to be able to enrol.
BALPA Life and loss of medical Insurance
Oxford recommend a membership with BALPA (which is free to student pilots!) and they do trainee pilot insurance so it's really easy to sort out and saves you from searching around for the best deals. This is just a bit of reassurance for you in case anything went wrong with your medical you wouldn't also be burdened with the massive repayment rates for the training.
Accommodation
I decided that a house share would be the way forward as the internet is not a fan of Langford or Upper Heyford (the OAA halls of residence), plus they're more expensive. I'm going to be sharing with 4 other student pilots, though I'm not sure who yet and it's only about a 10 minute walk to the airport. As the house is still currently occupied I'm going to be a lodger in a neighbours family house which I was a bit unsure of at first, but they're so friendly and welcoming and even cook for me that it's definitely a way to ease back into the student lifestyle.
Funding
You need to have confirmed with OAA beforehand where your funding is going to come from. To sure your place on a course you need to pay the £5,000 deposit and then pay the initial training fee installment (£27,000) 7 days prior to the course starting.
Uniform
All uniform needs to be ordered through OAA well in advance just so they can get everything in for you, especially if you have irregular sizes. You need to pick how many short or long sleeve shirts you want then give your sizes for shirts, trousers, jumpers and jackets. In shops I'm borderline size 8-10 depending where I go (even a size 6 in NEXT!) so ordered the smallest size in everything, I'm seriously hoping it'll be okay. Uniform is all included in the course fees though so no extra cost....
...Apart from shoes, you need to get shoes yourself, I found this one really tricky even though there were guidelines as to shoe style, it's so much easier for boys! I needed to find some black leather court shoe style, no stiletto or kitten heels, no decor or buckles, absolutely no metal. It's surprisingly hard to find something that fits all these requirements but I turned to my old friend Clark's and landed on these two:
Courts for ground school and flats for flying? Again, I'm hoping they'll be alright.
Name Badge
Part of the uniform requires you to wear a name badge at all times, apparently you're allowed an appropriate nickname. I just went for the boring approach and wrote my surname and first name. You need to order this one in advance as well when you order uniform.
Later in the day I was given a tour around the house I would be moving into in about two weeks which was fantastic as there are currently 5 student pilots living there at the moment. I spent the evening chatting to them about ground school (they're nearly finished with so know everything about it) which was invaluable. I was also kind of proud of myself, I'd describe myself as a shy person but I'd managed to go around and ask questions to complete strangers and spend most of the evening there without feeling any uncomfort. What a step up from when I first arrived at University!
The advice I was repeatedly getting from them was to keep on top of the work from day one and to 'smash the bank' (?). I later learnt that this refers to question banks that you can use to practice from to prepare for the exams so I'm definitely going to give that a try. The first exams are in about 6 weeks which is seriously soon so I am feeling nervous about the workload.
