DHAeTS produced comprehensive prospectuses for the benefit of applicants and their parents. They were updated over the years as and when necessary. Seven examples are shown here, scanned to pdf from original copies. Access to each is by its underlined year title (right click if you want them to open in new tabs).

1. The earliest known copy, held by the BAE Systems Heritage Archive and reproduced here with their permission, is undated but is almost certainly the 1933 Prospectus. The opening paragraph reads:

        The de Havilland Aircraft. Co, Ltd., offers technical tuition in Aircraft and Aero Engine Construction, Maintenance and Repair, to Students who are entering the Industry as a permanent occupation in life, and exceptional facilities are included in the Scheme for acquiring experience in the Theory of Flight and Aircraft Design.

2.  Also in the BAE Systems Heritage Archive is an undated copy which is probably the 1936 Prospectus, judging by the photographs and some of the text. The first page has exactly the same text as does the 1937 Prospectus.

3. The late John Collings-Wells, who entered the School in 1940, kindly gave us his copy of the 1937 Prospectus and its covering letter from the School. The first paragraph of the Prospectus reads:

Of recent years the march of progress has become so rapid that those faced with the problem of choosing a life career may well pause to ask themselves: “If I take up this or that where shall I be a few years hence - still in the run of things or a back number almost before I have started?” But to those possessing the necessary bent the problem is quite easy of solution. A career in the technical side of aeronautics cannot end blindly, for the science of aviation is the key to all future transport. The world must have aeroplanes. And, before an aeroplane can be flown, it must be designed and built. It must be tested and passed as airworthy. Even at that the need for the technical man does not cease. For machines must be maintained; their journeys must be controlled. Here is work for men, not machines. Machines cannot tackle the task, nor can men - unless they be expert by reason of long and intensive training. It was to meet this need that the de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School was founded. The newly-equipped School offers thorough training in every branch of the industry. Design, Business, Ground Engineering, Works Management, Aeronautical Inspection, Air Transport Service and Aerodrome Management are only some of the branches catered for.

4. Michael Males, son of our late member Vivian Males who entered the School in 1945, generously gave us his father’s copy of the 1945 Prospectus, written in April 1945. The first paragraph of the Introduction reads:

This handbook explains the de Havilland technical training organisation as it is in the sixth year of war, more active than at any stage in its past history and preparing for greater responsibilities in the future. The return to peace, the rise of civil aviation and the implementing of the new Government legislation aimed at improving Great Britain‘s educational system as a whole may be expected to bring about further developments.

5. On June 18 1949 Astwick Manor, the new headquarters of the School, was opened by Lord Salisbury. A commemorative brochure giving the programme for the day and incorporating the 1949 Prospectus, was produced for the occasion. The opening paragraphs of this Prospectus read:

The organised training of young men within the de Havilland Aircraft Company began with the introduction of trade apprenticeships in the company‘s earliest years. Then in 1928 the de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School was founded to provide a comprehensive course of theoretical study as well as practical workshop training. Thus a grade of engineering apprentices came into being whom the School trained to become qualifed aeronautical engineers for all branches of the industry.
     There have been great developments in the subsequent twenty years, and the training system has grown to a mature establishment. The de Havilland Enterprise has become a group of companies extending to all the principal dominions and embracing research, design and the large-scale production of civil and military aircraft in a wide range of categories, as well as piston engines and gas turbines, propellers, components and accessories. This is significant in that it has been a fundamental principle of the system to conduct the practical side of the training within the factories themselves.

6. The 1952 Prospectus was published when the Company was perhaps at the height of its success. The Comet 1 was just about to enter service. The copy reproduced here, with their permission, is held by the BAE Systems Heritage Archive. The opening paragraphs are almost identical to those in 1949.

7. Those joining the School in 1957 received the 1955 Prospectus. The opening paragraphs read:

The purpose of this Prospectus is to explain the de Havilland system of technical training for young men entering the aircraft industry. The system was inaugurated within a year or two of the incorporation of The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited in 1920, and was strengthened in 1928 by the founding of The de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School with the object of affording a comprehensive course of theoretical study in addition to the practical workshop training hitherto provided. The size and responsibility of the School have advanced with the spectacular rise of the aircraft industry, and in 1955 it has nearly 2,500 young people taking courses of apprenticeship, most of them of five years’ duration. The policy of the School is laid down by an Education Council which has representation from the de Havilland Aircraft, Engine and Propeller Companies and is under the chairmanship of the Managing Director of the parent company. The Council is assisted by Education Boards comprising senior executives representative of the main departments and factories of all three companies; this governing body was formed in 1943.
     In a half-century the aircraft industry has risen to be one of the most important industries in the world, wielding great power in the economic and military spheres. In the 1939-45 war aircraft production became Britain’s biggest industry, employing more than two million people. The advent of the gas turbine, in the course of 15 years or so, has made possible flight at supersonic speeds, and with the further development of rocket engines far greater speeds and altitudes are being negotiated and travel beyond the Earth's atmosphere can be foreseen. Parallel with the swift progress in power units an equally remarkable advance in electronics is taking place which is not only revolutionising aerial navigation but making possible the guided missile and, perhaps, the pilotless aircraft.