Initial Class 1 pre-trainingmedical
17 Apr 2026
Today marked the first concrete step towards the ATPLs and a career in commercial aviation - going to have the Class 1 medical assessment, which is a requirement to be able to fly commercially in any form, so an absolute essential, and very sensible first thing to go and get before spending any serious money on flight training. It’s fairly serious money in its self to get the initial class 1 done, at around £1000 all in, depending on the provider you go with, and there are limited options there, with most requiring a trip to London.
I was planning to head to London for Pilot Careers Live again on the 18th anyway, so as I already had a hotel booked nearby for that, it seemed like a sensible option to get it the medical done at the same time. I opted to go with Heathrow Medical for mine, for two reasons, firstly they were the cheapest (by £25…) and secondly, they had good reviews.
You pay in full online before attending, (£957), and then have to log into the CAA portal to complete the MED160 form at least 10 days before the appointment. This form, and the CAA portal, are an absolute nightmare to use and fill out - the design looks like something from the 90’s and the associated guidance makes very little sense - however Heathrow Medical provide some guidance too, and it’s also checked/modified by the AME (areomedical examiner) on the day too before they send it off, so if you don’t get it spot on, it can be corrected.
I’m going to touch briefly on the parking situation at Heathrow Medical, because there was very little information about it online, other than that they had some on a first come, first served bases (there’s also very little google streetview coverage of Bath road for some reason) so, going in I had no idea if I’d be able to get a space, or where I might be able to go and then walk back (so I just allowed plenty of extra time).
They have eight dedicated parking spaces, and it seemed like it was incredibly busy that day because despite arriving nearly 45 minutes early, all of them were taken - there were other spaces in the car park too (as it’s within a small business park), so I parked in one of those, and was told that was ok to do. You put your registration into a system once you’re inside, so presumably it’s just based on ANPR cameras at the entrance, rather than specific spaces - nothing to worry about!
Once inside, before I’d even sat down, they asked for my passport and all the various documents & medical records that had been requested. I was then given a couple of consent forms and questionnaires to sign, as well as a cotton swab to place in my mouth, leaving it there for around ten minutes (this is a drug test). Once that was all done, I was shown to the bathroom to provide a urine sample, then returned to the reception area.
After a bit of waiting, although not too long, I was taken upstairs, given a hearing test (where you are sat in a soundproof booth, with a clicker, pressing it whenever I heard a tone), a breathalyser tests, followed by bloods being taken (via a pinprick), an EGC, and then finally a spirometry test (lung function), before being returned to the reception area again for some more waiting.
There were people coming and going constantly, I’d read online before that there would be long periods of waiting, so had brought a book with me, but there was so much constantly going on, a TV with the volume up fairly loud, and additionally you just never knew when you’d be called on for the next bach of tests, so I don’t think I’d have been able to focus on it if i tried. I ended up mostly just watching the TV or live webcam of aircraft landing at Heathrow, and occasionally chatting to the other people going through the same ordeal as me.
After a slightly longer wait, I then met the AME who’d be doing my examination, we went upstairs again, and it started off with a general chat about how I was feeling and life in general (this was actually the mental health assessment part) followed by what my plans were (in terms of flying). It turned out we had some things in common as he’d done his medical training in down in Exeter!
After that I was taken through the various results of all the tests that had been done so far. There were no issues at all for me with any of the results, so this was pretty brief, essentially a skim over, with comments like “so that’s good”, “that’s all normal” etc.
Next up was a physical exam, so had to strip down to my underwear, and was then prodded and poked for a bit, checking things like reflexes and for hernias. I then had my lungs and heart listened to, again, all normal, and after that, it was time for blood pressure - pretty standard with an inflatable band - mine was initially very high.
It was quite warm in the centre and there’s also a bit of anxiety with this kind of examination thing given it has potential to make or break the flying dream, so he put it down to that, put on some jazz music and told me to close my eyes, and clear my mind - I’m not sure how long I laid there like that, but it felt like forever, eventually though he repeated the test, and this time, like everything else, all completely normal. (He joked he might have to write a paper on how jazz reduces blood pressure as it always worked!)
Next up after getting dressed, was a bit of exercise, (testing range of motion/mobility) I had to swing my arms a bit and do a few different moves, including things like squatting, standing on a spot with my eyes shut (testing balance), then walking up and down (to check gait) - again all fine & easy stuff.
And that was it! All tests passed with no problem.
If you’ve read my story, you’ll know I had an operation last year, so we then talked about that and what it meant - surprisingly to me (as that’s essentially now all in the past as far as I’m concerned!) this was the only stumbling block.
As I’m still in the period where I only have a couple more follow-ups scheduled with the hospital, just to verify everything is still ok, and the AME had a couple of specific question relating to my case and the treatment that was done, it wasn’t possible for him to actually issue the Class 1 today. He needed that additional information from the consultant who did the operation, and then it’ll have to go to the CAA for them to make a final decision.
The AME said though that this was highly unlikely to be a problem at all, and providing he was happy with the responses too his questions from the consultant, would contest it himself if there were any issues with the CAA, as with a totally clean bill of health otherwise & no ongoing complications from the surgery, he was happy to issue me a certificate, but it just required the extra boxes to be ticked, and processes duly followed.
You may be wondering, no eyesight check? I was surprised not to have had this test before seeing the AME too, however, I suspect this is because of two reasons; firstly I’d provided my up to date sight prescription, and secondly I already have a historic Class 2 medical, and the initial examination for that also covers the show stopping things for a class 1, like colour blindness. So I suspect based on those things, it was expected the eye exam wouldn’t reveal anything new. Some of the others who were there, did go and have the eye exam before seeing the AME.
I did get taken for a very thorough eye test after seeing him though. It was essentially all the same kinds of tests you’d get in Specsavers, and also pay for their additional extras (like getting a 3D scan of your eye), but also a few additional ones as well, such as a more comprehensive peripheral vision test, which is done in a machine, where one eye is covered in turn, and then white lights appear at random, both in position and timing - you have a clicker which you press whenever you see one, while staring straight ahead.
The worst of these tests was the one for eye pressure, which is puffs of air being blown into your eye, but I had no concerns about the results of those tests, as I have regular eye examinations anyway due to wearing contact lenses & so knew my eyes were in good shape.
Finally, I was returned to reception again, while a few bits of paperwork were completed before I was let go. All in all it was about 4-5 hours, but it went fairly quickly, the worst part was that lunchtime was in the middle of it, and you’re not allowed to eat, so was pretty hungry for about half of it!
Although I’ve had to come away without the certificate actually in my hand, and there’s a little bit of admin, followed by the CAA making the final call, I expect it’ll likely come through in the next month or two all being well (though I have experienced how slow the CAA ca be with these kind of admin things before!).
It’s a huge relief to know that there’s nothing really show stopping in terms of my health, meaning that there’s really now no barriers to getting my licence, other than me!