Well assuming you have the computer, your copy of Final Cut Pro, and a movie to edit...

I would consider an external hard drive dedicated to the movie being edited to allow your movie files to survive computer crashes and old age and keep the files isolated from other projects.

I would also give serious thought to organization. Its not easy to move things around once you've got the footage out of your camera so try to figure where it will go. Search FCP organize or something like that for more. I'm talking about files here primarily but you should also consider the organization of sequences.

Determine the import settings. You probably know this from when you shot the film but its important. If you import your footage at different rates they may not drop into sequences from other rates forcing rework.

Once you've given all that thought you just pick a scene and edit it.

RJSchwarz

If the job situation in the UK is anything like in L.A. (or N.Y.), there is an abundance of "Apple Certified" FCP operators. In other words, getting proficient in FCP is great and a very valuable asset, but will not open up doors by itself. In order to become a professional editor, additional skills and talent are needed.

You will succeed if you are persistent. Once you're done with the course, you should make as much effort as possible to find work, even (and most likely only) for free at the beginning. You will need to bake in the skills you quickly acquired in the course, and more importantly, develop the proper feel for film cutting. This part is always difficult to teach (beyond basic rules) and has to be learned by doing. I have no doubt that there are plenty of indie productions in UK for you to work with.

So the next step after finishing the course (and possibly the exam) would be to seek out people who are making movies and offer them your services. This will of course assume you have your own Mac and a copy of FCP.

Thanks for the advice! Much appreciated.