During the late 1950s it became apparent that there was going to be a shortage of ex military pilots who would be available to crew British civil aircraft.
The two (then) state owned airline corporations, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Aviation, proposed a flying school based loosely on the Royal Air Force's officer training college at Cranwell.
The college continued operations until the mid-1980s: British Airways (the merged BOAC and BEA) announced the closure in 1982 and in 1984 the land was sold for development and the equipment disposed of.
Cadets were accepted equally from the ranks of school leavers and university graduates: previous flying experience was not a requirement.
Following fifteen weeks of ground study, ab initio and, later, advanced flying training commenced.